Penn State Early Action for Fall 2025 Admissions

Guessing here only…

S23 received SHC acceptance on 2/28 Tuesday at 327PM EST.

Suspect that would become 2/27/24 and then 2/25/25 (leap year) … if holding to school calendar…

I predict 02/25 Tuesday at 330PM.

Beside the 5K for Schreyer scholars, there’s very little merit aid for UP: Provost, Millenium. You’d have received information in your portal if you’d been awarded something, though you can wait till the middle of March to be sure.

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I believe my daughter received her acceptance on Tuesday, 3/1/22 so that may be right.

Seems right… the only question is as the “day” keeps walking backwards 3/1 > 2/28 > 2/27 > 2/25, etc… at some point it “flips” …but it feels like that would in another year or two.

Just like the start of the school year is or Easter or whatever… sometimes they jump not just a day but a whole week so to speak.

they usually send out an email about a week or two weeks before… I would encourage a student in the process to call and ask -

What would be different about the campus visit after acceptance into SHC? We are registered for the even this weekend and probably will come anyway since we have no idea if DC will be admitted into SHC anyway. I’m just curious about what would be different. We’ve been to PSU in the past for other events, but have never done an actual tour, so we are excited to learn more about the experience.

I can answer this!

S23 accepted to SHC. The point is… if accepted to SHC… there is a dedicated day/event on a Saturday where they give you all the ins/outs of SHC as well as a campus tour, etc.

You can do both… but can save yourself a trip if into SHC!

That’s very helpful. Thanks! It might be worth it to see if a later date works for our schedule.

My kid is now more inclined for PSU DUS summer start. Is leap a program that needs a separate application?. When this process started, PSU was the only program he applied as undecided and for all others he applied only to Business schools. He has narrowed down to Rutgers Business school or PSU DUS for enrollment from his acceptances. He is now thinking of Engineering as an option too and hence more into PSU DUS. Any idea of relative difficulty of getting into Smeal vs Eng school via DUS route. We plan to visit soon before making a decision.

@SM2025 Both Smeal and Engineering majors require certain coursework and GPA. Difficulty will depend on the student’s strengths. Math and science will be the most important courses for entrance into Engineering; business, economics, and math courses the most important for Smeal. Your son can look through the PSU Undergraduate Bulletin for specifics as to courses and GPA required to transition into Smeal or Engineering majors. For each major, see “How to Get in”.

https://bulletins.psu.edu/programs/#f-anchor

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If your son is considering LEAP, check the registration dates. The popular classes will fill up quickly (typically on day they open reg). (Just checked and looks like reg opens March 24th).

Is he strong at math or have AP credits? If not, see if Math 140 is an option. Math 140 is calc for engineers. It is more difficult than Math 110 (business majors), but Math 140 counts if he goes the business route whereas Math 110 does not count if he goes engineering.

The other option - if really thinking business - is Econ 102 (micro). This is an entry to major class that many struggle with. Give him an advantage by taking it in the summer (smaller class size, more relaxed than fall, etc).

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Thanks for the suggestion… He is good at Math… Has taken Percalculus, Calculus honors (this year with a score of 95 for first two terms- but no AP), AP stats (score of 4). His SAT Math score is 740. I think he should be good with Math. Just trying to take appropriate courses so both majors can be his choices.

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If your schedule gets crazy and March/April gets chaotic, then I would not wait for the SHC dates. If the upcoming date works well, then I would stick with it.

While you might be missing out on SHC stuff IF ADMITTED, what if he is not? Then the SHC kids are there and he is not part of it. (Which is never good to see what you are missing out on).

Treat SHC like a bonus if he gets in. It is so competitive to get in, have low expectations. I see many great kids who end up devastated because they expected it. It is so dependent on essays that there are always surprises - both who get in and who do not.

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As above - Google “Penn state entrance to major “ + “Smeal “ or “engineering” … this gives the exact list of courses required for each. Find the overlaps and take those first semester.

Freshmen are required to take a first year seminar (1 credit) course in fall. If you go summer, it is not required. But it is college specific, so might be worth it for him to take it both in business AND engineering since there is exposure to both sets of majors.

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He should register for LEAP as soon as it opens (March 24).
Business and Engineering have English 15/30H, Math 140 (Calculus), CAS100 (Speech/Communication), and Econ 102 (Microeconomics) in common so he should try to take one or two of those over the summer.
Fall semester should then be 14-15 credits, with 1 credit of college-specific freshman seminar introducing college methods&the academic field, 1-2 not taken in the Summer, Chem 110, and either Macroeconomics (if Micro taken over the summer) or Microeconomics.
In the Spring, there’d be less overlap: Engineering would require Calculus based Physics, calculus 2, Engineering Design, whereas Business would require Business statistics or General statistics, Management Concepts, if Smeal a World Language (unless he passed an AP exam in one), and if not taken in the Summer&Fall micro or macro economics. Plus the other college’s Freshman seminar.
Note that there’s an in-demand Agribusiness major too.

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Schreyer is 02/28 330PM EST.

Thanks for the update. :pray::crown:
Ey, “within 2 weeks” :blush::blush:
Good luck everyone.
Remember, only 300 freshmen are part of Schreyer out of 9,000 freshmen at UP. :crossed_fingers:

:wink: … was hopeful it was 2/25… but the calendar was “reset” this year… I still think SHC does a disservice by taking so long to release…

It takes a lot of time to read the essays and they don’t entrust the decisions to regular Admission readers so it takes more time than the regular application. I don’t think they can go faster and still keep process integrity.

Because many Schreyer students are Ivy+ contenders, their goal is to give a decision before these universities.
(They know students would likely have been admitted to Pitt and/or Temple Honors as well as other Honors colleges already. They may be wrong but they don’t consider those their competition.)

Yes, fair, agree. No doubt I as a parent have any appreciation for what it takes the AO at SHC as I’m not in their shoes! Fair point on the IVY+ that still one month ahead.

I just know last time with S23 … he had public ivy offer and ultimately selected that over SHC (to my dismay) and now S25 has a different public ivy offer … and for a full four weeks he will have immersed himself in research/understanding/visiting this school… so almost if blessed with a SHC acceptance it takes an immense amount of prying as a parent to have serious discussions on the best fit.

Alas, glass half full… all of the students are blessed with opportunity abound. I just have first principle beliefs that the PSU SHC is second to none.