My son is also applying from out of state for pre-business. His stats are similar to your son’s, though he has an ACT score of 30. Based on the Common Data Set, it looks like your son has a very strong chance of acceptance. Only 32% of applicants submitted SAT scores, with the 75th percentile at 1390, which likely includes high-scoring engineering applicants.
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Fingers crossed. Engineering seems to be its own breed when it comes to admissions!
When asking for reconsideration, can you ask for another major or do they just put you in DUS?
My daughter also got Biobehavioral Health (UP fall)- she got her acceptance on Friday night. Stats- OOS, 4.0 UW, 4.4 W, 12 APs, 32 ACT, 3 sport varsity athlete (not competing at college level), team captain, a few other clubs and a part-time job. We love PSU - Good luck to all!
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Are the decision rollouts entirely random, or does major change them? I applied to communications and if the timing is affected by the major, I would want to know when I could maybe expect mine.
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I recently got admitted to University Park as a Computer Engineering major! OOS, 4.0 UW GPA, 1450 SAT, 8 APs taken (+ 4 APs I am taking this year), 2 dual-enrollment classes, and 3 honor classes.
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I don’t agree that it’s an IQ test, there just aren’t enough interviewers for everyone who applies to have one which is why it can’t matter much unless you say or do something that is of questionable character. We are in the DMV in an area with quite a few Penn State grads and my son still needed to drive a hour to have his. For the original poster, be prepared but don’t sweat the interview too much, just ask questions and be yourself. The weed out with the honors application is not the interview, it’s the essays. They are for the dedicated applicant only! Spend lots of time on them, they are what will set your application apart. For what it’s worth, my son was accepted early to Penn State but not SHC, he had a 1540 SAT, leadership, varsity team captain, work, extracurriculars, and independent research in his intended area of study, and what we thought were very strong essays. He’s a great writer and has had several professors at his university ask to use his exam as the sample to show students. Just giving context, some honors colleges are easier to get into, SHC is a very difficult admit and I don’t think it’s all grades or test scores. My son probably would have accepted Penn State had he been admitted to Schreyers, but he is extremely happy with where he landed. Good luck 
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I don’t agree that it’s an IQ test, there just aren’t enough interviewers for everyone who applies to have one which is why it can’t matter much unless you say or do something that is of questionable character. We are in the DMV in an area with quite a few Penn Stategrads and my son still needed to drive a hour to have his. For the original poster, be prepared but don’t sweat the interview too much, just ask questions and be yourself. The weed out with the honors application is not the interview, it’s the essays. They are for the dedicated applicant only! Spend lots of time on them, they are what will set your application apart. For what it’s worth, my son was accepted early to Penn State but not SHC, he had a 1540 SAT, leadership, varsity team captain, work, extracurriculars, and independent research in his intended area of study, and what we thought were very strong essays. He’s a great writer and has had several professors at his university ask to use his exam as the sample to show students. Just giving context, some honors colleges are easier to get into, SHC is a very difficult admit and I don’t think it’s all grades or test scores. My son probably would have accepted Penn State had he been admitted to Schreyers, but he is extremely happy with where he landed. Good luck
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You MUST ask for another major - one that is less competitive than the one you applied for. You can use your time productively looking through the 100+ majors at Penn State and deciding on one or two you’d like. (And check summer if you hadn’t.)
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Congrats to all that have been admitted!!! If you haven’t heard back yet, don’t worry. My OOS son submitted his application last year prior to the 11/1 deadline, but not the SRAR and other items that typically other schools allow extra time for, that PSU does not… So he did have to wait, but finally got accepted to UP for CS in early January, however chose to go elsewhere. He loved the campus and atmosphere, but ultimately it came down to OOS costs, especially the additional $7,770 for Junior and Senior year for Engineering, Rates Effective 2025 Fall Semester UP | Tuition Information.
Pardon, the IQ test comment I made was not disparaging or no disrespect. My only point … it cannot hurt per se. NOTE: This year it appears they are 100% online (maybe for legal reasons). Any who… my oldest son was accepted to PSU SHC and turned it down to go to a top four engineering school. BUT, the SHC was clearly his second choice… just felt like a better fit during school visits. That written, DS25 is applying and completed his SHC interview online… and it was very nice… he learned a lot … and in his essays talks about attending things like Atherton Hall and visiting at Spring Scholar Day… to your point, the essays and demonstrated interest throughout the entire process is what seems to be a tie breaker.
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Really seems like every admit so far has submitted scores so I bet it is true that the school does those first.
… we were chatting about Honors College interview.
For who were admitted, did the TO button disappear before the portal update or did the portal just update? Or not sure what happened?
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She didn’t apply to Schreyer’s because a current Schreyer’s student convinced her not to apply.
Wondering if you might be willing to share more about why she decided against applying to Schreyer? My daughter is planning to apply, but I’m curious about the pros/cons (and have mostly heard only pros). Thanks!
The student claimed to be very stressed out and was having difficulty with work/life balance. The student claimed that she spent most of her time studying vs. the non-Honors students and that there’s a lot of pressure to maintain a high GPA in order to remain in the program. I don’t know the student’s major unfortunately.
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Thank you for sharing! It’s helpful to keep in mind in the event my daughter gets accepted to Penn State but not to SHC … or even in the event she is lucky enough to be accepted to both and has the chance to decide which way to go.
She should. It makes a big difference to the freshman/sophomore experience (even if the current SHC student doesn’t realize it because they’re taking for granted the benefits they’re enjoying) = A personal adviser and early registration are absolutely key + central dorms with an excellent cafeteria, easy access to most labs and the library, less noise/vomit than East (the freshman/party dorms) + a better, two-semester sequence to replace 2 gen eds that includes a field trip + an opportunity to participate in a leadership course with a Summer and Fall retreat (all expenses paid) and other opportunities…
I think the Schreyer app can be turned in till Nov30. It’s a lot of work and they only admit about 30-35 students per college (300 SHC freshmen out of 8,000).
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Thank you for this feedback as well! We are OOS and don’t know current/recent students, so it’s helpful to hear multiple perspectives.
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