I think you have a good shot! I think you did the right thing sending in your scores. My daughter didn’t send in scores last year and they gave her Altoona for nursing (which she declined). I think not sending in the scores hurt her:) Good luck!!
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Thank you 
OOS.
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When my older daughter applied 2 years ago, her TO button disappeared and when we checked through the portal the acceptance letter was there. We saw the letter there before the email was sent to her because we just so happened to catch it before the email was sent.
That’s what I thought too. I hope it all works out. I’ll keep you posted. Thank you so much!
Question about PSU - my son got his acceptance today 
he applied in late August.
I think he applied with IST as first choice and Eberly as second. His acceptance is to Eberly. Does that mean he was passed over by IST - or could he still have a chance there as well?
3.98UW/4.9 Weighted, 34 ACT, in state. This feels like such a dumb question - but would appreciate any insight. Really thought he had a strong chance for IST.
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Congrats! You can’t apply with both choices at University Park. He must’ve applied to Eberly with a branch campus as his second choice. Was it data science? Waiting impatiently to hear about my son… now I wish has had done Eberly instead of IST. We debated… want to hear! I think for data science it’s easy to switch between the three colleges because they say you choose which focus of the three after the first two years. I asked at an open house and that’s what they said and that’s how the website sounds. Could you share your son’s stats and if he submitted test scores?
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These stats are all so high - it makes me feel hopeless for my senior DD with a 27 ACT and 3.5 UW/4.0W GPA…it seems like the average has increased even further this year. I know she is bottom 25th percentile based on 2024 stats but may be completely out of luck this year 
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Stupid question…when people say the “test optional button” disappears right before a decision comes out, where is that “button”? Are we talking about the left side navigation bar where it says " Change my test-optional answer" or is there something else? Thanks!
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From what I’ve read here, it’s only the high-stat kids who get admitted in early November. I wouldn’t worry too much about not hearing back yet.
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Correct
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My advice would be to go look at the previous years EA threads and you will see that high stats kids that submitted test scores are admitted first. I’ve told my daughter that she shouldn’t expect to hear anything until sometime in December.
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This is totally inaccurate.
The interview is NOT an IQ test and does no assessment of any academic qualifications. The admissions team will do a deep dive into the transcript since they are the ones trained to do that. Interviews are completed by alumni, parents, and “friends” of Schreyer. (Not Schreyers or Schreyer’s).
The interviews this year are either via zoom or there are in-person 1-1 meetings that are set up ad hoc. They are not all virtual, but there is not a designated interview day at a local law office/busines/etc. like there has been in previous years.
Interviews are to assess soft qualifications and fit. Most of the time, they help, but if a candidate cannot carry on a conversation, they can also hurt. I do not believe SHC uses interest as a decision criteria, but all those things have made the candidate knowledgeable.
As a side note, I am hearing that applications increased again while they still aim for a class of 300 incoming freshmen.
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Again, not an IQ test and yes, it can hurt if the candidate cannot carry on a conversation.
Tie breaker will be the essays. Is this a kid that professors would like in their class? Are they interesting? Are they engaging? Every application is read at least twice and some will be read three times.
Interview can help as another data point.
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The average is only increasing every year because the majority of people sending in their scores are very high stat kids. This is why I feel like we (and a lot of other people) get discouraged looking at the percentiles but in reality, I think they look much more into just test scores.
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My daughter never had a change in that panel where the test optional part is. She got an email from “admissions” and almost did not open it. It said to check her portal a decision had been made. Letter was in portal for acceptance. Still after that, no change to that panel in her portal at all.
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She applied in maybe late August before school started, but submitted test optional at that time. She changed her mind and submitted SAT scores in mid October. So not sure if that changed when her application was final or not.
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Thanks! He was admitted for Statistics - but I think he applied with data science in mind. He did the application without me - and couldn’t remember when he showed me last night what he did for his application 
Also - he is high stats (I have another one coming up that won’t be the same so I understand the stress!) - so I’m guessing that may be why he heard early.
Thanks for the congrats - and I guess he did choose Eberly! (I totally thought he was planning to apply IST :).
PSU is one of his top choices - so he’s excited. He’s also applied for Schreyer’s - not sure if being in Eberly vs. IST will make a difference for that - time will tell.
I was surprised he heard this early - but we are in state and he got his application in end of August, I think.
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If he applied and got in for Statistics, he should stick with it and if he decides to attend and he’s decided on data science he can ask to switch majors at Orientation (the first semester is very similar/year you can look up Suggested Academic Plan+ Statistics+ PSU and SAP+Data Science + PSU and compare
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Totally bums me out. We submitted test scores then withdrew them after seeing some of the posts with students in the high 1400’s and 1500’s. My D25’s score was good but in comparison to others, maybe no great. Took a chance and rolled the dice.
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I’m in the same boat. I was debating whether to change to Test Optional after seeing all these high stats, but I think I’m just gonna keep my score and see what happens.
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