It may help you to understand the process that an application goes through to get to a summer admit. There are two pathways -
1)The student applies directly to summer and bypasses the pile of the other applicants who have applied for fall, meaning they are reviewed quicker. If you do a direct summer application, you will have two options: summer admit or referred to the Commonwealth campus.
The student applies for fall admission and checks the option for summer. In this case, the application stays in the pile with everyone who applied for fall, whether they checked summer option or not. The application will be reviewed for fall FIRST, if fall admission cannot be granted for whatever reason, then they will be reviewed for summer. There are three outcomes with this path; Fall Admit, Summer Admit, or Commonwealth campus.
Note: When I say āPile,ā I mean pile. Admissions is not a first-in, first-out process. The applications are sorted into many different groups based on factors such as Admission counselor, GPA, College, etc. The end result is that there is absolutely no obvious rhyme or reason for when decisions are released. Earlier decisions are usually higher stat applicants, however in no way do all high stat kids hear early. Itās so random that it drives people crazy, but it is what it is.
All of the advice given so far is spot on for this question. I would only add that if he is denied admission to Smeal pre-major as a freshman, he can ask for reconsideration for DUS. So you can wait out the decision and then ask for a reconsideration if the outcome is not what you wanted.
Keep in mind that no one at Penn State is in a major until they complete entry to major requirements. He can complete Smeal entry to major classes as either a Smeal pre major or a DUS student.
Thank you for the information! If we do not get even the summer start is asking for a reconsideration for DUS a good option? The other option I was thinking was we heard there is a good business program in the agriculture school that he may be interested in as a back up option. Any recommendations for which direction we should go if we have to ask for a reconsideration?
I think the business major (s) in the College of Ag are less competitive than DUS simply because many students never bothered looking through the different colleges and what majors they offer so they donāt apply. It offers a lot of professional opportunities, too.
PSU was at my daughterās school and everything youāve written is exactly what they said about reviewing direct summer applications, EA app reviews, etc! Very helpful, thank you!!
What type of stats likely get direct admit to Smeal? S25 OOS (northeast) has a 3.99UW 4.7w. 9 APs all 5ās and 1480 SAT. we are told he has very strong of ECās, work experience and so on. Admittedly, UVA and McIntire is his first choice (no direct admit) but Smeal, Kelley (IU) and U of Richmond are a close second. However, personally, not getting direct admit into a business school makes me a little nervous as there are no guarantees of getting in once you are enrolled.
How do I know if I applied for straight up summer session or fall with the option of summer session? I would prefer straight up summer because of the increased chances of admission and faster response time. I submitted on the penn state website.
These stats tend to converge toward an Admission to Smeal Pre Major, with a possible Sapphire offer. He could also apply to Schreyer if his writing skills are strong.
However remember itās just Pre Major, he has to get the grades and GPA in the classes he takes, just like anyone else. Itās not holistic like McIntire, so all students who get the grades are in, but he still needs to get A/B grades overall and in specific classes.
Look into the credits for his AP classes, especially if he has Calc AB/BC and Micro/Macro.
I think @MYOS1634 explained it, but I want to clarify, he is not IN his major until a series of conditions are met.
required pre-reqs
gpa requirement
credit window (usually sophomore year).
It doesnāt matter if he starts DUS pre-major (undecided) or Smeal pre-major. Both paths converge when the student applies to be in their major with the conditions met.
One important difference to note: as long as the student meets the gpa requirement and other conditions, they are in. It isnāt āthe top x number and even if you meet the minimum you might not make it.ā Meet the requirements = in major.
Iām not sure if this is the proper thread for this question (so please let me know if not!) ā¦ but I am wondering about the academic program review that is ongoing at Penn State and how to assess the likelihood of your childās preferred program (my child has applied to the Kinesiology/Movement Science program) being affected by budget cuts. The most recent data I could find on the program size is from 2016-17, and it indicates that only ~600 undergrads were Kinesiology majors. I have some concerns about such a comparatively small program being on the chopping blockā¦ Thanks for any guidance! (Hereās a link to an announcement about the academnic program review. Our stateās flagship university recently went through a similar process and many programs were cut - which is why this issue is on our radar as she looks at colleges.)
As of October 22nd still awaiting PSU University Park decisionā¦ DS25 submitted application Aug-26th as he wanted to get all the SHC essays / questions in-and-done with/through Common App.
Stats:
In State
4.0 UW
SAT 1470
Class Rank 1/108
IB diploma
ECs ā¦ class VP, captain rowing , volleyball, volunteer, theater, et cetera.
Key to decision will be main campus and schreyer honors college (March decision)
Kinesiology is not on the chopping block. Within the college of HHD (health and human development), it is one of the larger majors. It is a well-respected program with two primary tracks: pre-PT and gym teacher (those are not the official names). The pre-PT track places well for DPT programs.
Longer explanationā¦
At most flagship universities, a major may be on the chopping block if it has regularly fewer than 5-10 majors (depending on size of university) over 5 or 10 years.
Thereās a recognition not everyone may be able or willing to major in Theoretical Physics, Chinese language&culture, or Philosophy, yet those subjects are intrinsic to the university being recognized at the level it wants to be recognized.
(Intrinsic importance to the definition of what a university is, may or may not factor in at the R1 -high research- level, even more so at the AAU level aka 70 most research-focused universities that must respect international standards of excellence, or thereās a high risk of losing legitimacy. This has to be accomplished in addition to offering a wide variety of majors and responding to a stateās needs as well as student demand.)
It is much riskier at non R1 public universities that arenāt trying to remain respected internationally, especially regional universities (such as PASSHE) where majors are linked more closely to regional/local economic issues.
But that wouldnāt be Penn State.
@MYOS1634 and @lucy_van_pelt Thank you both for your insight - itās very helpful & provides some assurance! UConn is another school that is apparently going through the same process, and they published a list of the 70 programs under review. Without that kind of info for Penn State, we didnāt want to make any assumptions. Thanks again!
