I’m not an expert, but I’d think the College of Engineering might be equally difficult for all of the majors because you don’t declare a major until later and the beginning is really exploring.
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Some specialties may be more competitive even if the selection criteria are the same. I always heard Biomedical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering were more competitive because so many students are interested in them.
ETA: Okay, checked
Essentially there are 2 streams: both require MATH 140-141&Phys 211, then either CS related courses or chem& Engineering design. Then there are GPA criteria to access each major.
That being said it stands to reason that all College of Engineering majors would have the same criteria for admission since the first year is basically the same for all Engineering premajors save for one class or two.
However Engineering majors can also be found in College of Agriculture (such a s Biological Engineering) and EMS (like the people who invented Lion glass). It stands to reason their own criteria would apply. In addition, because most students don’t know these Engineering majors are there, fewer apply, which makes them much less competitive.
About Engineering, I found this Industrial Engineering/Art article really interesting - doesn’t hide the fact Engineering is a very stressful major but shows how it can encapsulate more than math&physics:
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OOS heard from engineering in mid November. aerospace. 7 APS, 4 year varsity athlete, team captain, job and other ECs. submitted SAT
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Awesome! Thank you 
It really doesn’t make sense 
and I hope they reconsider indeed.
I have a different opinion and experience about OOS branch campus and I will share it here for those who are going through the process.
My son decided to apply to Altoona (in 2016) as his first-choice campus and it was a very good decision for him. Here are the reasons:
He worked with a professor Freshman year to conduct research. This would not have happened at UP.
He was very involved in THON for Altoona, he ran many of the fundraisers for the campus including the very popular Polar Plunge. He attended THON both years for all 46 hours and was in a leadership position both years.
He met the best of friends, who he is still close with to this day *Graduated in 2020.
Sophomore year he was able to take a few classes at UP. He drove up a few times a week and he enjoyed getting acclimated to the campus and meeting new friends at UP
He was able to bring his car Freshman year
All of my sons friends went to every home football game. They drove up and tailgated and had an amazing time.
We save some $$ as tution was cheaper 
One of his friends was a Sheetz Fellow - what a wonderful opportunity with scholarship money and trip overseas that was paid for! This is an amazing program sponsored by Bob Sheetz - the owner of SHEETZ - he is from the area and visits campus from time to time.
I could go on and on about the opportunities my son had at Altoona and how it helped him grow as a student. In the end I am most proud that upon graduation he got a job at UPENN and during the offer the hiring manager told him that he got the offer because of all of his experiences at PSU - especially the involvement at THON.
Good luck to everyone, I am an alumnus and I am incredibly proud that both my kids chose PSU for their college experience. My DD was just accepted to summer start for UP DUS.
One final thought. We are from NJ and the instate options did not appeal to my kids at all.
Happy to answer any questions!
WE ARE~
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Yes, his GPA×rigor would have meant an admit for Summer if he’d checked the box. 
You can tell him that he’s totally legitimate and see if he wants to risk just checking DUS+summer for reconsideration (if he has other colleges he likes) or if he wants to check another major+summer (if being at UP matters more to him).
In his email asking for reconsideration, he should list his DE courses, his AP courses, his ACT scores, and why he thinks he’s well-suited to Z major OR that he wants DUS because he’s considering (Psychology, Media Studies, Criminology, or Anthropology…) and wants to take classes in these subjects before deciding.
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Dec 13, change on portal at midnight
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Daughter applied for Biology with summer or fall start and accepted at Behrend. She only wants UP. 3.6 UW, 3.9 W, 4 AP including Bio & Physics, 3 HN including Chem & Anatomy. She will try reconsideration route, possibly for Nutrition or Food Science. Are either less competitive options?
Accepted! University Park, Civil Engineering, out of state
3.33 UW, 3.65 W
1550
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Food science is a good major for her strengths and it had excellent professional prospects. + Summer if you can afford to 
Note however that Food Science majors need to have taken precalculus or at least some trigonometry (their highest math can’t be Algebra2).
DS25 would consider PSU SHC heavily for BME.
His older brother DS23 selected GT, and that’s a perfect school for him as BME.
HOWEVER, as a parent, there is something very appealing about going to a HC where ~300 students are not coddled, but, given every opportunity to succeed. Undergrad is important, but it is not the end-all-be-all … that’s something we must all remember. The only point is that the HC are very (very) tempting b/c there is a higher degree of confidence kiddo exits with a near perfect GPA, lots of great experience and leadership.
Me as a parent only, thought of it this way. Would I want any of my kids to go to MIT? Be totally stressed out, fight to have a lower GPA, and cool, get to say went to MIT, but interesting. Or, would I have them go another school and graduate 4.0 become well grounded, and so on. Kind of big fish small pond versus small fish big pond theory. No criticisms warranted here… just my views with time.
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You’re giving me hope!
I really appreciate your quick reply. Her highest was Func/Stat/Trig and she also is taking Statistics this year. Is nutrition more or less competitive than Food Science? Trying to weigh all the options. Also forgot to mention she applied TO.
I’m taken by your perspective that honors at PSU guarantees a 4.0. As a professor at UP for over 16 years I can tell you that it most assuredly does not. Schreyer’s is an excellent program and I’ve worked with many scholars, but there are no guaranteed grades.
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Hi,
Do we do the reconsideration in the Portal or do we just email Admissions the reconsideration request? I believe the reconsideration in the portal requires us to submit a second campus but it doesn’t make sense for us to accept a 2+2 since we are OOS. She already has UPitt acceptance and a few other schools. Waiting to hear back from our instate university which will only be in January. Penn State UP was her number 1 and that’s why we would like to do a reconsideration.
If it’s by email, is there a reconsideration form we need to attach? Or do we just write them an email.
Such good points! My daughter wanted to go to UP, but got into Altoona. She did a lot of debating and was admitted to many other great nursing programs, but her heart was at Penn State. She decided to contact the D3 coach for her sport there, and has since been very happy with the school, team, team members and she is also very involved in Altoona Benefitting Thon and SNAP. She travels with the team and sometimes they stay over in hotels together. We are in state, but I know many out of state students who have attended and chose to attend Commonwealth campuses for 2+2 or all 4 years. The tuition is less plus it is easier to get merit scholarships. My daughter got the Provost Scholarship. If you transfer to UP and get the Provost Scholarship, that transfers with you. Now, my son will be at UP in the fall and they can hang together there. She also has members of her team and other friends transferring to UP so she can also hang with them when they go on weekends. Commonwealth campuses are not the same as UP and not for everyone, but they do make sense for some in state and out of state.
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Just because you are admitted to 2+2 doesn’t mean you have to accept it. Putting the second choice campus, because it is required, will not hurt your chances to be admitted to UP.
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Totally agree, sounds like your daughter had an amazing experience as well./ For context I went to Hazelton in the 80’s and I was the Lion and also played volleyball for the D3 team - it was so fun and I am still in contact with my friends from Hazelton - I loved the experience.
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Also, I toured the nursing labs at Altoona and they were impressive
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