PENN STATE: (HS sophomore) PLEASE HELP

jlhpsu
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 21:35:47 +0000

Penn State is a strictly by the numbers school for the most part. GPA is 2/3 of the decision and Test Scores And Other Factors are the last 1/3. So Other Factors are things like legacy (though it counts, it doesn’t count for much unless you are a borderline student), extra curriculars and etc…You can look at the PSU common data set to see what things they look at for an application and what is considered and what isn’t. https://budget.psu.edu/CDSRedesign/cds.aspx?reportindicator=FreshAdmn&Location=UP&AY=20162017

The best advice would be to bring up your GPA and get good test scores. If you look at the middle 50% of accepted students, the closer you are to the top of both the GPA and the test scores, the more likely you are to get in. Also, the major applied for can be a HUGE factor. Some majors require a much higher GPA than going undecided. Keep up the work and when you apply at the start of your senior year, come back here and ask if the major you selected fits your GPA and test scores. We will be able to better advise you at that point. But in general, higher GPA, higher test scores, better chance!