THIS applicant is fine. However, you mentioned that Penn State “looks for a 3.5”, which is actually below their 25th percentile, so that’s not really true. And a 3.2 DUS major is not even on the bubble. It’s usually a commonwealth campus. 90% of the time at least.
I am a PSU grad, so is my husband and I’ve had two kids go there as well with a third kid in this upcoming application cycle. I’ve been, along with @lucyvanpelt and others, on this board offering advice for over 5 years. I was also a parent ambassador for PSU for a bit. Going from Summer UP to Fall UP is almost impossible unless the applicant applied only to summer session. When you apply to Fall with summer optional start, you are ALREADY denied for fall when they offer you summer. You wouldn’t be able to change to fall from a summer admission in that case. As far as your example, I am in deep suspicion that it did not happen this way unless he was a recruited athlete or some other major hook or abnormality. It is not the norm.
True that when you get to UP you can change into other majors at orientation - depending on the major. You can always be “Pre” anything with the idea that you need to pass your entry to major classes to get into the major. Enrollment controlled majors are not easy to switch into at orientation. Being “in” a major at Penn State is not the same as being accepted into a major. When you are accepted into a major at PSU you are really a pre-whatever student. You aren’t IN your major unless and until you satisfy all entry to major requirements.
As I said, I’ve been here for a very long time - with others here longer than me. We’ve seen kids with very high stats denied. It all depends on the rigor and grading scale of your high school. A few years ago, there was one stunned girl with a 4.0 Weighted GPA that was denied. When she appealed it turned out that her school weights very generously so that her 4.0 was basically meaningless. That’s why the chance me threads are ridiculous. A 4.0 at one school is not a 4.0 at another. At my kids school, an A is a 95%. So a 4.0 there is not equal to a 4.0 at the neighboring school where an A is a 90%.