@dtheman17 my aunt was accepted to up and an Ivy League and chose to attend Behrend for the first two years and to this day says she would not have changed a thing
@amm105 when did you send in your test scores? And we’re other test scores sent in previously and these scores just updating? Because according to literally every single admissons rep and written information, you entire application must be complete (including test scores) by Nov 30 to be considered priority. After Nov 30 and you should not yet have a decision.
The only way I can see this happening is if you had scores sent previously and the scores you sent in December were updated scores. You may have then been admitted based on your old scores.
If none of that is true, then PSU might be in for a parental revolt because most priority applicants are still waiting. It’s awesome that you got in and your stats are stellar, but it would be very upsetting to many to hear the process is not working as explained.
Accepted to Penn State University Park Thursday (12/10/15) to their College of Communications with an intended field of study for Advertising/Public Relations!
My SAT scores were kind of low: 1850
GPA: 4.8 W 3.75 UW
I don’t know if this is where I’ll end up, but it’s definitely one of my top choices! Good luck to everyone else still waiting 
Congrats @calmypal ! May I ask the date you applied?
I wonder when you request your transcript from your HS they automatically send the test scores too? I would hope they wouldn’t, then why would students pay SAT and ACT to send them to colleges if their High School did?
@crazycat220 I know our HS didn’t. Because they want you to be able to send the scores you want. Some schools use ALL of the scores sent to them to see a pattern. PSU uses your best scores sent to them. In the case of the above poster, I believe that PSU must have had some other scores from her from either when she took her tests and filled in their info to send tests to or some other way, because otherwise, it goes against everything and if I were someone waiting now, I’d be happy for the poster, but pretty mad at PSU!
@jlhpsu I sent in my ACT scores the day before Thanksgiving. But I did notice a notification on the ACT homepage stating that orders would not be processed until November 30th, which I’m assuming is because staff would be away on Thanksgiving break. I was aware that my application checklist had to be 100% complete by the 30th in order to be considered priority, so I actually emailed admissions myself. Apparently, I am not the only one who did, because they said they understood that many scores would be coming in late and they would take that into consideration during the admissions process. The date my scores were processed were out of my control, and they understood that. I checked my application status everyday, and I believe it was all complete by December 3rd.
Ah, the admissions process is quite annoying; I can see why many people are upset. Good luck to those who haven’t heard back yet.
Stats:
SAT:not sent
Act: 31 comp
SAT IIs: physics-670 math 1-750 math 2-730
GPA: 3.94
Rank: top 20%
Subjective:
Essays: reviewed for weeks by peers and teachers
Teacher Recs: written by teachers that I am very close to
Counselor Rec: counselor had a lot to write about
Involved in athletics
Location/Person:
State or Country: Connecticut
School Type: public high school
Ethnicity: white
Gender: male
Sent in early November.
Accepted to university park with major of aerospace engineering around early December.
@amm105 No that actually makes sense. They do consider technical difficulties and situations outside of the applicant’s control with standardized testing companies. So since you e mailed admissions, they were aware of the issue and you had sent them prior but the ACT company didn’t get them out - it makes perfect sense why you’d be in priority. That’s why I asked the questions, because otherwise it wouldn’t make sense. You have very high stats, which are usually the ppl who hear quickly -so it’s all good, and congratulations!
Hey! Just to let you engineering applicants know, my friend called the school a few days ago and spoke Dean of Admissions. He said they barely start looking at applications until end January. Hope this makes feel better! :x
@Fisherprice111 Thanks for sharing. Do you know why this is the case? Do they review and hold most of the applications to get an idea of how competitive the pool of applicants are before deciding on admissions? It is hard for me to accept that they are not looking at them at all until January.
@datahound They may be doing what UDel does. Last year UDel had more students accept admissions than they expected. So this year. They are either holding off acceptances or telling people they are waitlisted until March. This way they can see who accepts admissions from the initial batch of acceptances.
Maybe, PSU is doing the same. Waiting to see who (of the higher stat students) will accept their offer of admittance. If all or most do then they know they can only admit a smaller percentage of students. If less do…then they can admit more.
@zipbags That is my exact thought as well. I recall seeing several Engineering acceptances on 1/21 posted here last year with scores similar to my S: right on the beginning of the blue bubble section. I feel that if you are not high up in the blue section, your scores are held and released only after they have an idea of how many of the higher score students have accepted. If there is no room, then I presume the lower blue bubble applicants may have to do Summer Session or get in as DUS for Fall. Until then, we wait. :-"
Any idea if being a legacy helps at all in the PSU admission process? Waiting to hear on my son’s application. He applied Fall/DUS and Summer/DUS as 2nd choice before 11/30 priority deadline. His gpa/classes taken and class rank are good however his SAT’s are on the low end of the range for Main Campus. I am an alum and his sis is a soph at UP. Just curious as many of you seem to have a better grasp of the admission process. Congrats to all accepted so far!
@PAWestMom I have no experience with that, but the fact that they ask for it on the application is telling. It must be evaluated for something. #-o
@PAWestMom It might help if you are a borderline applicant.
This is a great resource for decisions, but this is for acceptances, not speculations. If you don’t work for Penn State, you might not have the information to give to students waiting for admission decisions. Good luck to those who are still waiting.
@Datahound good point. Thx for reply… We will keep checking the portal with hopes of posting acceptance info! Good luck to all…
@PAWestMom I am an alumni and so is my husband. We were told that it was minimally considered. It may help if you are exact borderline. My D went summer this year but she didn’t hear until end of Jan 2015.
You can certainly drive yourself nuts waiting and speculating. Just take the charts and bubbles and everything mentioned as good resources, but certainly never something set in stone. You just never know when a counselor is going to read an essay that resonates with them personally and they give an edge to someone maybe on the cusp. I saw it happen with my son 3 years ago - He got into a school (GWU) where on paper and all charts he was below or border line for their numbers - and then he also got waitlisted or rejected from schools where he really had all they were looking for. These things are all good guidelines but in the end, unless you are at the very bottom or very top (and I think the majority of applicants fall in the middle), a particular essay or grade or something can tip the scale in either direction! Good luck to everyone…I keep checking for my D who applied prior to Nov 30 and still is “under review”…I think I check more than she does!!