For those that were accepted today, when did you apply?
Still shaking my head.
Forgive my rehashing of this.
Oldest son not accepted to biomedical engineering at main campus last week. UW 4.0 GPA, ACT 35, SAT2s 800/760, great ECs/letter. And in state. He actually applied to Schreyer as well thinking he had a shot. His guidance counselor called it the oddest Penn State decision he has seen.
Looking at a lot of the acceptances still being posted, he was certainly a competitive candidate.
A couple of other acceptances have come in for him since (and some merit awards pending), and a bunch more schools still to hear from.
No sour grapes; he has pretty much moved on, although he has liked Penn State since elementary school.
He was given option of a branch campus, and he is being ‘re-reviewed’ for main campus possibly with summer option, both of which he would likely turn down at this point.
As a Pennsylvania resident, I would honestly just like to know how the decision was made. He did not apply super early; was the major ‘filled’?? Did Penn State somehow thing he would not enroll? His guidance counselor was going to try to talk to an admissions officer and try to get a feel for what exactly happened.
It is just odd…he has a shot at H/P/Y/Stanford/Berkeley, etc., but he did not get into Penn State…
I would just call the admissions office. They can discuss with you why he was not accepted. I know of other people who did this. Just call them and even if he’s not interested anymore, it might just answer some questions for you. I know the engineering, especially biomedical is extremely competitive.
@CDK - that is CRAZY! He is definitely Ivy league potential. I can’t figure this out. I don’t care how competitive the major is - you don’t get stats much better than his and he is in state. The only things I can think of - mistake, or yield protection (for a state school?!). They don’t want to be a Safety anymore? But in the process, they are risking losing some of their best candidates? Definitely call admissions. And if it wasn’t a mistake, their loss.
@CDK - I totally understand your frustration. I just don’t get it either. As I mentioned we are in a similar boat (your sons stats are better) but still. My son is still waiting on the reconsideration as well. It is mind-blowing some of the schools he was accepted to with very good merit based awards but yet needs to be reconsidered for summer PSU. Problem is that it is still his number one choice. Then to have 3 status changes and no final answer today just adds to the frustration. I’m glad to hear your son has moved on but good luck as it still would be nice for him to have the option.
They don’t admit by major, only by school. (With a few specific exceptions, I think.)
And as far as I know they don’t particularly care about yield, either. “Level of applicant’s interest” is still “not considered” on the Common Data Set.
@bodangles Based on the feedback I received in Engineering it is by major
@Thewaiting4ever Care to share that feedback? I was going off of the website (“Penn State typically reviews applications for admissibility to the chosen campus, rather than a particular program (with the exception of a few majors, like our special programs). As a result, changing the major on your application typically does not change your admission decision–often times, the application review for a different major will lead to the same decision.”) and the fact that nobody enters a major until the end of sophomore year. I don’t know what the point would be of admitting someone for BME specifically when they won’t be in BME for another two years, and might switch out or fail out of that major or engineering in general before then. Would they admit someone for ChemE and deny them for BME? Why, if that person just becomes an ENGR (pre-engineering) major and can follow whatever four-year plan they like, including BME?
Daughter accepted DUS for Summer 2016. Excited but was counting on keeping job through the summer at home. Anyone have any experience or idea of chances with requesting re-consideration for Fall admission.
@pagr63 As far as I know, you won’t be able to be reconsidered for fall if you were accepted for summer dus.
@bodangles I agree everything you mentioned is what they say but based on a few calls and the letter my son received today there is a difference by major at least in engineering. I’m new to this process but it seems to be the case.
@Thewaiting4ever I have to agree with you. I’m not familiar with engineering, only Smeal, but my sons friends who put down finance as their “intended” major did not get in. Even the ones with higher stats than him. My son put down accounting as his “intended” major and got in. Accounting is not as popular as their finance major . nor does it require as high a gpa. So, I have to wonder, if your “intended” major has something to do with how you are accepted.
@japsmom what was your daughters stats? I would like to compare just to get a feel for the acceptance standards… Thank you so much!
Does anyone know if there is any method to how they release decisions? My app has been complete since early October, applied DUS to fall (couldn’t do summer anyway) with 1850 SAT and 3.74 GPA. Still have not heard…
Denied from summer and fall for business at University Park (finance)
Stats:
SAT: 1810 (650 math 600 wr 560 cr)
GPA: 3.9 w
-In state, school is top ten in the country, varsity sport and good ec’s.
-Will appeal to get summer undecided.
@freckledtatertot It’s my son. His stats were 3.9 uw gpa and 1780 sat. But I know they only look at CR + M and I think those 2 combined were 1270. He got in summer to Smeal.
@pagr63 Summer is binding in that if you get into summer, you either go for summer or don’t go to Penn State. That being said, there are lots of jobs available in town and on campus in the summer as so many students have left for the summer. For what it’s worth, my daughter went summer last year and LOVED it.
Thanks for the reply. I’ve heard nothing but good things about starting in summer so we’ll do what we can to make it work out.
@nittanynation01 yes, same thing happened to me and I got in. What’s your stats?