PSU becomes as hard as Ivies if you don’t apply right away. Their rolling admissions barely accepts anyway one after Nov 30
Update: Called the admissions office and was transferred immediately over to an admissions counselor. Absolutely dissatisfied and disgusted with the response I got. The counselor said my stats were above and beyond but my activities was the result of my denial. I couldn’t believe what was coming out of her mouth. I have three consecutive years of leadership (student council and ambassador), member of various clubs such as community service and student against destructive decisions, treasurer of National Honors Society, and I tutor elementary students five days a week after school for two hours. How on earth could my activities be the result of a denial?! This was not what I expected to hear from PSU. The counselor I spoke with was rude and seemed like she did not want to clarify what exactly is going on with my application.
@julietxn I am shocked and so sorry, not sure if trying to call back tomorrow and speaking to someone else would help. Im sure they are getting a ton of calls but you certainly deserve to be there. others may have advice everyone on here is helpful
@nocontest Ummm, no. Though PSU/UP has high standards they are not Ivy League stats. The average SAT score for Ivy League schools is around 1500. PSU average is about 200 points less.
@ julietxn There must be more to this story that we don’t know. A 3.9 GPA and 1490 SAT is well above the average acceptance numbers. If your EC’s are true then something is either missing or this is one very odd app.
@Oneiota They were speaking in terms of acceptance rate, not entry stats. Either way it is a hard claim to verify because nobody knows exactly how hard it is to be accepted if you applied after Nov 30.
my portal says sorry we are unable to retrieve your application details.Logout and try again in a few minutes. The pic changed to Nittany Lion
@Oneiota I wish I knew more to what exactly is going on with my application. In regards to my EC’s, I submitted the exact activities I mentioned earlier to PSU including a pretty decent essay. In addition, I applied mid-November and had all supporting materials in by November 30th. I’ll try calling again tomorrow and see if I can speak to a counthat can actually give me a more reasonable response. Thank you all for your help and advice! This is truly frustrating.
@julietxn sometimes they reject people of your stats to increase yield because it is likely you would get accepted to a more selective school and go there (ivies), which would decrease their yield if they accepted you.
I have never seen Penn State caring about that. It was my safety and they accepted me quickly.
**And they have an honors college. Why would they reject people who could be Schreyer applicants?
@julietxn Maybe they thought you were so impressively overqualified to be at Penn State that they rejected you because your accomplishments would make everyone feel inferior there. Thats the only explanation I can come up with, that or maybe they confused you with someone else’s app. I have like 3 extra curricular activities total and slightly above average stats and they let me in.
Again, this is not a thing they do.
My daughter was accepted to UP fall 2017
GPA 4.2, SAT 1080, school does not rank but she would be top 25%. Great essay, Excellent recommendations. Lots of AP, extracurricular and tons of volunteering. Still deciding also accepted to Pitt, Delaware, Scranton, Quinnipiac and OSU.
accepted for 2+2. Wanna choose to start at Abington
SAT 1290 (new)
GPA: around 90%
Rank: does not rank
Other stats: predicted 91, 9.6/10 in grade 10
Subjective:
Essays: Great
Ec’s: average
Teacher Recs: did not send
Counselor Rec: did not send
Location/Person: out of state
State or Country: India
School Type: Public
Gender: Male
Accepted-Smeal College of Business for Management information Systems
@bodangles Your points lack validity on acceptance rates either before or after the Nov 30th deadline. The acceptance rate at Penn State is roughly 50%. Let’s assume that’s for all campuses making UP more selective. Smeal has an acceptance rate of 11%, which apparently is one of the lowest for PSU. Safe to assume to overall rate is higher. Ivy league acceptance rates are in the single digits for most part. Harvard is around 5% and the average SAT is over 1500 with a 4.0 GPA.
Before or after Nov 30th the Ivy League is more selective, the stats are hard to argue any differently. Not knocking PSU, as far as state schools UP is one of the best but it’s apples/oranges for the most part with Ivy’s
@Oneiota Please reread my post and drop the condescending attitude. I didn’t make any points, so these non-existent points can’t “lack validity.”
I am not aware of any data detailing acceptance rates for applicants who did not meet the priority deadline. That is the information you would need in order to prove nocontest’s claim of it being Ivy-esque. I said this would be difficult to do, because we don’t have that information. That is all I said.
@julietxn I am baffled by the response from admissions. I would definitely call back and speak to someone different. You don’t even have to wait until tomorrow. Just call back. There are plenty of reps working. And if you get the same one, ask to speak to a supervisor or a different rep. That explanation makes no sense. So either there is more to this story or this is a one in a million application.
^it especially makes no sense considering GPA is 2/3 of the decision and EC’s basically dont factor in.
Is there any type of waiting list you can ask to be put on for UP? Could I contact an admissions counselor and request this?
@EngineerWannaB7 As far as I know there is no waiting list. Did you hear back from your request to be reconsidered DUS? If you were denied that request then there is nothing else you can do other than do the 2+2. 60% of Penn State students start at a branch and finish at UP. Penn State engineering has an excellent reputation and starting at a commonwealth campus may boost your GPA and help you get into the Engineering major in jr. year.