Rejected

Colleges & Universities Penn State
1

I just received a letter from Penn State saying that they are unable to offer me admission. This may sound conceited, but I’m honestly not sure why. I am in the top 10 of my class (out of a class of 525), my SAT is 2190, I have a 5.15 GPA, etc. etc. I have also already been accepted to other schools like Northeastern, University of Miami, University of Maryland, and Rutgers. I don’t understand. In the letter, it says I didn’t take the appropriate courses for my program. However, looking at the requirements, I’m pretty sure I did. I applied for Computer Science in the school of engineering. Here is what my schedule has looked like, in addition to physical education/health all 4 years:

9th Grade= Honors English I, Honors Biology, Honors Geometry, Honors World History, Spanish I, American Media Studies
10th Grade= Honors English II, Honors Chemistry, Honors Algebra II, Spanish II, Video Production, Music Production
11th Grade=AP Language and Composition, AP Physics I, AP Statistics, Honors US History I, Video Production
12th Grade= Local Community college english courses (the writing process 1st semester, the short story 2nd semester), AP Biology, AP Computer Science, AP US History, Video Production

Can anybody tell me what I did wrong? I know the school of engineering has a 3 year math requirement, but I was pretty sure I hit that with my geometry, algebra II, and statistics. Is this the issue? Does stat not count? Or is there something else I’m missing?

Anybody else run into this problem?

Thank you!

2

It’s probably because you didn’t take trigonometry. According to the website, the College of Engineering requires: 3 units, in algebra, geometry, and trigonometry, including one-half unit of trigonometry or higher-level math. That would be my guess as the rest of your stats are great.

3

If it were me, I would probably call admissions and speak with them to see if you can get a better answer than you would get from people speculating. Sounds from what you posted that you are missing some classes but they could better tell you what they think you missed. It could be something other than the Math.

4

Yea I was worried about my math, but my school doesn’t offer a course in trig. They offer precalc and ap calc, but I was much more interested in stat and comp sci and elected to take those. I just thought that stat would count as a “higher level math.” Other kids from school have gotten in however, despite my school not having a trig class. I’m not sure what programs they applied to though. Kinda stinks, thanks for the insight!

5

The engineering program expects you to start in Calc 1 to graduate on time; I wouldn’t be surprised if your decision not to take precalc was the reason they didn’t offer you admission.

6

The engineering program admission requirements I’ve seen require precalc. You could look at the website and double check.

You could also go ahead and call and see if you could take a class at a cc and if you could then be admitted.

7

They want pre-calculus for engineering, and not taking a math each year also hurts. Most successful candidates have pre-calculus and calculus.
See if they’d reconsider you for ITS data science or dus. Take trigonometry this semester, or find a community college where you can take trig /pre-calculus either spring quarter or summer semester.

8

It doesn’t matter that your school does not offer a specific course in trigonometry; trig is usually a part of algebra II and/or precalculus. I would imagine your failure to take at least precalculus is the issue. Stats is not the same as precalc. I’m surprised you didn’t get better guidance in high school.

9

Resubmit your application as DUS. You should absolutely get in. My son has many friends who resubmitted and tehy were accepted DUS. It doesn’t matter what you are accepted as, everyone must apply to their major after earning 44-59 credits. Surprised you already heard from Miami. When my son applied 2 years ago, they didn’t send out acceptances til April. FYI- I went to Maryland and it is a great school and very fun. So you have great choices if PSU doesn’t work out.