<p>I’m not really sure if applying earlier helps or not. I applied Nov 29th back in 2009 and got my acceptance to the main campus, without being required summer session, about 2-3 weeks later. My stats were around a 3.3uw GPA and a 1900 SAT. My ecs included Eagle Scout, Church youth group, and student gov’t. Applying to a less popular major does help. I got accepted into the Classics major. If you want to get into the Smeal Business College or Architecture school your stats will have to be higher because they are more competitive. Hope this helped a bit. Also, if any of you want to go into the liberal arts college look into the Paterno Fellows Program. It gives guaranteed acceptance to the honors college during your sophomore year provided you take a few honors credits and maintain a 3.4 in accordance with the honors college requirements.</p>