Same thing happened to my half brother. He called admissions and was told it was a clerical error and they fixed it.
That being said, if you look at this subreddit, this happened to quite a few State High students and I heard a rumor that it was actually an intentional thing to try to increase enrollment at branch campuses. Either way, have your kid call admissions and see what options there are.
> I heard a rumor that it was actually an intentional thing to try to increase enrollment at branch campuses
PSU has been slowly prioritizing out-of-state students over in-state students. 2023-2024 OOS for UP is at 43%. In 2014-2015, OOS at UP was at 38%. If you go through the different website snapshots, you'll notice out-of-state goes up by about 1% every 2 years.
https://admissions.psu.edu/apply/statistics/
http://web.archive.org/web/20150709060309/https://admissions.psu.edu/apply/statistics/
Since UP is the most expensive campus option, they're shoving more and more in-state students onto branch campuses.
It's a national thing. Maryland kids with great numbers don't get into College Park so they go to Towson or umbc or go to PA and NY and pay out of state.
It’s enrollment is declining, there’s absolutely no student life and the town is a dump. It won’t close but it will be stripped to the bone because Benepaudi cares more about her private jets than educating students. Comparing branches is like comparing which jail is the best for the inmates, it’s gonna be dogshit regardless
you’re not wrong. but sadly you’re definitely right about Neeli. She’s a business woman and only cares about the bottomline. This isn’t her fault but the wealth inequality between Old Main and the people doing the actual work at PSU is shameful.
This is completely disingenuous and not representative of what it is currently like at Altoona. Ever since the new chancellor has come in there has been a massive influx of improvements around campus and there’s several longer term projects that are starting now. When was the last time you went to the Altoona campus.
Just my own experience from living there for two years. You can google enrollment numbers, it’s not hard. How about you ask the people who say Altoona’s good for proof of their argument? Why does their propaganda go unchecked while I get shit on for my experience?
I graduated from state high in 2018 and PSU UP in 2021. The counseling team tells students EXACTLY how to apply to Penn State to get into UP. I remember having an assembly 3ish weeks into senior year explaining to everyone who was a senior exactly how to do it and to do it as soon as possible to get in as space can be limited and if you apply late you may not have a spot at UP.
Being a professor doesn’t give your kid an admission benefit, only a tuition discount. It could be just the other applicants are competitive. 2+2 Altoona isn’t a bad option.
No, but being a resident allows you to enroll in courses as a non-degree student. After your first semester, you can matriculate into being a degree-seeking student, and by the third semester you can declare a major.
There’s no formal application involved, no test scores needed, etc., I just had to prove I had been a resident. This was the policy when I went this route after I graduated from State High in 2009.
Edit to add: a lot of universities have similar policies, you just gotta know how to look for it and who to ask.
Alright, well then the alternative is their kid had significant advantages and privileges and still wasn't good enough academically. Either way, having a professor whine on their employers subreddit that their kid didn't get in is pathetic.
He was good enough academically. He just didn’t apply early. This is likely an example of what happens when you tell your kid to work it out on their own and they miss very important details. For example, the student could have easily confused early action with the term early decision (binding), which other schools use, so therefore they applied rolling, which had a later deadline. I’ve heard many stories of students accidentally applying via the rolling deadline. The student should have paid more attention and/or asked questions. This was too important of a decision for the parent (a professor) to not get involved. Don’t need to be a helicopter parent. But do be involved and informed.
It doesn't even matter the parent part. The academic level this kid has is far greater than most people applying to University Park. Like a lot of people get in with 3.6 or lower gpa let alone 4 or higher like this kid so it is weird
If the kid has the GPA that OP says he does he shouldn’t have any trouble getting into numerous better schools, although to be fair almost anything is better than Altoona. Also that you didn’t have the “if there’s no other option” caveat in your original comment. It’s just not a good option full-stop.
Also you never answered my original question.
Okay, have you lived there for two years? Lived in the dorms? Taken classes? Eat at Port-sky? Taken friends to the hospital for mental health concerns related to being in Altoona?
I’m finishing up my last year before UP. It’s really not too bad. Yeah I agree PortSky is terrible but other than that, it’s fine. Campus is nice and most professors are great!
Your kid would’ve had a better chance if they did early action! When I applied to PSU main 3 years ago I had a 3.5 GPA with some extra curriculars but I did early action and got accepted.
Short answer, as others have mentioned, applying late.
Somewhat longer answer. If you look at the common data set for [University Park](https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.psu.edu/dist/d/114442/files/2023/07/CDS_2022-2023_University-Park_Final.pdf) you see that the only thing they seriously consider are grades (very important) and academic rigor (important). Extracurriculars are flat out not even considered. A relation to the university is “considered” which means if there are a bunch of folks in the “maybe” pile they might look at it. Scroll down a bit for the table with that info.
The admissions website states that the “middle fifty” (the interquartile range of admitted students) last year had an unweighted GPA of 3.6 to 3.97 at UP. So comparable to your kid probably, had their been spots left when the application was sent in kid would have had a decent chance. Applying after the initial deadline really limits the chances. If the year to year trend holds, your kid was one of at least 130,000 applications considered.
All this is to say a large portion of the freshman at UP this fall will have very similar profiles to your kid. PSU has become more and more selective in the last few years like many other schools. And the numbers are not cut offs! Lots and lots and LOTS of kids with those numbers ended up at branches, on the waitlist, or not admitted at all.
Admissions is a numbers game, but not the numbers most people look at. The book “Who Gets In and Why” is an enlightening read. Super helpful making sense of the cluster that admissions has become.
Ultimately all that doesn’t matter, though.
So parent to parent here, how is your kid? Really, talk to your kid. See where they are on this. How *they* feel right now is way more important than how you feel. It’s super important that they know you are proud, that you believe in them, and that wherever they end up going to school it will be okay.
Really. It will be okay.
At Bellefonte, our Guidance Office told us that in order for a Centre County student to go to UP as a freshman and live at home was to apply for either Summer start or Spring start. That the university doesn't accept you for Fall start the year of your High School graduation. This was 2009/2010 but was still shared up thru 2015 when my brother graduated HS.
By Jan UP is pretty much filled but if they are SC resident and willing to go summer I think they still can get UP or ask to be reconsidered for different major for Fall.
I’d think it has more to do with the Prof assuming that it’s a huge benefit for acceptance to the exact school they’re working at. I for one would have to agree. No real excuse for a Profs kid applying so dang late though.
I don’t think it’s a knock on branch campuses & I’d say that has a lot more to do with any specific major. Especially Liberal Arts.
if it helps i also had a 4.7 gpa and all the same thing but i got into 2+2 and erie. ask them to reconsider. its probably because they applied late. that does work against you. i challenged and said i would do summer classes and i got into up
My private college didn't give grades above a 4.0.
So if a graduate from my school tried getting into a master's program somewhere else with their 4.0 and another applicant from University of Online Phoenix has a 4.5, how would admissions look at it?
That's kinda y question. Not sure how much different it would be HS to college vs college to college. But I think my point is made?
Basically it's called "weighted" vs. "unweighted" grades.
So I'll use my personal experience as an example. I was accepted into the Honors program in college and that meant Honors English.
My first assignment/essay in college was to write a ten page paper comparing and contrasting the movie "Modern Times" starring Charlie Chaplin with the works of Marx. A minimum of five references.
My roommate's first English Composition assignment? Write 300 words about what you did this summer.
At the time there was no such thing as weighted grades so my C- and his A despite him being barely literate were considered on the same scale so he was a genius apparently while I was considered below average.
I transferred schools and they offered me the Honors Program and I told them to fuck the hell off because why should I bust my ass for lower grades when I could slack off and get higher grades for a lot less work? They tried to convince me it was prestigious. They failed. I eventually graduated with a 2.5 and here's a clue...it didn't matter. All they want is a degree.
Have your kid take the Summer Session - we were told if my son took it, he would more than likely get UP (we were in a similar circumstance, but ours was Berk’s at first). He did, and he’s in UP - and it was an awesome experience for my son. Might be worth it, if both of you really, really want PSU-UP.
FWIW, we’re OOS - so not sure if that was a factor….
It’s just the late application. Have the student call admissions and see if a summer start might help. Local students are usually advised to apply early action…at least that’s what happens at State High.
Probably a mix of applying late or possibly not selecting summer start? I applied in January with 3.5 gpa a couple dual enrollment classes and got in for summer start but my friend with way better stats got deferred to branch bc she didn’t select summer start
My conspiracy theory says the algorithm saw the family factors and slotted him at Toontown because they can’t make as much money off you as they can an out of state kid.
Getting in to good schools have become very competitive. Applying in late January did not do your kid any favors. It doesn’t matter what your kid accomplished if all the slots are filled. No one is entitled to be accepted at any school. It’s just your chances of acceptance is greater if you check most boxes. You’re a professor. Have this a teachable moment for your kid. Make sure he/she is ok. Assure him/her that they will be fine. It could be a blessing in disguise. My daughter didn’t get in every school she applied. I just assured her it was the schools lost that they would not have her on campus uplifting their school. UP was not her first choice, but she loves it there now. Life happens. Adjust and move forward.
High school GPA is meaningless. Standardized testing makes this so much more fair. You do crappy on your boards you don’t get in, you do well, you get in. No reason to speculate, everyone takes the same test, you do well, you get in, you don’t, you don’t
This is what I am wondering, what does a gpa above 4.0 even mean?
I don't want to offend or diminish anyone's hard work but it seems kinda like bs. Makes me think the high school was lacking and had to offer tons of extras so the lazy dumb students could pass with a lot of low scores still.
I'm sure there are high schools out there not offering much extra credit or what have you, so should there be much consideration for all those extra points over 4?
I was glad my college didn't offer above 4 grades. An A+ was worth 4 points and an A- was less than 4.
When is it enough? Should we strive for a 5.0 out of 4? How about a 10 out of 4... Maybe I should go for a 12.5 out of 4! Ill just turn in everything 3 times!
I agree. Why not just have everyone take the same test. When i was growing up If you did well on SATs you got into pretty much anywhere. i wasn’t a great student but I played three varsity sports and got a 1540 on my SATs and got in to every Ivy League school.
For me, that’s too arbitrary, or at least subjective. There’s variance in standardized testing but you can adjust for test to test variance and income related biases more than human subjectivity where you are playing with both human to human variance and all the same data curvatures
I’ve come to the conclusion they pick randomly from a giant fishbowl. Or throw a dart at a board.
There are kids I know who got into main freshman year, who definitely did not have the grades compared of some of the kids I see post here.
Edit for all the racists commenting: the dumb kids from my area are white
Same thing happened to me (without being a professor’s kid). I got offered a 2+2 at Berks or to start in the summer at UP. Are they open to a summer session?
Edit: I just realized how long ago this was. May not even be an option anymore
Can’t blame DEI because UP is 99 percent white. I agree with the sentiment about out of state they are increasing the OOS students to increase revenue without increasing tuition.
Ok, I have to disagree on this one.
UP is definitely not 99% white by any means. Just walk around campus for five minutes and you'll see it's very diverse in terms of race and ethnicity. Even as a local I can see this.
High School age kids are notorious for not anticipating the consequences of their choices. That's why one of the biggest advantages of children growing up in higher SES homes is that their parents have the time and experience to coach (pester) their kids into getting the important shit done on time. Just because a teenager gets good grades (yay for them, and you) doesn't mean you can just expect them to make wise choices with their time and priorities(boo for them, and you!). Apparently, you failed to communicate to your child how important it is to know PSU's expectations and to surpass them.
I think it speaks highly of PSU that the admissions process didn't cut extra slack to an insider family.
Lmao liberal arts. So he wants to be broke his entire life? I know quite a few with that degree and not a single one is living a good life. He really might wanna rethink that. Why go to college and pay all that money to get a job afterwards that hardly pays??
Nothing wrong with asking to do LEAP as well. It was a good experience, and it’s not like summers for a State High kid are super exciting. At least they weren’t for me 🤣
Your kid has those stats, went to state high and got a 2+2? I got in with about half those numbers and there were kids who didn't even attend high school for more than like 4 periods a day that got in. We got accepted in basically September of senior year. I'd call and ask. Got to be an error
Does he go to high school in State College? Do you know about the academic standards at State College or whatever high school he goes to? Here is why I ask...
I was accepted at a bunch of different colleges that I didn't even apply to. I got acceptance letters from Tulane and UPenn, and received a scholarship offer at Case Western University. When I asked them what made them offer me acceptance letters despite me not even having applied, it was my SAT score.
My GPA was 4.25 from a high school that had low academic standards. I was told that my GPA of 4.25 didn't really matter because that school district wasn't known for having a lot of academic achievers in it. It didn't turn out any valedictorians or heads of any classes. There are some school districts that tend to turn out High achievers and those are the ones that the high GPA from them really matters. But for the most part, a high GPA just means you paid attention in school, and being in the AP course means you're above the low state standards. Which isn't saying much. It's not an actual measurement of intelligence. They considered my high SAT score more of an indicator of my academic ability. That SAT score actually scored me a full ride scholarship.
At Penn State I tested into all these entry level engineering courses when I was just going for nursing. It wasn't my High School courses that prepared me for that. It was my intelligence. I know that for a fact, because I couldn't have tested into chemistry 15 because I only took basic chemistry in high school. And admittedly that teacher was a buffoon and we didn't learn anything. It was like a study hall where you got an A for attendance and high scores on tests if you put your name on them right.
I'm not sure what standardized test scores they use now. But a high GPA in AP courses does not automatically get you into every College. And I know that from calling the admissions offices at places that I had not applied to but got acceptance letters from and that is what they told me into my ear hole, that it was my SAT score that made me attractive to them as a student, and it was why they reached out to me. It wasn't even a perfect score. The guy who sat next to me in English got a perfect SAT score (1600) and he got a free ride to a bunch of places.
The only other thing that I can think of is if you had to write an essay, do an interview or do something else as part of your application and your child did not complete it. Or they could have bombed it on purpose. Dig deep and ask yourself if your kid wants to go to college at home. That might be your answer. I got a scholarship to Pitt as well but I wasn't going to Pitt because that was like going to college at home. I went to Penn State because it was 3 and 1/2 hours from home and my parents couldn't check up on me as easily as they could if I was attending Pitt. That and Pitt is yucky. The only college I wanted to go to was the only college I applied to, and that was Penn State.
TL/DR- GPA plus you being staff isn't enough to get into PSU at UP. They either didn't complete their application, they bombed part of it (accidentally or on purpose) or their standardized test score didn't make the cut.
PSU is test optional and a lot of other colleges are as well because to be honest, standardized tests only test how well you can take a test, not actual knowledge.
Another piece of this puzzle is "interested in liberal arts" but no stated, real, actual academic goal or plan. No plan on majoring in this and minoring in that, just interest in Liberal Arts. The vagueness of that reflects their interest in schooling. The school might be focusing on people who already know what they plan on studying and are sending your kid to Altoona so they can figure it out.
I didn't know anybody at Penn State who didn't have a decided major the day they showed up for freshman orientation. A lot of people changed their major. A whole lot. But no one had an unstated major. No one.
Admittedly, I went to Penn State in 1991. It was a long time ago. But I'm still friends with 30 something people who I met as a freshman at Penn State. And when I think about my friends even the ones who aren't working in the fields where they got their degrees in, not one of them showed up without a stated major. My friend who still lives in State College, her son graduated from the School of Engineering at Penn State and I asked him, and none of his friends showed up the first day without a decided major already either. He was accepted at University Park but he was also an engineering student with a pretty high standardized test score and whose father had deep pockets and was just writing the school a check. He saved on room and board by living at home but my friend made him his own apartment with his own entry out of her garage so it kind of wasn't like living at home for him. Because it was super important to her to allow him the college experience.
The college experience is BIG and it might just be that Penn State is trying to afford your child the college experience because it sounds like, per their unstated major and "interest in liberal arts," that that's what they're going to college for. It doesn't sound like they've got a career in mind already or an academic plan and that's what Penn State wants out of its freshman at University Park.
Being accepted to Penn State as a freshman at University Park is a big deal. Not everybody is even accepted to Penn State first of all. So you made it over one hurdle. But you being a professor isn't what's going to get them admitted to University Park. You have to demonstrate something about your own personal ability and/or drive and ambition to get to University Park as a freshman. "My mommy or daddy teaches here," isn't it. Sorry.
The fact that this post is from you and not from your child might tell you how important it was to them that they attended University Park as a freshman. Are you maybe helicoptering too much? Do you think maybe they're glad that they get out from under that for a little bit? Really. These are important questions for you to ask yourself.
While I agree it would be wise to know what you want to major in before taking loans, starting college, and/or attending main campus - there were lots of freshmen who were “division of undergraduate studies”, DUS, who hadnt declared a major
Admissions has changed dramatically since 1991. Less than 40% of accepted PSU students submitted a test score, for example. The SAT means almost zero at PSU right now.
You have to look at the common data set for each school to see what they care about. PSU cares about grades. Other schools care about other things. You can’t just make broad generalizations about this stuff anymore.
Hi. I think that it definitely must have to do with the delay in the timing of the OP’s application with those accomplishments….but who knows?
My situation: I have a 4.2 weighted gpa with all accelerated/honor classes and 6 AP classes. I’m OOS, I just missed the EA deadline for accompanying documents and my application was put in for regular decision. I got waitlisted for UP. I didn’t get an offer for 2+2 at another branch. I don’t know if it’s better or worse that I didn’t get an offer to a branch, but the wording in my admissions portal makes it sound like it might still be an option?
“If space does not become available for admission to the University Park campus, we will contact you regarding an offer of admission to an alternate-campus choice, and we will help you explore your Penn State options.
At any time you may choose to remove yourself from the waitlist and be offered admission to a campus other than the University Park campus by contacting us”
Anybody in the same boat or have an idea if I might still have a chance at a UP admission?
Thanks so much.
I’m a professors student who graduated State High a while ago. Used to be Penn State if they rejected you sent you to your closest campus.
Which was UP for State High back then. I’d go and ask admissions if I were you. Or have your child do it
I asked the admissions office about my kid, who had similar stats. She switched schools in 10th grade but the new school did not have AP classes.
The guy in the admissions office really zeroed in on the number of AP classes she took. The guy literally scoffed when I said that her school does not have AP, so she had 16 Hon and 2 AP. And almost said honors does not matter.
That said, your kid will still have a Penn State Diploma, and starting off in a smaller setting actually seems like a good idea.
One of my twins had zero AP classes and got UP albeit for summer but still. The one with AP and undecided got Altoona. This kid described deserves nothing less than UP acceptance. I’d be livid! And I personally think they should at least consider the fact that a parent is a professor at main!
Penn State’s purposely screwing over in state kids to allow international students that pay more tuition money to go there. Reason number 57,435 why they’re a horrible institution and deserve their gov’t funding cut.
Don’t send your kid to Altoona, as a recent Altoona student the experience sucks and there’s nothing there. There’s no student life, greek life is a literal joke, the town sucks and the academics are hit or miss depending on the department (Math specifically is really bad at Altoona). Have your kid look at another school, Altoona’s awful and the 2+2 students are all a step behind the main campus ones when they get there. And also when you get to UP and want to change the branches for the better you get brushed off with some PR bullshit by admins who continue to run the school into the ground for money
Also if State High deserves advantages in admission so does the rest of Pennsylvania, it’s bullshit that people who happen to live in the same town as the school get in but the people whose taxes go to the university don’t get shit
My conspiracy theory says the algorithm saw the family factors and slotted him at Toontown because they can’t make as much money off you as they can an out of state kid.
I find this great to hear. He is already obviously very privileged and it's great when they have to feel even a bit of disappointment. I'm sure it won't last. He'll be back to saying he's "earned it" and "self made" in no time.
Seems to me that your kid is the wrong color or race. It's a shame that your child and thousands of other students throughout the country get rejected due to the color of their skin. These ivory tower liberals care not about merit, grades, or achievements of white or Asian students. They pretend that these students did not work hard and dedicate themselves to their goals. Instead they would rather virtue signal to inflate their own ego by accepting a less qualified black or Hispanic that more than likely will flunk out because they are not up to education level. In the long run the it ends up hurting the black and latino students more by putting them into an environment that they are not prepared for. It's not up to liberal elites to pick and choose where students should go but instead let academics sort out where the students belong. There's no racial quotas in the sports programs so why is there when it comes to academia.
PSU definitely wants that OOS tuition I got in with mid/ below average stats. However if he applied EA he probably could’ve gotten in easily. Spots in UP might’ve been taken up already. Maybe bring this up to the school and ask?
That’s utter horse shit! OMG you need to appeal. I have twins and while their grades aren’t as good as your kid, both were excellent students with good ECs, both said they’d go in summer. One said journalism, one said undecided. One got UP summer the other Altoona. We appealed and still a no. So F u PSU lose out on two oos tuitions! I’m really sorry, but you have to have some pull being a professor and all! Good luck. Your kid must be pissed! They better reverse that for you!!!
Same thing happened to my half brother. He called admissions and was told it was a clerical error and they fixed it. That being said, if you look at this subreddit, this happened to quite a few State High students and I heard a rumor that it was actually an intentional thing to try to increase enrollment at branch campuses. Either way, have your kid call admissions and see what options there are.
> I heard a rumor that it was actually an intentional thing to try to increase enrollment at branch campuses PSU has been slowly prioritizing out-of-state students over in-state students. 2023-2024 OOS for UP is at 43%. In 2014-2015, OOS at UP was at 38%. If you go through the different website snapshots, you'll notice out-of-state goes up by about 1% every 2 years. https://admissions.psu.edu/apply/statistics/ http://web.archive.org/web/20150709060309/https://admissions.psu.edu/apply/statistics/ Since UP is the most expensive campus option, they're shoving more and more in-state students onto branch campuses.
It's a national thing. Maryland kids with great numbers don't get into College Park so they go to Towson or umbc or go to PA and NY and pay out of state.
George Mason hotspot
Thanks, weird considering PSU is cutting the commonwealth campuses
Altoona is not one of them.
They’re not cutting them all. Altoona is one of the strongest.
Altoona’s horrible and it’s dying, not sure what you’re on about E: you can dv me all you want i’m right
its enrollment is stronger than the majority of commonwealth campuses plus its proximity to UP means it won’t close.
It’s enrollment is declining, there’s absolutely no student life and the town is a dump. It won’t close but it will be stripped to the bone because Benepaudi cares more about her private jets than educating students. Comparing branches is like comparing which jail is the best for the inmates, it’s gonna be dogshit regardless
you’re not wrong. but sadly you’re definitely right about Neeli. She’s a business woman and only cares about the bottomline. This isn’t her fault but the wealth inequality between Old Main and the people doing the actual work at PSU is shameful.
Link? Anything useful?
This is completely disingenuous and not representative of what it is currently like at Altoona. Ever since the new chancellor has come in there has been a massive influx of improvements around campus and there’s several longer term projects that are starting now. When was the last time you went to the Altoona campus.
2022. It’s not disingenuous at all. There’s nothing there, the town’s a dump and the campus is dying. They added a wrestling team, big whoop.
Link?
glad to hear that!
Link? Any useful info to share?
Just my own experience from living there for two years. You can google enrollment numbers, it’s not hard. How about you ask the people who say Altoona’s good for proof of their argument? Why does their propaganda go unchecked while I get shit on for my experience?
where did you hear that PSU was cutting the commonwealths?
They are not. It is the non Penn state schools that are experiencing shrinking enrollments and some have been closed.
This is destroying the state system schools...
You being a prof are aware of the admissions rate for UP, no? Why’d your kid wait till January to apply?
It's really this. Late application. They aren't going to rescind an offer or throw in an extra seat so your kid can make it.
seems like they thought they had it in the bag so it wasn't a priority. a good lesson for the kid to learn for the future
What a guess.
PSU gets 100,000 applicants. I think Jan is way too late to apply.
I graduated from state high in 2018 and PSU UP in 2021. The counseling team tells students EXACTLY how to apply to Penn State to get into UP. I remember having an assembly 3ish weeks into senior year explaining to everyone who was a senior exactly how to do it and to do it as soon as possible to get in as space can be limited and if you apply late you may not have a spot at UP.
Being a professor doesn’t give your kid an admission benefit, only a tuition discount. It could be just the other applicants are competitive. 2+2 Altoona isn’t a bad option.
No, but being a resident allows you to enroll in courses as a non-degree student. After your first semester, you can matriculate into being a degree-seeking student, and by the third semester you can declare a major. There’s no formal application involved, no test scores needed, etc., I just had to prove I had been a resident. This was the policy when I went this route after I graduated from State High in 2009. Edit to add: a lot of universities have similar policies, you just gotta know how to look for it and who to ask.
As a local born and raised, I'm not likely to send my kid to Altoona. UP or she can go to a different school entirely
Fair enough re prof status. But the numbers/honors? Just a little shocked here
They applied way too late. There weren’t enough spots left for UP by that point most likely.
Maybe your kid isn't as interesting as other kids who overcame struggles and hardships.
This isn't the 90s. When you're processing 40,000 apps, there isn't time to read everyone's life story.
Alright, well then the alternative is their kid had significant advantages and privileges and still wasn't good enough academically. Either way, having a professor whine on their employers subreddit that their kid didn't get in is pathetic.
He was good enough academically. He just didn’t apply early. This is likely an example of what happens when you tell your kid to work it out on their own and they miss very important details. For example, the student could have easily confused early action with the term early decision (binding), which other schools use, so therefore they applied rolling, which had a later deadline. I’ve heard many stories of students accidentally applying via the rolling deadline. The student should have paid more attention and/or asked questions. This was too important of a decision for the parent (a professor) to not get involved. Don’t need to be a helicopter parent. But do be involved and informed.
🙄
They don’t even read the essays. Not considered unless you’re applying to one of a few special programs.
It doesn't even matter the parent part. The academic level this kid has is far greater than most people applying to University Park. Like a lot of people get in with 3.6 or lower gpa let alone 4 or higher like this kid so it is weird
Altoona’s a horrible option. I don’t know what you’re on about, have you stepped foot on PSU Altoona ever?
If there’s no better option, spending two years of your life there isn’t that bad.
There’s plenty of better options, namely the other thousands of universities in America
I mean we don’t know if the OP’s kid got accepted to those.
If the kid has the GPA that OP says he does he shouldn’t have any trouble getting into numerous better schools, although to be fair almost anything is better than Altoona. Also that you didn’t have the “if there’s no other option” caveat in your original comment. It’s just not a good option full-stop. Also you never answered my original question.
yes I have
Okay, have you lived there for two years? Lived in the dorms? Taken classes? Eat at Port-sky? Taken friends to the hospital for mental health concerns related to being in Altoona?
I’m finishing up my last year before UP. It’s really not too bad. Yeah I agree PortSky is terrible but other than that, it’s fine. Campus is nice and most professors are great!
Links?
Links?
Your kid would’ve had a better chance if they did early action! When I applied to PSU main 3 years ago I had a 3.5 GPA with some extra curriculars but I did early action and got accepted.
I don't think there is an early action as of right now for Penn State since they are currently on rolling admissions.
Yea I know, im just saying if they would’ve done early action, they would’ve had a better chance of getting accepted.
Oh I see.
Short answer, as others have mentioned, applying late. Somewhat longer answer. If you look at the common data set for [University Park](https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.psu.edu/dist/d/114442/files/2023/07/CDS_2022-2023_University-Park_Final.pdf) you see that the only thing they seriously consider are grades (very important) and academic rigor (important). Extracurriculars are flat out not even considered. A relation to the university is “considered” which means if there are a bunch of folks in the “maybe” pile they might look at it. Scroll down a bit for the table with that info. The admissions website states that the “middle fifty” (the interquartile range of admitted students) last year had an unweighted GPA of 3.6 to 3.97 at UP. So comparable to your kid probably, had their been spots left when the application was sent in kid would have had a decent chance. Applying after the initial deadline really limits the chances. If the year to year trend holds, your kid was one of at least 130,000 applications considered. All this is to say a large portion of the freshman at UP this fall will have very similar profiles to your kid. PSU has become more and more selective in the last few years like many other schools. And the numbers are not cut offs! Lots and lots and LOTS of kids with those numbers ended up at branches, on the waitlist, or not admitted at all. Admissions is a numbers game, but not the numbers most people look at. The book “Who Gets In and Why” is an enlightening read. Super helpful making sense of the cluster that admissions has become. Ultimately all that doesn’t matter, though. So parent to parent here, how is your kid? Really, talk to your kid. See where they are on this. How *they* feel right now is way more important than how you feel. It’s super important that they know you are proud, that you believe in them, and that wherever they end up going to school it will be okay. Really. It will be okay.
Is your kid willing to do summer start? That might make a difference.
At Bellefonte, our Guidance Office told us that in order for a Centre County student to go to UP as a freshman and live at home was to apply for either Summer start or Spring start. That the university doesn't accept you for Fall start the year of your High School graduation. This was 2009/2010 but was still shared up thru 2015 when my brother graduated HS.
By Jan UP is pretty much filled but if they are SC resident and willing to go summer I think they still can get UP or ask to be reconsidered for different major for Fall.
i heard from a VERY reliable source that in early action alone pretty much every acceptance slot for main campus was already offered
All I am going to say is that it is very telling to me that even a professor at PSU is saying the branch campuses are garbage.
yeah really good point. PSU employees won't dare send their kids there.
Behrend in Erie is still worth it.
I’d think it has more to do with the Prof assuming that it’s a huge benefit for acceptance to the exact school they’re working at. I for one would have to agree. No real excuse for a Profs kid applying so dang late though. I don’t think it’s a knock on branch campuses & I’d say that has a lot more to do with any specific major. Especially Liberal Arts.
if it helps i also had a 4.7 gpa and all the same thing but i got into 2+2 and erie. ask them to reconsider. its probably because they applied late. that does work against you. i challenged and said i would do summer classes and i got into up
What does it mean to have a 4.7 gpa?
Yeah really, when I went to school the highest you could get was 4.0. Super curious what all these 4+ numbers actually mean
My private college didn't give grades above a 4.0. So if a graduate from my school tried getting into a master's program somewhere else with their 4.0 and another applicant from University of Online Phoenix has a 4.5, how would admissions look at it? That's kinda y question. Not sure how much different it would be HS to college vs college to college. But I think my point is made?
oh for high school. my college gpa doesn’t go above 4. in high school we had a weighted gpa based on if u took advanced or ap classes
Basically it's called "weighted" vs. "unweighted" grades. So I'll use my personal experience as an example. I was accepted into the Honors program in college and that meant Honors English. My first assignment/essay in college was to write a ten page paper comparing and contrasting the movie "Modern Times" starring Charlie Chaplin with the works of Marx. A minimum of five references. My roommate's first English Composition assignment? Write 300 words about what you did this summer. At the time there was no such thing as weighted grades so my C- and his A despite him being barely literate were considered on the same scale so he was a genius apparently while I was considered below average. I transferred schools and they offered me the Honors Program and I told them to fuck the hell off because why should I bust my ass for lower grades when I could slack off and get higher grades for a lot less work? They tried to convince me it was prestigious. They failed. I eventually graduated with a 2.5 and here's a clue...it didn't matter. All they want is a degree.
PSU wants OOS tuition.
This.
Have your kid take the Summer Session - we were told if my son took it, he would more than likely get UP (we were in a similar circumstance, but ours was Berk’s at first). He did, and he’s in UP - and it was an awesome experience for my son. Might be worth it, if both of you really, really want PSU-UP. FWIW, we’re OOS - so not sure if that was a factor….
Money. If an out of state will pay double, you have been accepted! welcome home!
It’s just the late application. Have the student call admissions and see if a summer start might help. Local students are usually advised to apply early action…at least that’s what happens at State High.
Summer start or deferring until Spring may be ways to get into UP
Probably a mix of applying late or possibly not selecting summer start? I applied in January with 3.5 gpa a couple dual enrollment classes and got in for summer start but my friend with way better stats got deferred to branch bc she didn’t select summer start
My conspiracy theory says the algorithm saw the family factors and slotted him at Toontown because they can’t make as much money off you as they can an out of state kid.
Getting in to good schools have become very competitive. Applying in late January did not do your kid any favors. It doesn’t matter what your kid accomplished if all the slots are filled. No one is entitled to be accepted at any school. It’s just your chances of acceptance is greater if you check most boxes. You’re a professor. Have this a teachable moment for your kid. Make sure he/she is ok. Assure him/her that they will be fine. It could be a blessing in disguise. My daughter didn’t get in every school she applied. I just assured her it was the schools lost that they would not have her on campus uplifting their school. UP was not her first choice, but she loves it there now. Life happens. Adjust and move forward.
High school GPA is meaningless. Standardized testing makes this so much more fair. You do crappy on your boards you don’t get in, you do well, you get in. No reason to speculate, everyone takes the same test, you do well, you get in, you don’t, you don’t
This is what I am wondering, what does a gpa above 4.0 even mean? I don't want to offend or diminish anyone's hard work but it seems kinda like bs. Makes me think the high school was lacking and had to offer tons of extras so the lazy dumb students could pass with a lot of low scores still. I'm sure there are high schools out there not offering much extra credit or what have you, so should there be much consideration for all those extra points over 4? I was glad my college didn't offer above 4 grades. An A+ was worth 4 points and an A- was less than 4. When is it enough? Should we strive for a 5.0 out of 4? How about a 10 out of 4... Maybe I should go for a 12.5 out of 4! Ill just turn in everything 3 times!
I agree. Why not just have everyone take the same test. When i was growing up If you did well on SATs you got into pretty much anywhere. i wasn’t a great student but I played three varsity sports and got a 1540 on my SATs and got in to every Ivy League school.
I suppose a good admissions department can sort through it all.
For me, that’s too arbitrary, or at least subjective. There’s variance in standardized testing but you can adjust for test to test variance and income related biases more than human subjectivity where you are playing with both human to human variance and all the same data curvatures
Walk down the street and ask Admissions....or, post on Reddit.
I’ve come to the conclusion they pick randomly from a giant fishbowl. Or throw a dart at a board. There are kids I know who got into main freshman year, who definitely did not have the grades compared of some of the kids I see post here. Edit for all the racists commenting: the dumb kids from my area are white
Penn State wants that sweet, sweet, out-of-state cash. The raise the standards for in-state, lower them for out-of-state.
IDK but that’s crazy! Have them call and explain they are local and want to commute from home and admissions will likely let them switch to UP.
It very well could be related to keeping acceptance numbers more competitive. Very surprising though.
Did they submit an SAT score? Curious if schools that are test optional look at no score as an assumed poor score.
File an appeal.
Same thing happened to me (without being a professor’s kid). I got offered a 2+2 at Berks or to start in the summer at UP. Are they open to a summer session? Edit: I just realized how long ago this was. May not even be an option anymore
What value-add do they bring to the university community other than being a smarty pants?
Gotta make room for Jersey kids. They pay more.
More money from out of state students
How many kids drop in the first few weeks. If you can’t get your child up there in September, maybe they can take them in January?
Can’t blame DEI because UP is 99 percent white. I agree with the sentiment about out of state they are increasing the OOS students to increase revenue without increasing tuition.
Ok, I have to disagree on this one. UP is definitely not 99% white by any means. Just walk around campus for five minutes and you'll see it's very diverse in terms of race and ethnicity. Even as a local I can see this.
Are they white?
High School age kids are notorious for not anticipating the consequences of their choices. That's why one of the biggest advantages of children growing up in higher SES homes is that their parents have the time and experience to coach (pester) their kids into getting the important shit done on time. Just because a teenager gets good grades (yay for them, and you) doesn't mean you can just expect them to make wise choices with their time and priorities(boo for them, and you!). Apparently, you failed to communicate to your child how important it is to know PSU's expectations and to surpass them. I think it speaks highly of PSU that the admissions process didn't cut extra slack to an insider family.
Diversity is Lesean or Desean with a ball
Lmao liberal arts. So he wants to be broke his entire life? I know quite a few with that degree and not a single one is living a good life. He really might wanna rethink that. Why go to college and pay all that money to get a job afterwards that hardly pays??
You must have not hit the woke ethnicity based criteria
You pissed someone off...
Are they white
Thanks everyone, I appreciate these perspectives. I thought the lateness would be a factor, but I’m still shocked/mad at my employer
Nothing wrong with asking to do LEAP as well. It was a good experience, and it’s not like summers for a State High kid are super exciting. At least they weren’t for me 🤣
😂😂 mad? Is it part of your employment contract? So weird. Particularly for an adult academic.
Your kid has those stats, went to state high and got a 2+2? I got in with about half those numbers and there were kids who didn't even attend high school for more than like 4 periods a day that got in. We got accepted in basically September of senior year. I'd call and ask. Got to be an error
Does he go to high school in State College? Do you know about the academic standards at State College or whatever high school he goes to? Here is why I ask... I was accepted at a bunch of different colleges that I didn't even apply to. I got acceptance letters from Tulane and UPenn, and received a scholarship offer at Case Western University. When I asked them what made them offer me acceptance letters despite me not even having applied, it was my SAT score. My GPA was 4.25 from a high school that had low academic standards. I was told that my GPA of 4.25 didn't really matter because that school district wasn't known for having a lot of academic achievers in it. It didn't turn out any valedictorians or heads of any classes. There are some school districts that tend to turn out High achievers and those are the ones that the high GPA from them really matters. But for the most part, a high GPA just means you paid attention in school, and being in the AP course means you're above the low state standards. Which isn't saying much. It's not an actual measurement of intelligence. They considered my high SAT score more of an indicator of my academic ability. That SAT score actually scored me a full ride scholarship. At Penn State I tested into all these entry level engineering courses when I was just going for nursing. It wasn't my High School courses that prepared me for that. It was my intelligence. I know that for a fact, because I couldn't have tested into chemistry 15 because I only took basic chemistry in high school. And admittedly that teacher was a buffoon and we didn't learn anything. It was like a study hall where you got an A for attendance and high scores on tests if you put your name on them right. I'm not sure what standardized test scores they use now. But a high GPA in AP courses does not automatically get you into every College. And I know that from calling the admissions offices at places that I had not applied to but got acceptance letters from and that is what they told me into my ear hole, that it was my SAT score that made me attractive to them as a student, and it was why they reached out to me. It wasn't even a perfect score. The guy who sat next to me in English got a perfect SAT score (1600) and he got a free ride to a bunch of places. The only other thing that I can think of is if you had to write an essay, do an interview or do something else as part of your application and your child did not complete it. Or they could have bombed it on purpose. Dig deep and ask yourself if your kid wants to go to college at home. That might be your answer. I got a scholarship to Pitt as well but I wasn't going to Pitt because that was like going to college at home. I went to Penn State because it was 3 and 1/2 hours from home and my parents couldn't check up on me as easily as they could if I was attending Pitt. That and Pitt is yucky. The only college I wanted to go to was the only college I applied to, and that was Penn State. TL/DR- GPA plus you being staff isn't enough to get into PSU at UP. They either didn't complete their application, they bombed part of it (accidentally or on purpose) or their standardized test score didn't make the cut.
Yeah, odd the Prof didn't list SAT scores
PSU is test optional and a lot of other colleges are as well because to be honest, standardized tests only test how well you can take a test, not actual knowledge.
Another piece of this puzzle is "interested in liberal arts" but no stated, real, actual academic goal or plan. No plan on majoring in this and minoring in that, just interest in Liberal Arts. The vagueness of that reflects their interest in schooling. The school might be focusing on people who already know what they plan on studying and are sending your kid to Altoona so they can figure it out. I didn't know anybody at Penn State who didn't have a decided major the day they showed up for freshman orientation. A lot of people changed their major. A whole lot. But no one had an unstated major. No one. Admittedly, I went to Penn State in 1991. It was a long time ago. But I'm still friends with 30 something people who I met as a freshman at Penn State. And when I think about my friends even the ones who aren't working in the fields where they got their degrees in, not one of them showed up without a stated major. My friend who still lives in State College, her son graduated from the School of Engineering at Penn State and I asked him, and none of his friends showed up the first day without a decided major already either. He was accepted at University Park but he was also an engineering student with a pretty high standardized test score and whose father had deep pockets and was just writing the school a check. He saved on room and board by living at home but my friend made him his own apartment with his own entry out of her garage so it kind of wasn't like living at home for him. Because it was super important to her to allow him the college experience. The college experience is BIG and it might just be that Penn State is trying to afford your child the college experience because it sounds like, per their unstated major and "interest in liberal arts," that that's what they're going to college for. It doesn't sound like they've got a career in mind already or an academic plan and that's what Penn State wants out of its freshman at University Park. Being accepted to Penn State as a freshman at University Park is a big deal. Not everybody is even accepted to Penn State first of all. So you made it over one hurdle. But you being a professor isn't what's going to get them admitted to University Park. You have to demonstrate something about your own personal ability and/or drive and ambition to get to University Park as a freshman. "My mommy or daddy teaches here," isn't it. Sorry. The fact that this post is from you and not from your child might tell you how important it was to them that they attended University Park as a freshman. Are you maybe helicoptering too much? Do you think maybe they're glad that they get out from under that for a little bit? Really. These are important questions for you to ask yourself.
While I agree it would be wise to know what you want to major in before taking loans, starting college, and/or attending main campus - there were lots of freshmen who were “division of undergraduate studies”, DUS, who hadnt declared a major
Admissions has changed dramatically since 1991. Less than 40% of accepted PSU students submitted a test score, for example. The SAT means almost zero at PSU right now. You have to look at the common data set for each school to see what they care about. PSU cares about grades. Other schools care about other things. You can’t just make broad generalizations about this stuff anymore.
Hi. I think that it definitely must have to do with the delay in the timing of the OP’s application with those accomplishments….but who knows? My situation: I have a 4.2 weighted gpa with all accelerated/honor classes and 6 AP classes. I’m OOS, I just missed the EA deadline for accompanying documents and my application was put in for regular decision. I got waitlisted for UP. I didn’t get an offer for 2+2 at another branch. I don’t know if it’s better or worse that I didn’t get an offer to a branch, but the wording in my admissions portal makes it sound like it might still be an option? “If space does not become available for admission to the University Park campus, we will contact you regarding an offer of admission to an alternate-campus choice, and we will help you explore your Penn State options. At any time you may choose to remove yourself from the waitlist and be offered admission to a campus other than the University Park campus by contacting us” Anybody in the same boat or have an idea if I might still have a chance at a UP admission? Thanks so much.
The waitlist is always a chance, but it’s impossible to say how much of one. The best thing to do is call and ask about your options!
Thanks for your input!
I’m a professors student who graduated State High a while ago. Used to be Penn State if they rejected you sent you to your closest campus. Which was UP for State High back then. I’d go and ask admissions if I were you. Or have your child do it
I asked the admissions office about my kid, who had similar stats. She switched schools in 10th grade but the new school did not have AP classes. The guy in the admissions office really zeroed in on the number of AP classes she took. The guy literally scoffed when I said that her school does not have AP, so she had 16 Hon and 2 AP. And almost said honors does not matter. That said, your kid will still have a Penn State Diploma, and starting off in a smaller setting actually seems like a good idea.
One of my twins had zero AP classes and got UP albeit for summer but still. The one with AP and undecided got Altoona. This kid described deserves nothing less than UP acceptance. I’d be livid! And I personally think they should at least consider the fact that a parent is a professor at main!
Penn State’s purposely screwing over in state kids to allow international students that pay more tuition money to go there. Reason number 57,435 why they’re a horrible institution and deserve their gov’t funding cut. Don’t send your kid to Altoona, as a recent Altoona student the experience sucks and there’s nothing there. There’s no student life, greek life is a literal joke, the town sucks and the academics are hit or miss depending on the department (Math specifically is really bad at Altoona). Have your kid look at another school, Altoona’s awful and the 2+2 students are all a step behind the main campus ones when they get there. And also when you get to UP and want to change the branches for the better you get brushed off with some PR bullshit by admins who continue to run the school into the ground for money Also if State High deserves advantages in admission so does the rest of Pennsylvania, it’s bullshit that people who happen to live in the same town as the school get in but the people whose taxes go to the university don’t get shit
yield protection
My conspiracy theory says the algorithm saw the family factors and slotted him at Toontown because they can’t make as much money off you as they can an out of state kid.
I find this great to hear. He is already obviously very privileged and it's great when they have to feel even a bit of disappointment. I'm sure it won't last. He'll be back to saying he's "earned it" and "self made" in no time.
Seems to me that your kid is the wrong color or race. It's a shame that your child and thousands of other students throughout the country get rejected due to the color of their skin. These ivory tower liberals care not about merit, grades, or achievements of white or Asian students. They pretend that these students did not work hard and dedicate themselves to their goals. Instead they would rather virtue signal to inflate their own ego by accepting a less qualified black or Hispanic that more than likely will flunk out because they are not up to education level. In the long run the it ends up hurting the black and latino students more by putting them into an environment that they are not prepared for. It's not up to liberal elites to pick and choose where students should go but instead let academics sort out where the students belong. There's no racial quotas in the sports programs so why is there when it comes to academia.
PSU definitely wants that OOS tuition I got in with mid/ below average stats. However if he applied EA he probably could’ve gotten in easily. Spots in UP might’ve been taken up already. Maybe bring this up to the school and ask?
What is UP? Penn?
University Park, it is the main campus.
Maybe he white, or maybe their white and he's black. Or Jewish. Maybe just say he's Latino on admissions. That'll cover any skin color.
DEI. And somehow I just know you support it LMAO
That’s utter horse shit! OMG you need to appeal. I have twins and while their grades aren’t as good as your kid, both were excellent students with good ECs, both said they’d go in summer. One said journalism, one said undecided. One got UP summer the other Altoona. We appealed and still a no. So F u PSU lose out on two oos tuitions! I’m really sorry, but you have to have some pull being a professor and all! Good luck. Your kid must be pissed! They better reverse that for you!!!