Well, future Nittany Lions, it’s go time.

The November 30 priority filing date is quickly approaching, and now is the perfect time to apply!

Bert, The Admissions Dude

To give you some additional insight into the admissions process, I sat down with Bert, aka The Admissions Dude, who is one of the real-life people who will be reviewing roughly 88,000 Penn State undergraduate applications for summer/fall 2017.

MyPennState and Your Application Checklist.

The application process starts when a student submits an application through MyPennState and can watch it move through the review process.

Students can also monitor their MyPennState Application Checklist to review outstanding and received application materials. For the vast majority, the checklist consists of your high school transcript and standardized test scores sent to Penn State directly from the testing agency. Some majors might require completion of additional checklist items, such as an audition or portfolio, or, in the case of the Professional Golf Management major, a verified handicap from a golf coach or golf pro. In order to consider your application complete, make sure all items on your Application Checklist are completed.

“One of the great things about applying through MyPennState is that students can follow along and constantly see the status of their application,” says Bert. “Once an app is complete, they get a message that their application is complete and entering the review process.”

When Will I Get a Decision?

According to Bert, one of the most frequently asked questions in the admissions office is “When will I get my decision?” If a student has applied directly to a Commonwealth campus, they can expect a decision within 2-3 weeks of completing their application. University Park, however, works on a bit of a different timeline.

“Applications for University Park are reviewed in what we call ‘applicant pools.’ Anybody who completes their application between September 1 and November 30 is part of the first applicant pool,” says Bert. “For the vast majority of applicants, we won’t start reviewing their application until after November 30. Most won’t receive their decision until December at the earliest. We tell first-year students that if you complete your application by November 30, you will have a decision on MyPennState no later than January 31.”

Last year, Penn State received over 88,000 undergraduate applications. As you can imagine, that’s a lot of transcripts and test scores to sift through.

“While we understand students are anxious for a decision, it takes time for us to process a student’s materials, so I encourage people to be patient,” he says. “We don’t operate on a first-in, first-out basis with applications. So, please don’t worry if you know of someone else who applied after you and has a decision before you.”

Why November 30?

As mentioned earlier, the review process revolves around applicant pools. After the November 30 priority date, it shifts to rolling admission.

“What happens throughout the process is essentially economics 101: supply and demand,” says Bert. “For the first applicant group, we have X amount of decisions to give out. From that first group, we determine how many to give out. For the second group, we now have fewer offers to give out. Supply has decreased, but demand is still high, therefore the academic criteria for an offer of admission becomes increasingly more competitive the longer you wait to apply.”

According to Bert, completing your application by November 30 is the best way for you to maximize your chance of getting an offer of admission.

The Personal Statement-And Why You Should Do It.

The application process can be more than a little overwhelming, and the term “optional” can be quite conflicting. When I was in your shoes, I remember wondering, “Do I really need to write another essay? Will they even read it?”

So, I asked Bert what the value was in writing one, as well as if he had any tips on the subject.

“The admissions decision is almost entirely academic. We’re looking at performance in high school, the classes a prospective student took, and how they did, in combination with their score on the SAT or ACT exam. So, the better you perform in high school and the better exam scores, the better the chances of getting admitted to your first choice campus or program,” says Bert. “All of that said, we do have an optional personal statement and activities list as part of the application process. I always encourage students to fill out both of those sections on the app because even though it is optional, in the end it can make a difference, particularly if there is some sort of extenuating circumstances you have experienced. We recognize that everything about a student cannot be captured on their transcript.”

In Conclusion…

I asked Bert if he had any final advice, to which he responded, “Keep doing well in school.” He also recommends sending the admissions office lots of chocolate or coffee. *wink*

November 30 will be here before you know it. Make sure to check out MyPennState if you haven’t already, and take the next step towards spending the best four years of your life at Penn State!