Penn State University Review

I did my BS-MS in IISER Bhopal and I had it in my mind that I wanted to do a PhD. During my 9th semester, I started looking for institutions abroad, starting with the USA. I shortlisted 8 universities and applied for a PhD program. I got admission to 4 (Penn State, Purdue, USC, and UMass Amherst) of them. Then, attending virtual sessions and talking to grad students and faculty, I decided to join Penn State, as it aligned more with my interest....Read More

I chose it because it was the best in terms of Alumni network, social life, amenities, and academic rankings out of the universities I got accepted into....Read More

I applied to 6 universities: 1. Penn State (accepted) 2. Northeastern (waitlisted) 3. Purdue (waitlisted) 4. UT Austin (Rejected) 5. University of Michigan (Waitlisted) 6. Michigan State University (Accepted) I am not sure why I was rejected from the colleges but I'm sure I could have had more extracurriculars, as I was weak in that area. I could have written my college essays better and more interestingly. It was the only one of the two that accepted me. I paid a counselling service to do it for me, so I didn't do most of it. I took the SAT (my score was 1470) and IELTS (my score was 9). I'm not sure of the minimum scores but I'm guessing around 1300 for the SAT and around 6.5 for the IELTS. It was not that bad but getting the visa was delayed indefinitely. I applied in at the end of November. I applied to 6 or 7 colleges at the same time at this time. I got my admission from Penn State University in February. I got other rejection and waitlist offers around January-March. The deadline to accept Penn State was the end of March for me. I was accepted at the start of March. I had to immediately work towards getting my F1 visa approval....Read More

The overall ranking of the university is pretty good , the research facilities are great and it is one of the most reputed universities in the USA. The overall strength of international students is pretty good and it's not a university where people enroll just so that they can enter USA but they are here to really fulfill there dreams and yes, be careful because it's extremely cold....Read More

My overall experience here is great; the university is super beautiful and the campus is huge. The reason I chose the US is for the quality of education that they offer and the high-paying jobs here . State College is in the heart of Pennsylvania and only about 3 to 4 hours away from cities like Philadelphia, New York and Harrisburg....Read More

Applied into:-  Northeastern university at Boston - Admitted The Pennsylvania State University - Admitted University of Texas at Dallas - Admitted University of Wisconsin at Madison - Admitted I think I was admitted to all the universities I applied to due to my high GPA and my brilliant SOP. I had extracurriculars and managed to shortlist and apply to only the universities I felt were the best for me. I chose Penn state university because of its great reputation. It had a great alumni network. It is a public ivy and provides great course flexibility. As far as I know, PSU does not have a GRE criteria. It has a minimum 80+ in TOEFL criteria. The overall admission experience was really great. The steps for admission were: submission of application form along with TOEFL official marksheet submission. The location of the University also played a huge part in selecting PSU, being close to 4 major cities namely New York, DC, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia. The location is always important in job perspective, so being located near the IT- HUBon east coast, PSU was the best option. For the Fall 2024 intake, I submitted my application in November 2023. I received my admission decision in February 2024. The timeline may vary for different applicants, so it’s always good to check with the university for updates on application review and decision timelines. This is the traditional timeline that I know off. The last date to apply was 1st March 2024. After receiving my admit I was not asked to pay any fees to reserve my place which was a good thing. The application process was real smooth and usually if you apply by end of November there are chances you can hear back your decision by late jan or early feb....Read More

Virginia Tech- Waitlisted, then Accepted Purdue- Accepted for a different major Arizona State University- Accepted Georgia Tech- Rejected I expected a rejection for my GA.Tech Application but still wanted to go forth with trying just in case. My grades, while decent, were not quite up to the mark. Additionally, I feel like I did not have great extracurriculars compared to US high school students. - I deeply valued the network and alumni that Penn State brought me. Additionally, Penn State had given me the major I wanted, unlike my other acceptances - Holistic application through CommonApp, requiring highschool transcript, and test optional (I hadn't submitted my score) - The overall admission experience was quite smooth, especially since I had submitted through CommonApp. I applied Jan 2023 and got accepted around Feb-March 2023.  The following factors influenced my decision: - Academic Programs: Penn State offers a wide range of academic programs, which attract many students, including myself. - Campus Life: The vibrant campus life and diverse student group make Penn state a well-rounded college experience. - Location: I enjoy the campus's rural isolate location, with the natural surroundings of State College. The admission process took about 2 months from submitting the application to getting the offer letter and begin the new student orientation process...Read More

ASU - i was accepted also received a 15k$ scholarship PSU - i was accepted UW Wisconsin - i was rejected Purdue main campus - got into branch campus University of Minnesota - accepted UT Austin - i was rejected TAMU- i was rejected I might have been rejected from this colleges because my essays might not have been too strong and I was also a test optional student so the essays might be it. Penn state is ranked 16 in the world for mechanical and I wanted to be in a really good school for mechanical. That's the reason I chose Penn state over others.  We had to apply, pay application fees, write essays, submit supplementary documentation like extra curriculars, resume etc, and when you get accepted you had to pay a fee to accept your admission and receive an I-20 basically even if you don't pay your admission was confirmed unless you deny it, after that there wasn't much university process involved. Penn state also does early admissions and rolling admissions. I applied for early admissions and heard back within 2 months as far as I remember. I don't remember the required GPA but you needed to have a good gpa, a high toefl or ielts score. I gave the toefl, I scored 103/120. When i was applying they had a test optional option due to covid. You needed to have strong extra curriculars. The overall experience was really easy, no challenges and the university was pretty responsive and helpful throughout the process. I applied for early decision for fall 2022 intake and i applied in september 2021, heard back from the university by nov 2021. I admission process was around two months you submitting your application and just waiting to hear back from the university. Then if you get accepted pay the admission fee and get your I-20 then start your visa process. There isn't a much detailed timeline for this....Read More

Penn State University: Admit Arizona State University: Admit Iowa State University: Admit Rochester Institute of Technology: Admit Georgia State: Reject University of Washington: Reject Indiana University Bloomington: Reject University of Maryland College Park: Reject Potential reasons for reject: not too high undergrad GPA, suboptimal resume, little to no experince in applied major (UX/HCI) Reasons for choosing Penn State: - Perfect balance of specialization and also having a broad major (Informatics) - Able to choose subjects from both HCI and Data Science - Good research opportunities - Good alumni network as well as university is well known in Industry Application Process: - Applied in late Feb/ early March 2024 - Got back an admit in about a month - Completed formalities (sending degree and verifying finances) to get I20 in a few weeks after that Eligibility Criteria: - undergrad GPA >= 3.0/4.0 -  no minimum criteria for other exams stated. - toefl/ ielts required - gre not considered Overall Experience: Penn State was a last minute addition to the list of universities I was applying to. Since GRE was the best part of my profile, and Penn state was not considering it, I wasn't too hopeful. But luckily I got the admit. I applied to Fall 2024. I applied in this intake because fall intake is most popular among foreign grad students. I applied in late Feb/ early March. I then got an admit in a month or so. After sending my degree and verifying finances, I got my I20 in a few weeks after that. Sending the degree did not take too much time as I had already communicated with the registrar of my college  before I started applying to send the soft copy of my degree once I started getting admits....Read More

I had applied to 7 colleges. 1. Michigan State University- Accepted 2. University of Wisconsin Madison- Waitlisted then Accepted 3. Purdue University—Waitlisted then Accepted 4. Harvard University—Waitlisted then Rejected (It's an Ivy League; the chances were always grim. Wanted to apply so that I didn't regret not applying later.) 5. Stanford University—Rejected (Same reason as Harvard; it has a single-digit acceptance rate.) 6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology—Rejected (Again, a very competitive school) 7. The Pennsylvania State University—Accepted and attending Since I was waitlisted in most of the other colleges better than Penn State, my only real option was this. Moreover, by the time I received acceptance from Purdue and UW Madison, I had already created a great network amongst Penn State students planning to attend with me and I had started to like the campus and opportunities available here. I really liked their offerings and connections in the industry and figured that it could help me later on in my career. A master's degree from an Ivy is next, maybe?  The admission process was simple. I applied through Common App, where you can apply to almost all universities. Penn State did not require an individual essay, so I was good with the common essay, which you have to write for all universities. Then I was given a Penn State account where I had to self-report my transcripts and grades. I think you can also apply via "Coalition," but the Common App is the most popular choice. I submitted my SAT and IELTS scores, though I'm pretty sure they also accept ACT and TOEFL as well. There were no set minimum scores, though the average was around 1350 for the SAT. I was comfortably above that with a 1510 score.  The overall process was fairly easy. I liked how they didn't require any university-specific essays, as it saved me quite some time. No particular challenges, though; everything was very smooth and relatively fast.  I applied for the Fall 2024 intake as I wanted to start college right after I finished my high school in May 2024. I had applied for the early round of applications.  August Beginning—Early Applications Opened Mid September—I applied October End—Applications Closed November End—Decisions Released I ended up accepting the offer in March as I was waiting on the regular round for other colleges....Read More