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Is Penn State hard to get into?

Author

Sarah Smith

Published Jan 19, 2026

In the 2020–2021 admissions cycle, 73,861 applied students applied to Penn State, and 40,031 were admitted, for an admissions rate of 54.2%. Penn State is selective — one of the more competitive public universities — but your personal chances of admission vary according to your profile strength.

What GPA do you need to get into Penn State?

With a GPA of 3.58, Penn State requires you to be around average in your high school class. You'll need a mix of A's and B's, and very few C's. If you have a lower GPA, you can compensate with harder courses like AP or IB classes. This will help boost your weighted GPA and show your ability to take college classes.

Is it hard to get in Penn State?

Penn State admissions is selective with an acceptance rate of 56%. Students that get into Penn State have an average SAT score between 1160-1360 or an average ACT score of 25-30. The regular admissions application deadline for Penn State is rolling.

Can I get into Penn State with a 3.0 GPA?

Penn State does not have any minimum GPA or test score requirements.

How hard is it to get into Penn State GPA?

Applicants require very good grades in high school to get into Penn State. The average high school GPA of the admitted freshman class at Penn State Main Campus was 3.59 on the 4.0 scale indicating that primarily B+ students are accepted and ultimately attend.

15 related questions found

Is Penn State prestigious?

Rankings & Grades

That said, Penn State performs well, often ranking within the top 100 spots and even in the top 25 for best public colleges in the US. As you can see from this chart, Penn is consistently ranked in the top 10 national universities, making it an extremely prestigious school.

Is Penn State Ivy League?

Penn State is not an Ivy League school — UPenn is. The Ivy League is made up of Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Brown, Cornell, Princeton, Dartmouth, and UPenn. What started as an athletic conference in 1954 has become synonymous with social and educational prestige.

Is getting into Penn State a big deal?

Penn State: Acceptance Rate – Class of 2024

Penn State admitted 40,031 of the 73,861 freshman applicants who sought admission into the Class of 2024. This equates to a 54% acceptance rate.

What GPA do u need for Harvard?

In truth, you need close to a 4.0 unweighted GPA to get into Harvard. That means nearly straight As in every class.

How competitive is Penn State?

With an acceptance rate of 52%, Penn State is one of the nation's more competitive state universities. The school receives more than 40,000 applications each year. According to the University's website, admissions officials base two-thirds of their decision on a student's high school GPA.

Is Penn State expensive?

Penn State is the most expensive college in the Big Ten Conference for in-state students, apart from the private Northwestern University, federal data show.

Does Penn State look at weighted GPA?

Self-Reported GPA/SAT/ACT Graph

The admissions data in the graph is self-reported by applicants to Penn State University. GPAs are unweighted.

How selective is Penn State?

Penn State Admissions

The Pennsylvania State University admissions is more selective with an acceptance rate of 54% and an early acceptance rate of 67.9%. Half the applicants admitted to Penn State have an SAT score between 1150 and 1340 or an ACT score of 25 and 30.

Does Penn State require Covid vaccine?

Under the federal contractor vaccine mandate, all employees at all Penn State campuses are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have an approved medical/disability- or religious-related accommodation.

What is Penn State known for?

Penn State has been ranked as the No. 21 school for undergraduate entrepreneurship studies in the U.S. in annual ratings of the top schools for entrepreneurship studies, by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneurship Magazine. Among schools in the Northeast, Penn State came in at No.

What is Penn State acceptance rate?

The Pennsylvania State University admissions is more selective with an acceptance rate of 54% and an early acceptance rate of 67.9%. Half the applicants admitted to Penn State have an SAT score between 1150 and 1340 or an ACT score of 25 and 30.

Is a 3.88 GPA good?

So, a 3.8 GPA or Grade point average means an A-letter grade on a 4.0 GPA scale. Also, a 3.8 GPA is approximately equal to 90-92% marks. A 3.0 GPA is considered the national average GPA. Therefore, a 3.8 GPA is far better than a 3 GPA as it is above the average requirement.

Is a GPA of 5.0 good?

If your school uses a 5- or 6-point GPA scale, you want to be closer to those values instead. The average grade for high school students in the United States is around a B, which means the average high school GPA is a 3.0. So, if your GPA is higher than that, you're off to a good start!

What is the easiest major at Penn State?

These are the easiest majors we've identified by highest average GPA.

  • #1: Psychology. Psychology majors study the inner workings of the human psyche. ...
  • #2: Criminal Justice. ...
  • #3: English. ...
  • #4: Education. ...
  • #5: Social Work. ...
  • #6: Sociology. ...
  • #7: Communications. ...
  • #8: History.

Is Penn State Great Valley good?

Penn State was ranked in 2016 by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top 60 global universities. International students attending Penn State Great Valley enjoy all of the benefits of American higher education within a community that values diversity and promotes cross-cultural understanding.

Is Penn State Summer Session worth it?

Whether you're an incoming freshman or an upperclassmen trying to earn a few extra credits, summer session at Penn State is undeniably one of the best times of the year. There is a lot to look forward to, but not much time to prepare for the semester that starts in two months.

Why is Penn State so popular?

Penn State is in the top 1 percent of universities worldwide and was granted the highest rating for research universities by the Carnegie Foundation. There are over 275 majors and even more minors to choose from, allowing students to create their own path.

What is the easiest Ivy League school to get into?

Based on the information provided above, you probably noticed that Cornell University has the highest acceptance rates out of all the Ivy League schools and can therefore be classified as the easiest Ivy league school to get into.