First-year Students

Eligibility

The following types of students are considered first-year students (or freshman applicants):

Those who are current high school students applying in his or her senior year
Those who earned a high school diploma or equivalent before starting at Penn State
Those who attempted fewer than 18 college credits at another institution before attending Penn State
Those who may have enrolled in college courses at Penn State or another institution while in high school (dual enrollment)
Those who may have attended Penn State on a nondegree basis

Application Process

To apply to Penn State York, you must first create a “MyPennState” account. The account, which is your connection to Penn State, allows you to:

Fill out and submit your application.
List Penn State York as your first-choice campus.
Pay your application fee.
Check the status of your application.
Accept your offer of admission and pay your acceptance fee.

For summer and fall semester admissions, we recommend that first-year applicants apply by our Priority Application Deadline of November 30. Penn State York still accepts applications after this date, but some competitive academic majors will be full after November 30.

As part of the online application process, you will submit your self-reported academic record (SRAR). In addition, please request that your Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) (Penn State code #2660) or American College Testing (ACT) (Penn State code #3656) scores be sent to Penn State. Standardized test scores must be submitted electronically from the testing service. Penn State does not accept test scores on high school transcripts or through the mail.

Your application will be complete after the online application (including SRAR) and test scores have been received. You can check the status of your application and obtain all of your latest Penn State updates by logging into your MyPennState account.

Acceptance Criteria

Admission decisions for first-year students are made on the basis of several combined factors including:

Final grades in all subject areas for years nine, ten, and eleven of high school
Weighted average or class rank for students who have taken AP/Honors courses
Required Carnegie (high school) units
Standardized test scores (SAT or ACT)

Approximately two-thirds of our evaluation is based on high school grades and one-third on standardized test scores. The evaluation may also include a review of the personal statement and list of extracurricular activities that you submit with your application.