Alumni Admissions Committee

Alumni admissions volunteers assist the Undergraduate Admissions Office in recruiting qualified students for Penn State.  It is the "personal touch" by alumni volunteers that often encourages a student to apply to Penn State and accept an offer of admission.

For our Mid Hudson Valley, we serve on the MHV Alumni Admissions Committee (AAC) which is curently comprised of  8 -10 members. We interact directly with the Admissions Office and thru the Admission counselor assigned to our area. Training in terms of learning about the admissions process, the campus system and academic offerings is supplied by the Admissions Office.

Our local duties include representing Penn State at local college fairs held at various venues like Marist College, Dutchess CC, Orange County CC and a number of high schools. The committee typically covers 10-12 events per recruiting season.  The committee members also participate in the “LionsRoar” program where we contact either by phone or e-mail all of the local high school students who have been offered admission to Penn State from the Mid Hudson Valley. Typically each volunteer is assigned a few high schools and the Admissions Office supplies the contact information for all offered students from those assigned high schools.  The committee then supports the Chapter in contacting students and organizing the freshman student sendoff picnic in August.

The benefits of participating on this committee include staying in touch with the happenings and changes at Penn State, becoming a salesman for the University where you get to display your pride as a Nittany Lion and most rewarding is getting to talk with students and parents about the opportunities at Penn State and helping them make an informed college decision.

We are always looking for additional committee members so if you are interested in learning more, please contact Bob Wagner, the current MHV AAC leader, at bobpsu70@aol.com.

Flyer sent to Freshman

How many local Hudson Valley students attend Penn State each year?

If you ever wondered about freshman admissions to the Penn State campus system from the Hudson Valley, then this explanation should help:

The short answer is over 240 students per year apply to Penn State, 50 students per year start their college life at Penn State, and at any time, there are over 175 students from the HV enrolled and attending one of the 20 campus locations.

First, we should point out that our chapter has a very active admissions committee that assists the Undergraduate Admissions Office by covering high school college fairs and making visits to the high school guidance offices. The Admissions office provides training and the materials for the fair events. By attending these fairs (over 20 during the school year) we influence students and parents in making a choice to apply to Penn State. Our area encompasses over 50 high school and private schools in the Hudson Valley.

Over the years, applications to Penn State from around the world have grown and this year close to 80,000 freshman applications are expected. Likewise, applications from Hudson Valley students have increased over the years. The annual average number of applications for the years 2000 - 2004 was 180 vs. the average for 2010 - 2014 of 240 - an increase of 33%. Likewise, paid accepts grew from an average of 36 during 2000-2004 to 49 during 2010-2014, an increase of 36%. In the fall of 2014, 55 new freshman started at PSU from the valley and this fall, 59 started their college education at Penn State.

At any time, there are over 175 students from the HV enrolled and attending one of the 20 campus locations. This now includes those students enrolled in the on-line World Campus which has grown in the past five years. Of the 59 starting this fall, 11 are enrolled in the World Campus. Most years, about 65% of our HV students start at University Park with the rest starting at the Commonwealth and World campuses. Hazleton, Altoona, Erie and Harrisburg are the most popular Commonwealth campuses for our local students not attending University Park.

Two statistics that we watch are the offer rate (offers of admission/total applications) and the accept rate (paid accepts/offers) compared to the rest of New York State. Our offer rate this past year was 79% vs. a 77% state average and our accept rate was 28% vs the 18% state rate. We have consistently out performed the state averages demonstrating the high quality of applicants from our Hudson Valley.