How Penn State Student Salvatore DeSena Completed 72.5 Credits with a 3.97 GPA in Twelve Months
For this week's news post, we will be interviewing Salvatore DeSena! Sal is a finance student who has completed 72.5 credits with a GPA of 3.97 during his first twelve months of enrollment at Penn State. Today, he will share his story, his best study tips, and academic advice.
How did you make the decision to pursue a finance degree and become involved with the Business Leaders Club during your first semester at Penn State?
Above: Salvatore DeSena
Salvatore: In high school, I started a YouTube channel centered around video games and technology that began gaining traction, and before I knew it, YouTube was sending me checks every month. I went on to teach myself all about how to manage my money by using educational savings accounts and retirement funds. Even though I was only investing in market-tracking mutual funds and ETFs, I still really enjoyed learning about money and banking through managing my portfolio. Because of this, I decided to pursue a finance degree when I initially applied to college.
I decided to go to Penn State since the Smeal Business Program had amazing opportunities through its network, research, and student organizations. I opted to do the 2+2 program, where I’d start at the Abington campus for two years before finishing my degree at University Park. During my Fall 2022 semester, I became involved with the Abington Business Leaders Club, where I served as Vice President and Event Coordinator. I had an amazing time growing the club with Brett Duffey and Justin Heckler, and now it is the biggest club on campus with over 500 people! They continued their great work long after I left.
You moved to Penn State Behrend in Erie after your first semester with us at Abington. Could you explain how that transition came about?
Salvatore: During my Fall semester, as my YouTube channel continued to grow, I began to realize I was very interested in studying not just finance but also technology. I was really enjoying my time creating content based on computers and video games on my YouTube channel and had previously loved attending tech shows such as Pax East, but I didn’t want to give up on learning about finance. I enjoyed learning about finance and was also highly interested in the intersections of finance and technology. So, I began looking into research as a way to balance my interests.
I reached out to the Penn State Behrend Virtual Reality Lab, which was seven hours away in Erie, where I was soon offered an opportunity to work as an undergraduate researcher. I was hooked, and before I knew it, I had my change-of-campus request approved and was moving to Penn State Behrend for my next semester.
Can you tell us about your experience in Erie?
Salvatore: As someone who grew up in New York City, living in Erie completely changed my worldview. I never previously knew how different the Great Lakes region was compared to the Northeast. It was a culture shock at first, but now I feel so much more knowledgeable about the Erie area. I was also freezing, but that’s beside the point. Now, I am very motivated to learn more about the world we live in, and this has motivated me to pursue an additional course sequence in international business when I move to the Smeal Business School at University Park in January.
Above: The main entrance of Penn State Behrend, located in Erie
How did you manage to complete 72.5 credits with a 3.97 GPA in just twelve months of being at Penn State?
Salvatore: First off, in the time leading up to my first semester, I completed a lot of CollegeBoard CLEP exams that awarded me credit for many electives and general education classes. I completed seven exams, five of which Penn State accepted. CLEP is a program run by CollegeBoard, enabling students to earn college credits by self-studying for exams. Think of this program as the Advanced Placement program offered in high schools, but you have to learn the course content on your own. It requires a lot of self-determination and countless hours of studying, but I highly recommend it.
During my fall and spring semesters at Penn State, I completed 30.5 credits. Additionally, I concurrently completed online classes outside of the Penn State system that I brought into my degree as transfer credits. I managed to complete 9 credits in the fall and 6 credits in the spring, all of which transferred to Penn State. This was extremely rigorous but worth it. Not only did I save thousands of dollars in tuition, but I learned a ton from these classes.
Lastly, I completed twelve credits during the summer semester. It was very challenging, but I truly enjoyed the classes I took, which made it easier. All of the Smeal advisors I talked to told me that I was crazy for taking four classes and told me to drop at least two of them, but I got a 4.0 that semester and proved them wrong. By the end of my summer semester, I had completed 72.5 credits in total before I had even been enrolled in the university for twelve months. Now, I’m on track to graduate with my bachelors at the age of twenty and am already preparing graduate school application materials.
This has also turned my 2+2 plan into a 1.5+1.5 plan across multiple campuses, so I am pretty sure I am one of the only students in history to attend three different Penn State campuses on top of graduating early. It’s always tough trying to explain this to my former high school classmates and extended family members, haha.
What strategies and approaches do you recommend for students to excel in their academics and succeed in their classes?
Salvatore: Firstly, show up to every class. There is no reason not to show up, especially if you want to academically succeed! In addition, talk to your professors. I always make sure to introduce myself to my professors and shake their hands on the first day of class. By showing professors that you truly care about what you are learning and asking for help when needed, you are already on a great path. There is no reason to be afraid of attending office hours.
Next, spaced repetition is absolutely essential when memorizing course content, whether it be for a Penn State class or CLEP exam. Many students find themselves cramming in multi-hour study sessions on the day before their exams, but many publications have shown this form of studying to be very ineffective. The best thing to do is study in shorter sessions, spacing them out by at least a few hours throughout the days approaching your exam. If I could teach one study technique to my inexperienced high school self, this would be it.
I absolutely recommend using the Quizlet Learn tool if you are trying to study for a foreign language class or memorize vocabulary in any way. If you work through Quizlet Learn once per day for ten days before your exam, you will find that you have memorized hundreds of terms by your exam day.
For classes such as statistics and calculus, nothing beats practice tests and problems. For calculus, I did all of the practice problems my professor provided until I could solve each of them correctly three times, and before I knew it, I finished the class with above 100% after curving. For statistics, I had an awesome professor who would upload practice exams on Canvas. I would do the practice exams she provided once a day leading up to my exam until I could consistently get a score exceeding 95%.
For classes like economics and marketing, nothing beats study groups. Some publications have reported that the most effective method of studying is teaching others, which is a testament to how study groups can benefit you. For my microeconomics course, I would organize study groups where we would meet in a library room for three hours before the test day and we would all teach each other every concept listed on the study guide.
If you are trying to cram your studying right before an exam, this is a far more effective way to improve your information recall ability compared to just reading your notes. I had a friend who went from having a C on the first exam to getting an A on the 2nd just by coming to our group; it is truly an amazing method. This is the method I see myself using in the future, especially in graduate school. I will probably be the person who annoys everyone with study group invitations.
Above: Sal's microeconomics study group!
Thank you for your time! To finish, what advice would you give to future Penn State students?
Salvatore: Don’t let your major define you, it is always great to expand your worldview through clubs and research opportunities that are unrelated to your major! Finally, always make an effort to be on the same team as yourself. Don’t let a bad day or rough exam score ruin your drive to succeed.