Penn State does usually have chapters that participate in spring recruitment. It is not usually like formal recruitment, it is typically chapters having informal events in their suites, although in recent years Panhellenic has made an effort to make sure that events don't overlap.
Also there may still be chapters doing recruitment for winter new member classes, so if you're interested you may want to send out some emails this semester to see if any chapters are holding events.
In regard to your class standing, it's true that to some chapters a first semester freshman is more desirable than a first or second semester sophomore, but it's not at all unheard of for first or second semester sophomores to get bids. You might not have the same chance as a younger student but you can't change that now so just do your best to work on your conversation skills, your activities, your overall appearance, and of course your GPA. If you know women personally in the chapters then bring it up with them, but try not to let it be the sole focus of your conversations.
Best of luck and let us know how it goes! Feel free to PM me if you have more specific questions and I can try to help you out as much as I can.