<p>Booboo I'm getting a lot more at the university of chicago which is the place I may or may not be transferring from. As far as renegotiation goes, what process did you take? i sent an email and I called the finaid office; an extremely rude lady told me to go to <a href="http://www.sfs.upenn.edu/special%5B/url%5D">www.sfs.upenn.edu/special</a> and fill out a reevaluation form.</p>
<p>Is this what you did as well? Did they give you more money?</p>
<p>Hey Guys,</p>
<p>Congratulations to all those admitted to Penn!!! I am one of the Transfer Advisors for the Fall 2006 entering class and I know you guys have been through a grueling past few weeks in terms of getting everything settled. I just wanted to post a few pieces of advice to make sure that you guys come to Penn excited about the year ahead yet relaxed about all the logistical details.</p>
<p>Based on some of the previous posts, the financial aid issue comes up alot, as it should. The main thing here is patience as Penn can take alot of time(somtimes about 6 weeks) to act on re-evaluation requests and the like. It is alot of work throughout the summer, and I would also seek outside scholarship assistance as often as possible (as these will replace the loan component of the package) and know that Work Study should take care of alot of daily expenses. </p>
<p>Also, some other things to consider over the summer:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Make sure you guys are getting materials organized for the Credit Transfer process (this means syllabi, old exams, basically whatever you have from old classes)...this can be a pain to do, but it is well worth it b/c you'll have a LOT less stress once school starts.</p>
<ol>
<li> Lots of info. and resources can be found on Pennster, the online discussion forum for new Penn students. There is a special section for Transfer students, so you guys should check this out (We Advisors are sitting on our behinds waiting for new kids to show up, so we really are glad to help or talk about anything)...</li>
</ol></li>
</ol>
<p>3 . Definitely get housing done ASAP...but remember, even if you are placed on the waiting list for housing, DO NOT WORRY!!! I was like #280 something on the WL and I still got housing (I think all transfers who wanted to stay on-campus last year got housing...so just call for updates on your status occasionally, but everything should be fine.</p>
<ol>
<li>Finally, RELAX!!! Really enjoy the rest of summer and get pumped about Penn...you can say I'm slightly biased but the transfers at Penn really are the best people to hang around with on campus (for those of you kids worried about Academic pressures-I mean why the heck would you- know that transfers tend to have the highest grades of all the groups at Penn...for the most part at least). Have fun, and if you have any questions, feel free to post on Pennster or post here...</li>
</ol>
<p>thanks NavBallers for the advice/info.
i can't seem to logon to Pennster even with housing assigned already.</p>
<p>yeah i cant log on either</p>
<p>i still havent received my finaid package! something must be wrong..
i got a letter today asking for my reply to penn's offer of admission asap, but i can't do anything until i get my $$ offer.... what should i do, resend my forms or something? it seems far too late... but columbia gave me next to nothing so i'm not going :(</p>
<p>Adriana,</p>
<pre><code>Penn's Financial aid office can be very slow to process these things, especially over the summer. I would call them immediately, however, because the Fall Term Bill is due very soon. Even though the office is slow, they will work with you, but you have to keep in contact with them at all times and take the initiatives.
Call them this coming week and ask them if they have received ALL of your forms and whether or not they have been processed yet. Then ask when the aid committee will decide on your financial aid package (or, if they have already decided on a package, when can you expect a mailing). Remember that Penn has accepted you already, so they want you to attend the school!!! Just be patient with these guys, and you should be fine in terms of getting your aid package. As a precaution, I will tell you that Penn's packages aren't necessarily great deals. A substantial portion of your aid will be met by loans (either a mixture of subsidized and unsubsidized OR just all unsubsidized loans). Make sure you understand what the entire financial aid package entails before making a decision. Good luck and hope to cya at Penn this fall!
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<p>NavBallers,</p>
<p>Thanks for the post! I'm re-filling out my Canadian finaid forms and faxing them in for Monday morning, just in case. </p>
<p>For my transfer credit evaluation, none of my credits got assigned a Penn department course number or a "FREE" designation. For example, all I have for each of my political science courses is an "____(course name) = PSCI" designation. Does this mean these courses may not be eligible for transfer, or are they just looking for more information to find out which course number is the best fit? Is there a chance that I may lose credits from my original school and have to take extra courses or take an extra semester? I just wanted to be aware of all this info before I make a decision, if my finaid package comes soon.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your help!</p>
<p>Adriana, </p>
<pre><code>Most of the classes I wanted to transfer received a general "PSCI" designation and the like. That just means that your course does not EXACTLY match up with a corresponding Penn course, but falls, instead, within a general department course. As a result, what you have to do is gather relevent information about the course, including syllabi, papers and old exams, so that the Dept Chair can make a judgement as to whether to grant you transfer credit or not.
I just described the process, so now I'll tell you what happens in most cases. Usually, the process is easy. Most Dept Chairs will give a cursory glance over your syllabus and sign off to grant you transfer credit with very little effort needed on your part. These credits will be processed quickly and should be taken care of early on in the semester. Other Dept Chairs, however, may give you a much harder time (I tried transferring a Theater Course and the guy quizzed me on Aristotle's "Poetics"....I had no idea what to say, but after arguing with him for 30 min or so, I still got credit). Just remember not to give up on these courses b/c you most likely WILL get credit.
One more thing to note is to check up on the Dept Chairs once in a while if they are delaying getting your forms processed (make sure you make copies of everything just in case they lose you syllabus, forms, etc) . Keep track of all forms and credit slips and you should be fine. The transfer credit process wasn't as much difficult as it was annoying. But it's also really important, so just get it done early and then you can relax for the rest of the semester. Don't be one of those kids who wait till Finals time to start transferring credits (I knew a decent number of them, and they had a much harder time getting things straightened out). GOOD LUCK and see ya at Penn!
</code></pre>
<p>Thanks a lot for the insight, NavBallers. I'll let you know how it goes. :)</p>
<p>SAT: 700M, 700V, 640W
HS GPA: 3.92/4.0 (no weighting)
College GPA: 4.0/4.0 at University of Notre Dame
Volunteer English Teacher in Ecuador for a summer
Reason for transfer: Escape prejudice</p>
<p>wow this thread is one year old</p>