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Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
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<p>@45percenter “the average stats–SATs, GPAs, etc.–of admitted ED applicants are generally comparable to those of admitted RD applicants”</p>

<p>I was basing my comments on the following from the Daily Pennsylvanian. According the The Daily Pennsylvanian, last year “The average SAT score of the early decision class is approximately 2186.”</p>

<p>The DP later said, “The average SAT score for the admitted class increased two points to 2199.”</p>

<p>Since the ED round was over 1/2 of the class, I am assuming that the average regular decision admit had an SAT score of 25 to 30 points higher than the average ED applicant to pull the average up to 2199.</p>

22

<p>The ED stats are likely skewed by “hooked” accepted students - especially athletes, development cases, VIP’s and URM’s. The average stats of accepted unhooked candidate are probably pretty similar to RD admitted applicants.</p>

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<p>^ Correct. Also, I wouldn’t place too much reliance on the exact numbers of the DP in any given article–it’s not uncommon for those to be [slightly] inaccurate.</p>

<p>I based my observation on reading the stats over many years of DP articles, and on sources other than just the DP, as well as the admittedly anecdotal stats of accepted and rejected ED applicants who post their results here on College Confidential. And also based on statements of Dean Furda, etc., at alumni gatherings (in the context of legacy admissions). The bottom line is that Penn does not lower its usual objective acceptance criteria (SATs, GPAs, etc.) merely because an applicant has applied ED (although, as Falcon1 points out, there are applicants in the ED pool for which such adjustments may be made for reasons other than that they happened to apply ED). Again, a quick review of the ED results threads here on CC reveals a substantial number of ED applicants with high SATs and GPAs who get denied or deferred every year. In fact, Penn’s admissions policy in general is that once an applicant has reached a certain threshold of test scores and GPA/class rank (e.g., generally within the middle 50% or so of SAT scores of admitted applicants), those objective criteria are essentially then ignored as the more holistic aspects of the application (essays, recommendations, ECs, etc.) are evaluated and used to determine the ultimate decision.</p>

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<p>^^ Agreed. Also, the reason that I didn’t include legacies in the list of hooked candidates that may be lowering the average stats is that my understanding is that admitted legacies for most of the Ivies these days, on balance, actually have stats that are higher than the average. There are many reasons for this which don’t need to be repeated here.</p>

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<p>^ Indeed. The legacy hook is an all-else-being-equal advantage, as I’ve personally heard Amy Gutmann and others emphasize to alumni. She and others also emphasize that the overwhelming majority of legacy applicants are rejected by Penn every year, even with the understanding that legacy is only an advantage during the ED round.</p>

26

<p>Unsure how much you would know about this, but how much does Penn take into account alumni donations? My uncle is a large donor to Penn and has kids currently attending. What are the odds this can affect my admission? Btw I would like to go to Wharton UG, but I might also try to apply to just the College and go for a pol science degree. Thanks so much</p>

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<p>MODERATOR’S NOTE:
The purpose of this thread is to ask for feedback from those “in the know” about life at Penn - the classes, the dorms, the frats, etc. It is not a chances thread.</p>

<p>Current students will have no solid evidence as to how they got accepted, so any questions about legacy, GPA, hooks, etc. should be posed elsewhere.</p>

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<p>Bumping this thread after [my</a> other thread](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17803673]my”>Penn '16 here. Bored over Thanksgiving weekend and willing to take your questions! - #2 by skieurope - University of Pennsylvania - College Confidential Forums) was closed as a duplicate.</p>

<p>Current Penn undergrad, Class of 2016 here! Would love to answer any questions y’all might have.</p>

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<p>@AnonPenn2016‌ what are you studying at Penn?</p>

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<p>Oh true, should probably provide background info: I study Computer Science (doing BSE and MSE in 5 years) and I had an internship at a very well-known Bay Area web services company last summer (where I’ll be returning next summer).</p>

31

<p>Hey! I have a few questions for ya guys :wink: </p>

<ol>
<li>How would you rate the Penn Campus to other schools? I’ve heard that it is “Hogwarts-esque” but I have not been on a tour yet</li>
<li>Which of the undergraduate schools (excluding nursing) has the most/least students? </li>
<li>What is the approximate SEAS ED acceptance rate? (That’s where I’m applying ED)</li>
<li>What is the drug/alcohol safety level on campus? As a kid who’s afraid of such things, are they avoidable?</li>
<li>How do most students spend their time on weekends besides studying?</li>
<li>Can you Chance Me?-- <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1712153-lets-play-the-guessing-game-cc-upenn-washu-columbia-uchicago-and-more-will-chance-back.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1712153-lets-play-the-guessing-game-cc-upenn-washu-columbia-uchicago-and-more-will-chance-back.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
</ol>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>Hi @metsfan9‌ !</p>

<p>1- Our campus is pretty typical of what you’ll find at old schools like Penn. Beautiful buildings, very walkable, and yes the Quad (our freshman dorm) resembles Hogwarts in some ways…check Google Maps! It’s on Streetview!</p>

<p>2- Nursing has the least number of students, followed by Engineering/Wharton (in my year I believe they’re about equal in terms of undergrads, +/- 50 students), then the College is massive with most of the undergrads. All of this information is available on the Penn website!</p>

<p>3- No idea why you’re asking me about the ED acceptance rate. :wink: I can only tell you what’s publicly available. According to SEAS’s [Fact</a> Facts](<a href=“Marketing and Communications |”>About) page, the overall SEAS acceptance rate is 11.78% but I imagine that rate is higher for ED applicants. Believe it or not, the other schools at Penn are just about as competitive as Wharton!</p>

<p>4- Some people drink, some people smoke marijuana, some others engage in harder drugs. Most people don’t do any of the above, except for a drink or two once or twice a month. It’s the real world and you will meet a lot of different people in college; anybody who says their school doesn’t have any of the above is a liar! That being said, there’s absolutely no pressure at all to consume anything I just mentioned and I know many, many people who do not drink/smoke/do drugs at all. Most people only go out on weekends and stick to drinking if they do anything at all. </p>

<p>5- Students love to go downtown, hang out, go to NYC, whatever. I think you’re asking a very subjective question here, as everyone has their own way of spending their free time. This being said, Penn (and specifically my major, CIS) is a LOT of work and you’ll find yourself without a lot of free time during the weekends; this is typical of engineering programs anywhere.</p>

<p>6- I am firmly against “chance me”-type posts, since I’m not an admissions officer and I really don’t know how Penn Admissions evaluates applications. This being said, I can tell you that you have very similar stats to mine in most aspects. Reading your post from top-to-bottom, I can say we differ in the following ways:

[ul]
[<em>] My SAT scores were slightly higher, and I scored 35 on the ACT and sent this in (I think they took my ACT into more consideration than SAT, since it’s a higher percentile score).
[</em>] I’m quarter-minority, quarter-Asian, half-white
[<em>] You have more APs and a higher average AP score. However, you’re applying to an engineering program and you only have one quantitative AP: AB Calc. I had Physics (4)/Stat (5)/BC Calc (5)/Comp Sci (5) scores before applying, in addition to AP US (4) and AP Eng Lit (senior year, Penn did not see, thankfully lol… 3)
[</em>] I had 3 leadership positions in extracurriculars that were not related to my field of study. You have one academically-related leadership position
[<em>] No sports I was really proud of
[</em>] Work experience: I had two internships before I applied, one at a law firm and one with the US Senate. I had a letter of recommendation from my state’s US Senator
[<em>] Your summer activities are way better than mine. I just worked in the internships above, and chilled in Europe with a friend during one summer lol.
[</em>] No interview
[li] I went to an “elite” boarding school in New England…lots of kids went to Ivies from my school (but not so much to Penn). I’m originally from the southeast.[/li][/ul]
In summary, I’d say that Penn is a mid-/high-reach for you. Any other year, maybe Penn would be a low reach, but our CS program is growing VERY rapidly and it’s only gonna get more competitive from here. Every year the freshmen get smarter, and I’m honestly not too sure I’d have gotten into Penn if I applied this year instead of in 2012. Best of luck!</p>

33

<p>Does anybody know when we hear back from Penn if we applied early decision? </p>

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<p>^ December 15th at 5:00 p.m. EST:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/apply/applicant_homepage”>http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/apply/applicant_homepage&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>How’s the cafeteria food?</p>

36

<p>“How’s the cafeteria food?”</p>

<p>This is my daughter’s biggest complaint about Penn. She can’t stand the food and freshmen have to buy a meal plan. She bought the smallest meal plan, and gets most of her food elsewhere. </p>

<p>She is very aware of the quality of the food she eats. She wants fresh grilled chicken and not processed frozen chicken. She likes a variety of fruit, like fresh strawberries, blueberries, bananas, oranges, apples, mangos, plums etc. They tend to have mellon because it is cheaper. </p>

<p>After freshman year, you can do whatever you want to, so this issue will solve itself. However, it is a freshman year annoyance.</p>

37

<p>@AnonPenn2016‌
Hey, </p>

<p>Do you think its possible Penn would balance out a ED applicant with a low GPA with other factors like an SAT of average Penn admitted student, good ECs, great essays, URM, and an Alumni Family Member who makes significant donations and has strong ties to inner workings of school? This is my profile and I’m afraid my low GPA (3.6/4.0) is going to bring me down significantly. I apologize if this comes off as a “chance me” request. If you think it’s too subjective to properly answer, than don’t worry about it. Thank you</p>

<p>edit: That GPA is from a course selection of most of the hardest classes my school offers.</p>

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<p>@frig11 Please refer to post #26.</p>

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<p>@skieurope‌ my bad. Remove that comment if you can please </p>

40

<p>@frig11‌ I’m in the same boat as you: SAT scores at the Penn average, unique and history tailored ECs, internship, strongly demonstrated interest in an academic subject (history), great essays, (w/o the alum family) and a 3.82 weighted with hardest curriculum my school offers (my school doesn’t do unweighted but it’s a 3.6 UW). The best thing to do is to not think about it and just move on with stuff. Work on other apps, enjoy your ec’s and work hard in school. If you don’t get in, move on and apply elsewhere. Chances are you will get in at a good chunk of your other schools.</p>