<p>Hey guys! So, I was wondering how did some of you get into UPenn? If you don't mind answering that would be great! Do summer programs like Drexel's Lebow Business Camp and UPenn Startalk Chinese help? I'm really interested in doing both of these. But any advice one could give would be great!</p>
<p>Call it Penn, not UPenn.</p>
<p>Sorry can’t help, but I am just as interested.</p>
<p>Now that my son has survived his 1st semester at Penn/Wharton I think I’m starting to understand some basics about admissions…they may be wrong…but they sure seem to apply to my son and his friends. </p>
<p>You will always have those crazy smart students who ace every standardized test and show potential beyond what is humanly normal…those applicants will likely be admitted to where ever they apply. There will also always be hooks…for my son it was being Hispanic and coming from a low-middle class single parent family…I’m a teacher. Also…your voice must show through in your essay. As hard as it may be…the essay focus needs to be on you and your accomplishments. If you are comparing yourself to someone you need to spend at least 75% of the essay talking about you and no more than 25% of your essay talking about the other person. This info came from a personal essay session at the QuestBridge conference led by admissions counselors from Columbia, Vassar, and Haverford. It is hard to write about yourself but you are trying to sell youself to these schools so you have to give them a product they want. </p>
<p>If you come from an elite high school…private or public…you need to have perfect or near perfect test scores and grades…take every AP class offered…be deeply involved in several ec’s</p>
<p>If you come from a small rural high school (like my son)…have perfect or near perfect grades…you need to have test scores far above the school’s norm…take all advanced classes offered…be deeply involved in several ec’s</p>
<p>The high school you attend…in my humble opinion…really dictates your chances of admissions. My son was only the 2nd student in our regional district to ever be accepted to an Ivy…the cool part is we had another student accepted this year to Harvard. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come! All colleges…but especially the Ivys and other elites…are in the business of getting who they want at all costs. They know which schools create elite students and which schools just get lucky to have an elite student.</p>