<p>Can anyone tell me how Penn reads the applications.In other words,does the regional officer read the applications from his/her region and make the final decision? And if so,are students from the same school and or area evaluated against each other ?Thanks!</p>
<p>bump…was wondering the same thing. I assume applications are first sorted by school, but the admissions staff consists of Regional Directors and Regional Coordinators based on geographical areas. Who all is involved in the process and how do they work together? What level of knowledge do the people reading the applications have regarding the particular major or program you are applying to? Anyone know?</p>
<p>good question i’m wondering about this too
anybody?</p>
<p>This 1998 article about Penn admissions is a bit dated (especially the numbers it cites), but probably still provides a fairly accurate picture of how the admissions process works:</p>
<p>[High</a> drama in the office of admissions / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com](<a href=“http://www.csmonitor.com/1998/1215/121598.feat.feat.2.html]High”>High drama in the office of admissions - CSMonitor.com)</p>
<ul>
<li>A highly motivated white male from Illinois who wants to attend the Wharton School of Business. Penn gets a number of applications from his school. He is in the top 5 percent of his class with high ACT scores. But his class rank is relatively low. Nothing else distinguishes him.</li>
</ul>
<p>Isn’t that statement self-contradictory?</p>
<p>^^Yeah, that made no sense.</p>
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<p>If you are talking about the class rank thing, I don’t think it’s contradictory. It says that the class rank is relatively low, meaning it is low compared to the other applicants from that school</p>
<p>But he’s top 5%. Perhaps they meant nothing else distinguishes him in terms of extracurriculars.</p>
<p>The example above means that among the five who applied, he’s not the stand out. Top 5% is obviously a great achievement relative to his HS but not to the pool of UPenn applicants. Given the nos. of applicants, the successful applicant really needs to be noticed. I suppose in the above example, that applicant is indistinguishable and will be rejected.</p>
<p>A) Somebody should sticky this thread (very useful article).
B) I <em>know</em> I’m getting rejected now hahahahahahahaha.</p>
<p>so all the applications are grouped by schools?
therefore you are compared to others in your school?</p>
<p>I think its more like “grouped by regional area” which yes, could include your school. That’s actually rather alarming.</p>
<p>^ On the other hand, the regional directors are–at least theoretically–able to become more familiar with many of the high schools in their assigned region, thereby serving as a resource for the admissions office as to what GPAs, ECs, etc. mean in the context of a given high school. That’s why they generally are the first to review the apps that come from their assigned region, so that they can make an initial assessment and put the application in a broader context (e.g., evaluating a particular applicant’s choice of high school courses compared to what was available to him at his school). As the linked article demonstrates, they also are able to serve as more persuasive advocates for applicants they think should be admitted.</p>
<p>My reference to ‘school’ refers to Penn’s schools (CAS, SEAS, Wharton, Nursing), not high school, believing that applicants would have to be evaluated against other applicants applying for the same school or program. So, Wharton hopefuls, for example, might be evaluated by staff, or even faculty, from that school.</p>
<p>What’s confusing is the role and importance of the regional admissions staff. Do students who are from Penn ‘feeder’ schools, for instance, where the high school guidance couselor is on a first-name basis with the Regional Director, have a significant advantage over students who come from schools who rarely send students to Penn?</p>
<p>I actually found that article a little disturbing. There’s no way they read essays and recs in 2 minutes, let alone ECs and grades.</p>
<p>But I understand that this was over ten years ago and that computers have significantly changed the way admissions are run.</p>
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<p>Also, the “2 minutes” refers to the time spent by the admissions committee on the final decision. Prior to the committee meeting, the regional director (and perhaps others) spends additional time (minutes, not hours) reading and evaluating the applications from his/her assigned region. Remember, Penn and other top schools have to evaluate tens of thousands of applications within a relatively short time period, and need to divide up the work among admissions office staff members in order to accomplish that.</p>
<p>What bothered me was the fact that Penn and other schools seem to read the applications by region and certainly by high school. Therefore if there are several strong applicants from one high school, it is unlikely that they will all be accepted in order to “spread out” the population of incoming freshman. Therefore, many students from less competitive high schools may be accepted over the stronger candidates at the more competitive high schools.</p>
<p>^agree 100 percent :(</p>
<p>:( me too!!</p>
<p>^ Geographic diversity is just one factor used by Penn and other top schools to put together their entering classes. As I explained above, the reason they have regional directors is to ensure that they can understand more fully the nature of the high schools from which they receive applications. All high schools are not equal in the eyes of admissions offices such as Penn’s, and the relative competitiveness of high schools is definitely taken into account in evaluating applicants from those schools. 3800 or so potential acceptances gives the admissions office a lot of room to maneuver in that regard.</p>
<p>Bottom line: if you’re a great applicant, you’ll stand on your own merits. :)</p>