How does uPenn undergrad admission sort and filter ED applicants?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
21

Thanks again for all the feedback. A couple more questions:

  1. How does indication of a major influence admission decisions (assuming all metrics like GPA, SAT/ACT, etc being equal)? Finance would probably the most competitive one and something like a actuarial science probably less desirable? As I saw somewhere, there are 420 student in finance compared a lot less in accounting or actuarial science.
  1. What is a sample alumni interview like?
22

.Yes it is a bit easier (how much is not known) to get in EA vs. RD… Penn admits it. AND, TO VERIFY THAT ALL YOU HAVETO DO IS LOOK AT THE %ge of admits EA vs. RD.

As to interviews:

I truly believe they might be interesting to Penn in 2 instances:

  1. a bad report due to behavior I mentioned in a prior post. Look it seems like common sense: you have 2 kids of about the same caliber but one had exhibited poor behabior to the interviewer; with 900 applicants in my area some kids are bound to be of about the same in all respects. Why would Admissions pick the obnoxious kid, the troublemaker, the liar over a kid who treated the interviewer with respect, was honest, etc. Last year one applicant screamed at me “why are you interviewing me, you are too old.” I gave her the benefit of the doubt and answered what I hoped her question was " how current are you". She kept complaining to me throughout the interview that I was too old. I cannot edit what happens during an interview. She got a bad report - very rare for me to give a bad report - I am easy. Penn told me I should have terminated the interview immediately.

2 something has changed after the application has been submitted. The applicant won a prestigious reward. . Penn wants to know about this - they explicitly ask us to find out if anything has changed in the application. How about where the applicant’s grades tank because of a sudden and serious problem: ill health, death in the family, divorce. Crazy me thinks Penn wants to know this too.

I sort the applicants into 2 groups - those I recommend and those that I believe are middle of the pack (others call it reaching). Only 2 kids that I placed in the latter group have ever been admitted. The kids I recommend usually get into great schools: HPY, MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Columbia, Penn. My top pick last year for SEAS did not get accepted to Penn - he is at Yale. I rarely sort a kid into the 3rd group - the kids that I do not recommend, I will tell Penn that I have a bias because the kid exhibited bad behavior. The kids I place in the middle of the pack usually go to UCLA, Brown, Northwestern, Berkeley. All great schools too. College really is what you make it…

It is great to reach, to have dreams, but don’t be disappointed/defeated if not all dreams come true.

to quote Browning:

… “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?”

23

Fantastic. Thank you again for the wise tips. I just do not want to have any regrets later that I wish I knew this or that! So, I am trying to get every possible tips and feedback with a totally open mind. Just trying to give my shot.

And then,…
if I get it, it was meant for me and if I don’t get accepted, then it wasn’t meant for me.

Someone great once said:
“Disappointment comes to those who make an appointment with the future!”

Thanks to everyone who provided their view.