<p>I applied to the Huntsman Program this year Early Decision with my second choice as the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) regular decision. In November, my status on the Penn Portal switched suddenly from being listed as a Huntsman ED applicant to a CAS ED applicant. I contacted my admission counselor saying I was afraid my application was filed improperly and she told me it was just a "technical" issue and would be fixed. The next day the portal listed me correctly.</p>
<p>When I received my admission decision on December 11, however, it said I was accepted ED to CAS and said nothing about the Huntsman Program. When we contacted the Admission Office they told me that I had been "deferred" from Huntsman and accepted to CAS but not bound to go. </p>
<p>The next week, to make matters more complicated, I received the accepted students packet from Wharton. When we contacted the office for the third time now, they told me I could switch my admission to Wharton for two reasons: I am eligible for the Nelson scholarship (full tuition at Wharton available to a few different high schools in the Philadelphia area) and it would be "easier" for me to double major with Wharton as my home school.</p>
<p>So, come April 1, I log onto the admission website and I receive the same exact letter as in December, except it said Wharton instead of CAS. The letter AGAIN said nothing about the Huntsman program. No waitlist, denial, nothing.</p>
<p>It makes me think that the admission council did not fairly look at my application and really doesn't know what they are doing. Am I supposed to infer their admission decisions?</p>
<p>Did anyone else have a similar experience with the Huntsman program or another dual-degree program?</p>
<p>That’s what I figured. I wanted to see if this was a unique case or if they did this to multiple people. I think the two possibilities are either A) They sent me the wrong form letter twice or B) they did not properly assess my application.</p>
<p>Looks like the fifth time contacting my representative is the charm?</p>
<p>So I received an email today after contacting them and it basically said that due to the “highly selective” nature of Huntsman, I was accepted to Wharton. This is what I figured, but it would be nice if the letter I received from Penn actually acknowledged that I applied to Huntsman and, in reality, was denied.</p>
<p>Have any other applicants to dual-degree programs at Penn had a similar experience?</p>
<p>Well, I applied to Huntsman but in my admission decision, there was nothing about it - only that I was admitted to the CAS. I imagine they don’t want to ruin a supposedly happy letter with such thing…</p>
<p>Yeah they don’t mention getting rejected in the letters (I applied to Huntsman and got accepted into Wharton).</p>
<p>However, it’s definitely very true that if you actually do want to do a dual degree, all you have to do is have a 3.4. It won’t be Huntsman, but if a dual degree is what you really want then you can do it.</p>
<p>Did anyone else have the same experience where they applied ED to Huntsman and had their second choice as RD but then were told in December that they were accepted ED to their second choice?</p>
<p>
I think this is their rationale, but I really don’t think it’s acceptable. Getting an acceptance letter from Penn is always going to be happy. They don’t need to ignore a rejection to an insanely competitive program in an attempt to not spoil that moment. The vast majority of applicants to those programs get rejected so I really don’t think it is a big deal for them to admit that to you.</p>
<p>I have declined my offer of admission to Penn and I have to admit that this experience did play a role (albeit small) in my decision.</p>