<p>Just got my interview for Upenn ED!! Any tips? Really excited.</p>
<p>If asked “why Penn” don’t reply: “prestige”</p>
<p>Bring a resume</p>
<p>YES you should definitely bring a resume. Just had mine today and the guy loved that I brought my resume. It was a really nice compliment to our conversation</p>
<p>I’d be careful with bringing a resume, because the Penn interview page discourages interviewees bringing anything but themselves. If your interviewers loves your resume, then that’s awesome, but I wouldn’t take the risk of being accused of not reading the website.</p>
<p>Have some questions prepared for the interviewer about their experience at Penn.</p>
<p>Bring the resume but leave it in the car or have it in a folder. S had a Penn interview and despite the website saying not to bring a resume the interviewer asked for one. Poor S got a lecture about always bringing a resume! He will email one to her and restrain himself from telling her that the website says otherwise. </p>
<p>Penn interviewers are NOT supposed to ask for a resume but some older alums might ask out of habit. I think that’s mostly about having a way to jog the memory about a student. I never ask for a resume although I will accept one if a student has one (and hands it to me). The information on a resume is generally not relevant although sometimes it can help with a stalled conversation. Interviewers do not have, and do not NEED your test scores, honors, grades, etc. All that information is already in your file - and it’s not what interviewers are after. I want to talk to you - not read a list of accomplishments.</p>
<p>I am very sorry to hear about you S’s experience, Lizardly. That interviewer was not up-to-date on Penn’s practices. I would email one and just let it go. I’m pretty sure if that alum put in her report that the student seemed unprepared because there was no resume, that will carry no weight at all.</p>
<p>When I interview, it’s really about the conversation. I try to make the experience positive: relaxed and low-key. </p>
<p>Thanks. That is what he did. Otherwise it went well. He is trying to be philosophical about it and just take it as a lesson in expecting the unexpected.</p>
<p>fwiw I told him when I interviewed for another Ivy long long ago my interview also didn’t go that well. First of all, it was scheduled for well after when the interview deadline was supposed to be. It was with a guy who didn’t know what to make of me----this took place not long after coeducation, and this was a guy who may have been opposed to it. We spoke with each other as best we could. Who knows what he wrote about that strange, nerdy girl. I got in (my written application, like my son’s, was more weighty than the interview) and went on to interview candidates myself for several years. Like you I tried to make the students feel comfortable and to pull out of them their best selves. </p>