I will be applying to penn soon and I was looking at these programs ( 2100 SAT (650CR and 760M)… and good scores in Chem and MATH 2). I was especially interested in NETS but because I am an international (from an already well represented country) and with not that great SAT scores. will I be better off applying to SEAS or should I take the leap of faith and apply for NETS as i have heard dual degrees are extremely competitive.
Also is NETS and Viper as competitive for admissions as Huntsman and M&T are ?
Thanks you for taking your time out to read this. A response would greatly be appreciated
M&T is definitely way more competitive than VIPER. Huntsman is a completely different kind of program, geared towards different interests and types of applicants, so a comparison in absolute terms is sort of pointless (a person admitted to huntsman would most prob not have been admitted to m&t and vice versa). but yeah huntsman is on a comparable level of competitiveness as M&T in its own field.
The dual degrees that are extremely competitive at Penn are LSM, M&T and Huntsman. VIPER is also quite competitive , and it is still on the rise in term of popularity, becoming more and more competitive each year. NETS is not a dual degree, but rather a specialized program within Penn SEAS. For NETS I don’t think there is any difference at this point in terms of difficulty to get in (maybe in the future tho it could become more difficult since NETS has also started becoming increasingly popular).
Lastly, yes your SATs are a bit lower than the Penn average (which is around 2220), but it is not too low to immediately disqualify you. I think you should apply to NETS because if you do not get in, then you will still be considered for the second choice (i.e SEAS) you designated in the common app.
@Penn95 “NETS is not a dual degree, but rather a specialized program within Penn SEAS.”
This is correct. I believe it is the only major within SEAS that requires an additional application.
@Penn95 “For NETS I don’t think there is any difference at this point in terms of difficulty to get in.”
NETS currently targets 20 seats, so difficulty will depend on the number of applicants. I am sure that admission is not as competitive as M & T, but it does not seem to be automatic with SEAS admission either.
I know that four Penn rising sophomores were admitted as transfers this summer from other Penn majors, that those students are all above average students, and that several students were rejected.
I also know that Tech is rising in popularity, and Computer Science is now the most popular major in SEAS, so admission to NETS is probably becoming more difficult than it was a few years ago.
“The dual degrees that are extremely competitive at Penn are LSM, M&T and Huntsman.”
@Penn95, those are certainly the flagships. On a completely different note, I am under the impression that the dual degree program in Digital Media Design, while much more narrowly focused, is also pretty competitive. Do you know anything about that?
I was hoping my SAT 2 scores would save me (750 M2 and 800 Chem)…(my SAT 1 math is 760 but then again so is everyone else’s)… My GPA is all over the place since I moved from US to where I am in the middle as soon as 10th grade ended now and am in a completely different curriculum. here the only scores that matter are end of year exams in 12th and 10th. So yea. I know Penn seems far fetched considering my scores but I have a lot of extracurricular and leaderships in science related clubs (robotics, Mathletes, Science League) so I just wanted help as to where I should apply and how I should go about it in Penn. Or should I just leave Penn all together. (I was extremely interested in NETS and SEAS at Penn)
AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REPLIES. I TRULY APPRECIATE IT
@mythics Well on the question which you should apply for, the best chance is the one you want to do the most. Sure M&T is competitive, but you’re more likely to get into that than another dual-degree b/c your essay would be more passionate. So if you are extremely interested in NETS, I would recommend NETS.
