<p>Son sent a letter to regional rep. (at least the person he thought was the regional rep. based on geographic proximity to where we live). Stated that he was well aware that not all applicants get an interview and did not want to be bothersome, but was hoping to talk to someone about Penn. The rep. said he did not handle our town, which is literally less than ONE MILE from the rep.'s location. The rep. said he would refer the situation to the person responsible for our area who would be about a half-hour away. That was 5 days ago and now its Feb. 14. So, again I ask, what's up w/that? Seems very Un-Penn like to give a great kid the brush-off and not even offer a phone interview or a meet for coffee. Is that indicative of UPenn?</p>
<p>and yes he is well aware that it is protocol to wait for the Penn interviewer to initiate contact. But when Feb. 10 came w/no email or phone call, my son was worried that there might have been some oversight or confusion w/4 regional reps. serving our general area. Our town is quite small and something of a “blue-collar enclave” versus the surrounding area. Maybe that’s the answer.</p>
<p>I would not worry. Most interviewers only do about three interviews for ED and three for RD. We don’t do phone interviews that I am aware of. Not having an interview should not hurt your chances.</p>
<p>Maybe you are such a great kid that they thought he was a shoo-in without the interview?</p>
<p>I do know that there is time left to interview, basically until the end of February. But chill, don’t worry about it. Especially if you are a mom or dad, DEFINITELY don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>When worse comes to worse, if someone REALLY wants to go to a particular Ivy, the easiest way to get in is to get a job there, and take classes through tuition remission, show you can do well, and that’s that. And if you, mom or dad, work at Penn, your child can go for free!</p>
<p>Only 50% of applicants get interviews and they have little to no weight in the admissions process, I wouldn’t worry about not getting one.</p>
<p>Well, I suppose it’s a Dad’s job to worry–especially when he sees his son take the extra step to reach out to the University. He really does have a genuine interest and has even communicated w/professors in his area of interest and explored his “fit” w/ Penn to see if it makes sense. He’s not the kind of kid that just checks off all the Ivy league alternatives. He did his research and is excited about the school.</p>