Official University of Pennsylvania Class of 2015 ED Decisions Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
221

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>School applied to: SEAS</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): CR: 690 M:800 W: 730
[</em>] SAT II: Math II: 780 Bio: 700 Chem: 730
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96 (And my school doesn’t weight GPA)
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
(School doesn’t rank, but probably would be top 5%)
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): No AP classes (school doesn’t offer many), but… English: 4, Spanish Language: 4 Psychology: 5
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Intense</p>

<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): A couple science teams, student government, radio club
[</em>] Summer Activities: 2 summer internships at a leading research university in the field of engineering I am interested in. Also, took undergraduate courses at a couple other universities.
[<em>] Essays: Common App: Decent, but not special,<br>
Penn Essay: Very Good/Unique (And I spent a loongg time writing it)
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation: Very Good
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Very Good
[</em>] Additional Recs: Very Good
[li] Interview: Very Good</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Country (if international applicant): USA
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy</p>

<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: GPA, Summer Activities, Penn Essay
[</em>] Weaknesses: Extracurriculars, Community Service</p>

<p>[/ul]General Comments: Never thought I’d actually get in. Soooooooooooo excited!</p>

222

<p>Any news on financial aid??? My son was accepted ED but hasn’t heard anything yet about financial aid. Should we be worried? I’m a middle school teacher and single parent…so I don’t make much…his dad(who is remarried w/3 kids) isn’t contributing but at least he filled out the CSS non-custodial.</p>

223

<p>@dnjsmom88: Under My Links in the Penn Admissions website, is there a My PennPlan online? That’s the financial aid. Did you turn in your forms late? That might delay your financial aid.</p>

224

<p>I have already looked there and it says the file is complete. I got everything in on time but I am pretty sure that my son’s dad didn’t.</p>

225

<p>Decision: Accepted
School applied to: SEAS</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 800 M 800 CR 770 W (Damn essay) - 2370 Composite
[</em>] ACT: 35
[<em>] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry, 770 BioM
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8 (attend a public magnet high school in Illinois)
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 Calc, 4 Chem (never took the class, wrote an explanation)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Most challenging
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Siemens semifinalist, NM semifinalist, </p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Too many to list… uh, Biology/Chemistry Research, Medical Society (president) Mu Alpha Theta (Treasurer) Science Bowl (Cofounder+Captain), Math Team more
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: none
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: tutoring
[</em>] Summer Activities: 9-10th, community service, every other summer was university level research.
[<em>] Essays: I thought meh, my counselor said it was a 9.1/10, but I didn’t think it was particularly well written. It was about my bathroom wall, so memorable topic I guess.
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation: Science was glowing (although he said he wrote that I slept through all of his classes), English was variable, probably good since I got in.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Good I think, in light of the decision.
[</em>] Additional Rec: Read first half, completely generic, dunno if it got better.
[li] Interview: Didn’t have one</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): IL
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Public, magnet residential
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
[<em>] Gender: M
[</em>] Income Bracket: 250K+
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Squat, perhaps good research.</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Near perfect test scores, at least one good teacher rec, good research (they only read my abstract, I’m not sure if they could tell it was pretty respectable).
[</em>] Weaknesses: Asian male from high-income family, (relatively) low GPA, essays perhaps. All my Bs were in easy classes (my school sends grade reports for certain classes, so they knew which were hard and easy), so I was afraid of being perceived as a slacker.
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: well, I guess I’m far better than average for everything but GPA, but
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign BioE (Accepted), Duke+Berkeley withdrawn.</p>

<p>[/ul]General Comments: I hope I don’t end up with second thoughts, but the lack of pressure/uncertainty now is pretty nice (well, there’s always getting rescinded. Linear algebra could kick my ass).</p>

226

<p>Decision: Deferred
School applied to: CAS</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 570 M 590 CR 680 W - 1840 Composite
ACT: N/A
SAT II: 720 Spanish, 610 Math II
Weighted GPA (out of 100): 91.25
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): Full IB diploma - the scores were PREDICTED scores, I will take the exams in May 2011; HL history (6), HL port A1 (5), HL english (5), SL math (4), SL physics (4), SL br. soc. studies (6)
Senior Year Course Load: Most challenging
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Beta Honor Roll grades 9-10, Alpha Honor Roll grade 11, National Winner of Creative Writing Contest, Poem published in magazine
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Too many to list… Reporter and columnist for school magazine, Founder of a tutoring (writing-focused) activity, Varsity Cheerleader, peer leader
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: several experiences hands-on in different places
Summer Activities: Summer courses: Columbia University in 2008, Yale University in 2009, Israel in 2010
Essays: I loved it; about my summer in Israel and how I grew.
Teacher Recommendation: English was excellent, IR I’m not so sure; not so close with him.
Counselor Rec: Very good
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Went great, we talked for over 1 hour non stop about her experience at Penn and how I could learn from her
Other
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Brazil
School Type: Private, well known school
Ethnicity: White, US Citizen, Brazilian Citizen
Gender: F
Income Bracket: high
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy
Reflection
Strengths: Everything but my GPA and test scores.
Weaknesses: GPA and test scores.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: See above
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: So far, only accepted to Bard College (EA) , haven’t heard from the others
General Comments: Penn is my dream school. My pride is hurt, but I refuse to give up.</p>

227

<p>Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>School applied to: Huntsman (single choice CAS)</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 650cr 690m 710w 12e 2050c
ACT: 32e 36m 30r 28s 11e 32c
SAT II: 660m2 700ush 570span
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/160
AP (place score in parenthesis): Stat (4) Euro (4) USH (5) Eng Lang (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP: calc bc, physics, eng lit, gov, micro/macro and theology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Golfer, President of NHS, Sunday School Teacher, Youth Legislature, Summer Camp Instructor (golf, vbs), Volunteer
Job/Work Experience: Referre
Volunteer/Community service: 40+ school mandated hours for theology credit
Summer Activities: Golf
Essays: Srength
Teacher Recommendation: Two good ones, the other might have hurt me
Counselor Rec: Good, I know my counselor outside of school also
Additional Rec:
Interview: Great, he liked me and promised a good word for me</p>

<p>Other
State (if domestic applicant): TN
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Catholic
Ethnicity: white
Gender: male
Income Bracket: ~100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Weakness</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: GPA, schedule strength, essays
Weaknesses: Test Scores, lack of appeal, not interesting enough
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Better applicants
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Deferred EA from Notre Dame
General Comments: Congratulations to all accepted</p>

228

<p>Can one of the mods please keep this thread at the top so prospective students can access it easily?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

229

<p>Looking for stats on Nursing applicants…anyone else accepted? deferred? rejected?</p>

<p>My daughter applied RD…last year decisions for Nursing were mid Feb.</p>

230

<p>How do you get a likely letter from a program you are interested…</p>

231

<p>Be a recruited athlete or an extremely qualified + luck RD applicant.</p>

232

<p>Decision: Accepted
School applied to: Wharton </p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 700 CR 770 M 770 W (10 essay) - 2240. Took it twice. The last time I took it was the January of my junior year
ACT: None
SAT II: 800 Math II, 790 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6 / 3.86 / 3.94 (9th/10th/11th). Cumulative unweighted GPA was 3.8. I go to a boarding school in NC.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A. However, I was listed on the Cum Laude.
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 Calculus AB (10th), 5 Chemistry, 5 Stats, 4 Euro History (all 11th), English Language, US History, Biology, Calculus BC (all 12th)
IB (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: Most challenging. Especially, my math course was challenging. (It was a second year college level class)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Honor, Cum Laude Society, Some awards from Debate Competitions, Recognition of Leadership from one newspaper.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Council (President (12), VP (11), Class Rep (10,9)), Choirs (Chamber+chorus+chapel): 2.5 hrs of practice every week, Business-oriented internships for two summers at SAP, Dorm Prefect (12), Dorm Proctor (11), Honor Council Member (12), Musical (12)
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: tutoring, volunteer work in several different places
Summer Activities: 9th: Volunteer Work, Cancer Research at a national university
10th: Volunteer Work, Business Internship at a company
11th: Volunteer Work, Business Internship at a company</p>

<p>Essays: I am not a perfect writer. However, I spent three digit hours on my main essay only. My Common App main was, therefore, stronger than I thought it would be. Also, out of all the supplements, Penn supplement was the most flowing.
Counselor Rec: I have no idea, but hopefully he wrote good things… He was in charge of the Student Council for 3 years
Additional Rec: School Headmaster (Penn’s distinguished alum)
Interview: Didn’t have one</p>

<p>State (if domestic applicant): NC
Country (if international applicant): I am at a school in NC, but I live in Korea.
School Type: Private Boarding
Ethnicity: Asian (Korean)
Gender: M
Income Bracket: Enough to send me to Penn for four years.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Leadership</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: School GPA (even if it adds up to be 3.8, I made it to Cum Laude, and I had only one B on my transcript), good teacher rec, GOOD ESSAY.
Weaknesses: Asian with relatively low SAT score.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Thank you FURDA
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Tulane (EA/ Accepted with Presidential Scholarship), U Chicago (EA/ Deferred)
General Comments: Good luck to everybody!</p>

233

<p>Can a moderator sticky this thread please? </p>

<p>Also, here’s the count through post 233: </p>

<p>Accepted: 90
Deferred: 19
Rejected: 26</p>

<p>CC Penn ED Acceptance Rate: 66.6%
Overall Penn ED Acceptance Rate: 26%</p>

234

<p>Decision: Accepted
School applied to: CAS (7 year Bio-Dental Program)</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2220; 770 m, 680 cr, 770 w, 12 essay
ACT: –
SAT II: 800 math2c, 740 chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB (5), Psychology (5), US History (4), European History (3).
IB (place score in parenthesis): –
Senior Year Course Load: AP Biology, AP Statistics, AP Government, AP Economics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar With Honor, National Merit Commended Scholar
LOTS of extracurriculars, not much leadership though
Work experience for 3 years with dentists
Essays: great
Teacher Recommendation: good/great
Counselor Rec: terrible
Additional Rec: mediocre (couldve been better)
Interview: amazing!
State (if domestic applicant): California
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): interesting extracurricular (wrote essay on it)
Reflection: kind of surprised that i got in
Strengths: essays, rank/gpa, work experience/summer activities, extracurriculars
Weaknesses: sat score, lack of leadership
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: see strengths</p>

235

<p>In case you want to compare ED vs. RD, I’m bumping this thread.
It still needs to be stickied</p>

236

<p>might as well bump this</p>

237

<p>Decision: Accepted
School applied to: Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2340 (740 M, 800 CR, 800 WR 12 Essay - Single Sitting)
[</em>] ACT: N/A
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9 (at time of application)
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank.
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[</em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: World Literature I/II, US History I/II, Calculus II, Computer Science I, Finance, Derivative Investments, International Trade Economics, Physics Mechanics, Physics Electricity and Magnetism. Program was dual enrollment (all courses taken at a university) - hence all the courses were the same as college courses and thus no AP’s required.
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None</p>

<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Main ones included the founding of Business Organization at my school that consolidated different business/economics competitions and also brought in various guest speakers to lecture about business/state of the economy at my school. I also began science demonstrations for local elementary schools throughout the district.
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Research Intern in Computational Chemistry.
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Created a program for science demonstrations at local elementary schools.
[</em>] Summer Activities: Research Intern in Computational Chemistry.
[<em>] Essays: Probably what got me in. I wrote about how the financial recession changed my perspectives on higher education from one purely devoted to the sciences/engineering to one that incorporated business, economics, liberal arts, etc.
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation: Most of them were probably weak except the one from my International Trade Economics professor.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Weak, I didn’t know her that well.
[</em>] Additional Rec: None
[li] Interview: Didn’t have one. </p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Texas
[</em>] School Type: Dual-Enrollment Early College Entrance Program ([Early</a> college entrance program - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_college_entrance_program]Early”>Early entrance to college - Wikipedia))
[<em>] Ethnicity: South Asian
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket: Did not qualify for financial aid.
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None.</p>

<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Essays, ECs.
[</em>] Weaknesses: GPA (It seems high, but places me in the middle 50% at my school)
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I essentially tailored my course selection, essays, and ECs to the Fisher program, which helped overlook some of my weaknesses.
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: None, ED.</p>

<p>[/ul]General Comments: Essays matter more than you know. Good luck to the Class of 2016 applicants.</p>

238

<p>Alumni interviews for RD Penn applicants are still going on, they need to be submitted by end of February. Have not interviewed any nursing applicants though, but we were told we might get some.</p>

239

<p>Just a note by the way - I feel the reason I got into Penn was because I had excellent AP test scores, it certainly was not my class rank which was not top 10% (back when). I am shocked to see people applying to any Ivy League school with no AP exams taken, especially in this day and age.</p>