Hi guys!
I just found out about PEEP last night. I’m an African American female and Penn is my top choice school (see my chances thread for stats). I’d love to attend PEEP but had some questions:
How competitive is PEEP? Has anyone been accepted/denied? Would you mind sharing your stats?
Is PEEP only for URM, low income and first gen students? I’m a URM but middle class and not 1st gen.
If you have been accepted, how can I make myself more competitive? Specifically what is PENN looking for?
Is there any way that you can find stats for those accepted/denied (like for a college)?
Thanks!
I attended PEEP and am attending Penn in the fall! They didn’t really speak about how selective it was, but everyone who attended was pretty smart and/or accomplished in extracurriculars. There is a PEEP thread if you go back a few pages. PEEP accepts minorities, low income, first generation, and people from underrepresented geographic areas. You only have to be one of those. The essay is very important; it is nearly identical to the essay for applying to Penn itself. Penn is a very pre-professional place; they like students who are ambitious and have interesting goals for the future. So talk about your goals, how they formed, and how specifically penn will help you achieve them. This was the advice they gave us at PEEP for applying to Penn. Best of luck, hope to see you at PEEP in October!
Thanks so much @Dartmouth_21 - hope to see you there too! Do you know by any chance if they keep the admissions essay the same year for year? The 2017 Application/essay isn’t up yet, but I can see the 2016 one. I’m doing my college essays during the summer and wanted to work on the PEEP one as well.
Its probably the same. I used my PEEP essay for my penn application essay, just improved it a bit. So if you finish the Penn essay over the summer you can probably use it.
Did you score high on the PSAT? I think that is what they base invitations on. My friend who did PEEP didnt get invited but she still applied and was accepted. She was a questbridge finalist, though.
@Darmouth_21 I didn’t think I did that well on the PSAT (I was struggling with managing a hard junior load). I guess I did well enough to catch Penn’s attention, though, because I’ve gotten a lot of emails in the past from them via the CollegeBoard’s Student Search. Do you know when they send out invitations? I hope I get one but they haven’t sent me anything yet.
Hi guys! I’m also planning to apply to PEEP, but haven’t received a formal invitation or anything. I was talking with a UPenn admissions officer regarding multicultural diversity at UPenn, and she suggested this program, so that’s how I found out about it. The essay topics are out now, but I’m still waiting for the application to go live this Friday.
Does anyone know how important the letter of recommendation is, or is there more emphasis on the essay and test scores?
I’m in the same boat BioRocksMySocks . From what I’ve heard, I think the essay is pretty important. Test scores seam to be least in importance; I’ve seen people who were accepted with a very wide range in scores.
Do you know when the application closes? Last I checked, the Penn website doesn’t say.
Interesting…I’ll make sure to revise my essay a few more times before submitting it.
I’m not sure when the application closes, only when it opens (this Friday). I’m guessing, like most other fly-in programs that I’ve been applying to, that PEEP is a rolling admission so there’s no clear cutoff. I’m guessing a few weeks before October 8 (when the program starts) is considered okay. I’m pretty sure they start sending out notifications as to whether you got accepted or rejected by mid-September.
Do you happen to know where the overview link for the program is? The website says it would be available August 4th in order to explain to teachers what the program is (and so they have a better idea as to why they’re writing a letter of rec) but I still can’t find it 
If you also need someone to read your essay, I’d be more than glad to do so! I enjoy peer-editing/reviewing.
Is PEEP only limited to minorities / low income?
BioRocksMySocks : I’ve been looking for the link too- haven’t been able to find one for this year. DM me and I’ll send you all the webpages/articles that I’ve found about the program (which have all been from previous years.)
Pri930: Penn says that the program is geared towards low income/minority seniors. However, they do say “students of other backgrounds are welcome to apply.”
@Pri930 I am pretty sure you can apply as long as you fall under one of the categories listed. For instance, I am white, but am fairly low income so I will probably apply anyways… it can’t hurt, plus you get to practice writing an essay
Just submitted my application, and my recommender is currently writing the letter. PEEP emailed a confirmation saying that applicants will be notified by September 18th—just an FYI I’d like to share.
Good luck to all who are applying!
Thanks- I sure need it! Essays are finished and all I need is the filled out counselor form.
Good luck
Can anyone confirm if PEEP is rolling admissions? The hard deadline to apply is 9/8, but if it’s rolling admissions we should get it in asap!
I don’t think it’s rolling admissions, as the email said everyone would be notified September 18th. Looking at previous threads, they all got their notification around that date, no matter how early they applied.
awesome, thank you @BioRocksMySocks ! 
do you know if the people reading the PEEP essays are the same as those who read the normal PENN application?
Does anyone know how the recommendation letters are for PEEP? Are they like regular letters of recommendation, or is it a form to fill out, or are there paragraph prompts?
@halfdust I believe they’re paragraph prompts. The overview link on the PEEP website should mention the format.