<p>@an0maly: well im just used to seeing at least a few people on CC posting their intended major as BBB and i havent seen any this year… until now haha</p>
<p>@wangatang: thanks! hahaha and BBB stands for Biological Basis of Behavior. its a major that integrates generic science classes such as bio, chem etc with psychology and things like neuroscience-- to put in broad terms. :)</p>
<p>btw guys, ill be more than happy to swap essays as long as you guys submitted your already. i didnt write a 217 and it seems like a lot of you guys did so im thinking maybe i should’ve but lets swap and critique!</p>
<p>^ I think we ought to hold off until Jan 1st/2nd since some people are still applying to UPenn, and some people repeat essays from different schools. I would love to swap though.</p>
<p>Hi! I am applying RD to Wharton! I am also applying to Cornell (Hotel), NYU, Emory, Rice, U of Oregon, and Oregon State. Cornell is my top choice, but Penn is #2 so we will see…</p>
<p>I think I am going to finally submit my app tonight! I have been struggling with the community essay, but I think it’s the best I can do at this point. I don’t think I am going to submit pg. 217 (since I only have like two days and I want to get the app in tonight!). I just hope that TRULY optional really means TRULY optional…
Anyway, I loved Penn when I visited! It was so pretty and the people seemed really nice! I am so excited!!!</p>
<p>I didn’t get a chance to visit Penn yet. So for the people who have visited: is the place really big?
did anyone sit in on a class? how was it?
how did you like Philadelphia?</p>
<p>If youre a good creative writer you should def do 217! I did it last night at like 3 in the morning, and am only making minor changes before I submit it. I found it really fun and it’s cool because everyone’s is so different (my Penn-applicant friends and I have all talked about what we’re writing) that it’s hard to have a BAD one, unless the writing is really poor.</p>
<p>Also, have any of you struggled with really long community essays? Mine is “one page” with size 11 font and 0.5 inch margins, which might really annoy the adcom.</p>
<p>@jokesbg779 - haha. shortening the margins… remember the times when we used to widen those things? I totally get it tho. I made my margins 0.8" so it’s less noticeable :)</p>
<p>Ha, I used font size 11 when trying to fit my optional essay on one page. It ended up fitting exactly. (Maybe I should have used margin changes, in hindsight, to fit some more in. Ah, well.)</p>
<p>soooo, what do you guys think about a pretty bad grade on my first semester part of the transcript? i ended up with two a D in AP calc ab and C in AP french first marking period and i think the grade might be around there again second marking period. :/</p>
<p>Is there a reason for the drop dontstopbelievin? If so, you should let them know and explain your case. If not, just work harder man. It’s the last stretch of our high school careers - let’s finish it right.</p>
<p>@ wangatang: Penn is quite big. I would estimate Penn itself is about about 6x6 city blocks, not including the areas that encompass the rest of University City like Drexel, USP, etc. (It goes from 34th to 40th streets west to east, and from Market St to some highway near Schuylkill River.</p>
<p>I haven’t sat in a class before. As for what Philadelphia is like… I don’t think I can give much comparison to it since I’ve lived in Philly 16/18 years of my life. It’s very city like, but definitely no where as crowded as NYC. You don’t have to worry about there being nothing to do on a weekend or free day. You should adventure out to places in South or Northeast Philly once you get the hang of riding the subway/buses.</p>
<p>i’m creepy: i’ve been fb stalking someone from my old school who got into penn ED. she’s talking to future classmates and stuff. I’M SO JEALOUS.</p>
<p>well my calc teacher is the type that likes to teach RIDICULOUSLY tough so we all get 4’s and 5’s on the AP exam and its actually very typical for the kids to do poorly the first semester then better the second semester then BEAST the AP exam. my only problem is that penn wont see my AP exam scores until AFTER decisions are made. of course, im working my butt off to bring up these grades… do you guys have any advice on what i should do? do you think i should write a letter to my regional rep? my counselor is sending in a course description of my courses but that wont really explain the drop.</p>
<p>@dontstopbelievin : Penn needs to hear about your situation… your counselor can include supplementary forms. I know my counselor has done that for a ton of her former students. She actually hand wrote personal information about the class beyond what was necessary. perhaps you should ask your counselor to do something like that for you - I mean it doesn’t hurt. I guess if you’re not on such great terms with your counselor, you should get some chapstick cuz you’ll need to do a lot of ass-kissin :)</p>
<p>haha i changed the font to 11 AND widened the margins!
i really don’t think the Penn adcom will be too happy with me, BUT they do encourage this behavior b/c they say “a page” as opposed to having a character or word limit. I am definitely planning on revising, though because right now both my optional and required Penn essays are squeezed onto the “one page.”</p>
but lets swap and critique!</p>
You should adventure out to places in South or Northeast Philly once you get the hang of riding the subway/buses.</p>