<p>on the common data sets (cant find the penn on) it ususally has a chart of stuff such as gpa, rank, essay… ect… and check marks them under considered, important, or not considered. Is there a chart like this anywhere?</p>
<p>Everything is important!</p>
<p>I'd say that the interview is less "important" but can be a tipping factor in either direction while the "Why Penn" essay is most important.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>also...is the level of interest taken into consideration?</p>
<p>""Why Penn" essay is most important."</p>
<p>Dooo IT!!!!</p>
<p>alannacrap, you're from tucson? me too. what school do you go to?</p>
<p>alannacrap ? </p>
<p>CDO</p>
<p>sorry for the spelling error... i was typing here and talking online back and forth. again, i apologize.</p>
<p>i'm in Foothills</p>
<p>Yes, level of interest is important. Penn wants people who WANT to be part of the whole university. Not rank-whores who want to go to a well ranked school.</p>
<p>With most schools, your essay and your recommendations seem to be the most important, especially an essay which explains WHY you want to go to the school. If you think about it, most applicants have similar SATs, similar GPAs, and pretty similar ECs (there are some really rare ones, but for the most part a lot of kids do the exact same activities). The essays and the recommendations are the only things you have that no one else will: they're your one chance to set yourself apart from everyone else and prove you're different. They allow you to show a school why they should take you over someone else, what makes YOU special.</p>
<p>And I'm not sure why you'd ask what isn't considered. I don't think they'd make you put things on their application if they don't consider it. Seems like a waste of everyone's time.</p>
<p>^
Thanks :):):)</p>
<p>Also, with regard to the interview, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I don't think it really matters. I know people who got in without having an interview. I had an AWFUL interview (i.e. she didn't ask me anything about myself and didn't give me the opportunity to volunteer info. She really just told me about how she met her husband at Penn and all her friends went to Penn, etc.) and got into Wharton. One of my friends, who had better stats than me (100 points higher SAT, 15 spots higher in rank) got rejected from Wharton. My mom is really good friends with another interviewer and she said that the interviewers really have no power, and that Penn interviews are really an opportunity for students to ask questions. She said if they discover something, such as you have no extra curriculars because you spend every afternoon tutoring your friend who is dying of cancer in the hospital (she said she actually had a student who did that - he had no ECs and she asked why and that's what he said), then of course the interviewer is going to make it a point to make sure the admissions office knows that. But if it's a standard interview, just like every other interview, it won't do much to help. </p>
<p>As to what I said about essays, I realized that I saw you express interest in Wharton before. I forgot who told me, but I was talking to someone of importance and was told that the biggest problem with Wharton kids is that their Why Penn essay ONLY talks about Wharton, Wharton, Wharton is so great, Wharton, Wharton, want to rape Wharton, dreaming of Wharton, etc. This person (I'm really blanking on who it was) said that a lot of these kids just get rejected because it's clear that they're rank whores who only see Wharton, not the rest of the University. The admissions officers look for kids who are interested in the experience to be gained from the entire University, rather than only the top-notch education to be gained from one program they offer. Of course you mention the program which interests you, and why. But you need to go farther than that and talk about why you want more than just that program. Why you love the whole package.</p>
<p>I have a big package to offer (literally)</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>
<p>Doing everyone in admissions is a good way to make sure you're in.</p>
<p>Yep...</p>
<p>I guess I should write my essay or at least start it tomorrow.
Do you think it is a good idea to start contacting my regional rep so I can create a relationship with them?</p>
<p>Bing-
what year are you? Like half my soccer team goes to Foothills</p>
<p>im going to be a senior</p>
<p>what happenes if you send the application in earlier than the deadline?
Will they do anything with it? or will they wait?</p>
<p>They will wait. The actual review process apparently start late Nov-early Dec (which is why you can still send in rushed Nov SAT scores).</p>
<p>I sent mine in early October just because I couldn't stand having it hanging over my head anymore. I wanted it out of my hands and into theirs. </p>
<p>With your essay, I think the easiest way to write it is to just sit down at the computer and write what comes to mind - do a stream of consciousness. Then wait a few days before going back to revise it. My better essays came about in that manner. When I was too busy worrying about how this and this might sound when I was writing my first draft, it came out very dry. But when I just let my thoughts flow and then went back, it was much more substantial. </p>
<p>Best of luck to you!</p>