Yeah I got contacted for an interview, but its virtual, so there might not be as many alumni available for interviews in the midwest @shivaya
Yeah I definitely would think the most Penn alum are in PA and the New England area (like Boston).
You think perhaps it is based on the school? Perhaps I’m maybe speculating, but so far the only people who have been offered interviews at my school are applying to M&T, LSM, etc. Maybe CAS just takes longer?
I am applying to CAS @jarrett211
Anyone for Wharton interviewed yet? Or is it more like the dual programs being interviewed first?
@shivaya I am applying to CAS and was contacted for interview today
@shivaya @jarrett211 There must be so many factors that go into the time frame of when an applicant is asked to interview. I’m imagining that dual degree prospective students take priority, but geographic region and the date at which you submitted your application are both important as well.
I’m LSM so @jarrett211 's theory might be right
i don’t know as much about time bc I submitted pretty late compared to most (20th or so)
FWIW, Son applied Oct 25 (CAS), contacted for interview Nov1, in person interview set for Nov 9. San Francisco Bay area (if you couldn’t tell from my avatar!)
I submit my ED app for Penn on the 31st. (Halloween really was scary!)
But I submit my PFAS before I submit my commonapp. Will that be an issue? Should I submit it again?
Submitted Oct 6th, received this email from Penn on October 22nd:
We are excited to see you have applied to the University of Pennsylvania. If you have not been contacted already, you will likely be contacted by a member of the Penn Alumni Interview Program, who will suggest a time to meet in-person or virtually for an alumni interview. Applicant names and contact information are provided to members of the Interview Program, who then contact students individually. There is no pre-screening of applicant files, and alumni volunteers do not have access to a student’s application materials.
Have yet to be contacted by an interview. I am in the NYC Metro Area, with plenty of Penn alumni. Applying to Wharton.
Has anybody in NYC been contacted? I know @amanivy mentioned something about regional chairs assigned interviewers to interviewees…so maybe it’s a NYC thing? Not freaking out, just curious.
Good luck to all!
Also, does a 2200 superscore give me decent shot at CAS?
My son was accepted ED to Class of '19 - currently CAS BFS, good luck!!
@ComputerAge That gives me a bit of reassurance actually. You actually submitted your app a week before I did, and if you still haven’t received anything from them, then I imagine it might just be a regional thing. I like in a populated Boston suburb, with hundreds of Penn alumni close to me. Let us know when you receive one. At that point, I’ll bring this up again.
I don’t think the date of submission has anything to do with getting an interview. I submitted mine on Sept. 2 
- probably one of the 1st ones. It’s pretty clear that this has something to do with the geographical area, program applied and availability of alumni. Penn’s priority is Pennsylvania followed by the east coast schools - the 2019 incoming freshman profile numbers tend to support this theory.
I submitted very early to a bunch of top schools. Different schools have reacted quite differently. Other top schools have already contacted and have been interviewed. But Penn seems to be following a different pattern (more obvious).
From the thread of 2019 ED, PENN sent likely letter pretty quickly for recruited athletics.
When your Penn application is complete, your name gets sent to the alumni interview volunteer committee where you live. The interviewers each receive a certain number of students to interview. But how fast you hear from them depends on how fast they get around to calling the students. They have no information about your grades, or scores. They just know your name, address, phone number,email, which of the four schools you applied to,and high school you attend.
@shivaya Wow you’re proactive. Alright, I guess I will keep a watchful eye out for interviews, but I will refrain from worrying about it for now.
Tried the best to see if these schools are truly holistic (as they say) or the pattern is the actually more predictable:- (which is what it seems like). Some of the predictable pattern is as follows:
- Dual programs take higher priority amongst ED applicants
- Athletes take higher priority amongst ED applicants
- PA followed by East Coast (and maybe CA) take higher priority amongst ED applicants
- and many more…
Athletes I would believe, but I honestly just think that it is by alumni availability. They appoint chairs in charge of that stuff for different geographic regions. In addition, it is up to the interviewer to contact the student, and some of them probably take a while to do so.