<p>wow KRabble88, thats a powerful story. reminds me when i saw the apartment my parents satyed with a few other graduate friends. holy crap have they made it.</p>
<p>if someone nailed the window shut on me, i'd take the hammer, break the window and make sure it was clean around the edges. then say "open aint it...what NOW?" and make sure im pointing the hammer at the interviewer and i can jump the hell out of that window. there is always a second solution</p>
<p>krabble - all i can say is: WOW</p>
<p>seifo - all i can say is: RESOURCEFUL
hahah</p>
<p>It's different now then it was when I was young.</p>
<p>I had no idea what my parents literally did for a living except that they worked at a dry cleaning store. When I was 10 or so (when I was young, basically), I was almost completely ignorant of what they did and what they do for me. I feel terrible for saying it now, but I was always ashamed that my parents didn't have "respectable" jobs. Especially in elementary school, my friends' parents would all have some sort of important sounding job, and my parents.. well they washed clothes all day. I don't think I can blame myself for feeling that way, but like I said, I feel terrible for even have thought of it that way.</p>
<p>Now (and gradually in a way), I realize what they've done. I couldn't care less what position some Joe Schmoe holds in Company X. I just can't imagine dedicating the rest of my life to my children when I have a family. It's weird in a way.</p>
<p>well.. that's our parents' love for us.. sending me to US to study will be a huge burden for my parents.. and they insist that I should go if I get into any school there.. well.. felt kindof bad.. so im gonna start working right aft my finals (ends nxt week) for a whole of 9months before university and work throughout my university days to offset the fees.. sigh... but im really very touched by everything they have done for me.. even my irritating elder sister has volunteered to contribute to my education.. WOW rite? she doesn't earn much either, cos she's on a work-study. meaning.. she's on attachment in silicon valley while studying part time at stanford. yup... n USD1500 is all that she gets.. (though it's ALOT when converted back to our currency) - just a gauge.. an intern here earns an ave of $700, wch is USD430??</p>
<p>I have also been realizing how smart my parents really are--especially my dad. When I was young, I never really thought of my parents being really smart or anything, but now I see how different my parents are from other parents. For example, even after a long day of work, my dad is still willing to help me construct a project, etc. for school. Their work ethic is just unparallel. They're always doing something around the house, whether it is taking care of the plants outside (my dad loves gardening), building little furniture things (my dad actually goes to Home Depot to buy wood and build benchs and shelves. They aren't that great, but whenever friends come over, they're amazed at seeing it because their dads never do that type of carpentry), or other small things like cooking or cleaning (even though I do my best to take care of the cleaning).</p>
<p>I always thought all parents functioned this way (especially my dad), but I now know that it's a unique characteristic of him.</p>
<p>nah... my parents don't too.. it's not quite a norm... but when i had homestay in taiwan.. their parents are like that! very closely knitted families... but i like my parents no matter wad.. (DUH)
and i think my dad's very capable too.. he's able to solve all my college questions.. even qns I get fr my honours class.. i wonder how he rmbs what he learnt 30 yrs back? i think 30yrs fr now.. i wouldn't even be able to recognise calculus!</p>
<p>am i the only one who hasn't been called for an interview yet? ..</p>
<p>i submitted the app pretty early...is everyone guaranteed an alumni interview?</p>
<p>Krabble,</p>
<p>I feel like I can really relate to you. My parents, me, and my fathers parents (my gparents) came here on Christmas day with exactly $730 for the five of us... they were very limited in what they could take with them when they left which is why they only had $730. We lived in Jamaica in Queens, New York (same place where 50 cent grew up dealing crack) for a little. Then my parents moved to a small apartment and my mom got a job bagging food at the supermarket while my dad couldn't find a job (he majored in civil engineering). He did a lot of architectural work, but he couldn't find any kind of job in his profession here in the US (the economy sucked under Bush). My dad did everything he could: clean chimeneys, etc. My mom was an accountant, yet she could only get a job bagging groceries. They both took classes at night to learn English and studied a lot to improve their language. Meanwhile, they raised me and helped my grandparents. My mom ended up finding work at an accounting office and my dad started learning computer programming. It was easy for him to pick it up because of his engineering background, and he was able to find a job once the internet boom first began. Both of my parents worked really hard. I definately felt different than other kids at my suburbian elementary school because I live don the poor side of town in a small apartment and didn't want to even invite people over. Currently, we live in a nice house in the suburbs and I truly would say my parents are my heros. They have sacrificed and worked so hard just so that I could have a better life.</p>
<p>American Dream? F uck yes.</p>
<p>i lived in jamaica, its not too bad. Ever heard of Hollis? when you cross the 200-210 st mark, its over</p>
<p>I just got back from my interview!</p>
<p>Post any questions you might have. I'll be more than happy to answer them for you.</p>
<p>What questions did your interviewer ask? Any that you didn't anticipate?</p>
<p>They were very basic questions. First she started off by telling a little about herself and Penn: she went to Penn in the 60's as a nursing student, but stuck with Penn for many years. She worked there for 10 years (not sure what she did), and her daughter went to Penn as well (but apparently her first choice was Yale lol..).</p>
<p>All of the questions were very straightforward. She asked me why I wanted to attend Penn. She knew that I liked chemistry, so she asked me why I liked it and what I want to do in the field. She asked me about my family and other colleges that I'm applying to.</p>
<p>It was basically a conversation pertaining to Penn.</p>
<p>I might remember more questions later, so stay tuned!</p>
<p>She also asked me if I wanted to live on campus if I do attend. This was followed by an explanation of the different extracurricular things on campus and how it's integrated so well, etc.</p>
<p>She asked me what I like to do as well.</p>
<p>oh yay, basic questions it seems to be, but how do you think it went, well?</p>
<p>Okay, I'm having my interview soon at a coffee shop. My interviewer told me to dress casually. But there seems to be a rule on no sweatshirts. I was planning on wearing my Wharton sweatshirt and black pants... is that not appropriate? Cause I asked my Harvard friend, and he wore a crosscountry sweatshirt for his Harvard interview last year and got it...</p>
<p>I'd say wearing penn stuff to an interview looks presumptuous</p>
<p>Yeah, the interview was pretty good I guess (probably average). She asked me if I had any questions, and I drew a blank lol.. she did a good job explaining things I already knew and things I didn't! We touched upon my interests and she explained different things on Penn's campus that I could take advantage of. She also suggested that I try out for the tennis team.</p>
<p>My interview was 40 minutes long, by the way.</p>
<p>Zhang, I think you should go with something other than the sweatshirt. You might feel awkward or conscious about wearing the Wharton sweatshirt when you're sitting there actually being interviewed!</p>
<p>She was also very very nice. I can imagine her being more of a caring, loving mother than a corporate shark (not like a single person can assume both roles, but ya know what I mean!) It wasn't an interrogation at all, more like a very interesting conversation.</p>
<p>a loving mother than a corporate shark... hahahahaha! That's a funny way to put it.
But wouldn't wearing a Wharton sweatshirt show that I really want to go there and have visited the campus?</p>
<p>u can show u want to go there and have visited by talking about really specific stuff about penn, or by talking about your tour. the wharton shirt just yells, unfortunately, "Yeah I'm getting in. So why am i talking to you?"</p>