Penn Interview

Parents Forum
1

<p>(Cross-posted from Penn forum since student forums die during the day)</p>

<p>Sooo, my Penn interview went...interestingly.</p>

<p>First, I got an Indian interviewer, who happened to know about my spelling bee days back in middle school. So for no apparent reason other than to disparage me, he brought them up and said, "So apparently you're pretty good at memorization and regurgitation, but college requires abstract thinking skills. What evidence do you have of these skills, or do you not in fact have them and just don't think they matter?" He also definitely called Wharton's ethos "Style over substance."</p>

<p>Second, at the end of the interview, he asked me some really weird questions:</p>

<p>1) Did you use a college consultant in this process?
2) Did you receive SAT coaching?
3) Is Penn your first-choice school?
4) Why didn't you apply ED?
5) Did you apply anywhere else EA or ED?
6) Did you apply for financial aid?</p>

<p>Is this grounds for concern? Am I just freaking out over nothing? Should I email Penn? Any thoughts?</p>

2

<p>This guy sounds like a major ass! That quote (even if not word for word accurate) is really offensive... and it's not even true! Memorization and regurgitation help a lot in college. This guy has apparently confused your admissions interview with a consulting firm employment interview. </p>

<p>I don't see how emailing Penn will help you. Too bad the guy was such a jerk.</p>

<p>oh, and you probably provided too much info online... an "Indian" Penn alumni interviewer from Memphis?</p>

3

<p>My son got into Penn ED and couldn't have had a more opposite experience with the interview. I wonder - are sure you got the right interviewer, or maybe it was just some random guy off the streets at Starbucks or somewhere pulling your leg!!</p>

<p>Seriously, this guy went over the line, and I think the school should know about it, if for no other reason than to prevent this from happening to someone else.</p>

4

<p>I'm going to suggest you speak to your regional rep and describe the situation. I would present it in such a way as to appear as though you are concerned about the interview because the interviewer asked you questions that had nothing to do with who you are as a person and suggested that you might not be a good candidate for Penn. You could ask if it would be possible to have an interview with another alum.</p>

<p>Any more experienced people have an opinion? I don't think he should let this poor interview roll off his back. It could hurt his chances of acceptance and the poor interview was due to the ******* interviewer. Excuse my French.</p>

5

<p>The interviewer doesn't sound like the most tactful person, but I don't think that he was dreadful enough to request another interviewer.</p>

<p>I'd reserve makng such requests for truly heinous offenses such as if an interviewer made a racist/sexist comment; told the applicant that s/he had no chance of being admitted; was drunk; or spent the entire interview talking about themselves, instead of the applicant. It is difficult enough for adcoms to find enough alum volunteers to get applicants interviewed once each. I don't suggest bothering the adcoms with a request for another interview unless there were egregious problems with the first interviewer.</p>

<p>This question was not worded tactfully, but to me, there's nothing wrong with the person's asking this question, and there certainly was plenty of room for you to present yourself in a good light.:"said, "So apparently you're pretty good at memorization and regurgitation, but college requires abstract thinking skills. What evidence do you have of these skills, or do you not in fact have them and just don't think they matter?"</p>

<p>I also wonder if Wharton encourages hardball interviews to make sure that applicants can handle the rigors of a corporate-oriented business atmosphere.</p>

6

<p>I just checked your stats and ECs, which are all extraordinary. I do wonder whether the interviewer was simply giving you some openings to talk more about yourself particularly since you appear to have so much to offer. Indeed, I'm wondering whether some of the interviewers querstions were due to his hoping that Wharton is your first choice, because you seem like a person who'll have lots of fine options.</p>

<p>For people who didn't see her stats, here is what was on another thread:
"SAT: 1600 and 2400
SAT IIs: Math IIC, Lit, Bio, USH, all 800s
PSAT: 240
APs: 5's in AP English Lang and Comp, AP US Hist, AP Calc BC, AP World Hist, AP Biology, and a 4 in AP Spanish Lang</p>

<p>Taking AP Psych, AP Stat, AP Macro (online because it isn't offered at my school), AP Eng Lit, AP Physics B (what a waste of time)</p>

<p>Class rank: 2/445</p>

<p>Taken several courses at local university, and taking Calculus III next semester.</p>

<p>Done two summers of pharmaceutical research at UT Health Science Center. Developed some new compounds.</p>

<p>Editorial Columnist for school paper, lots of Model UN and Mock Trial Experience. Model UN assistant coach.</p>

<p>18 Science Olympiad event medals at regional and state.</p>

<p>ARML, AMC, TEAMS, AIME participant.</p>

<p>Lots of local and state awards in Science and Math Competitions.</p>

<p>Third in nation on Ayn Rand Essay Contest.</p>

<p>National Spanish Exam Level II and IV: 2nd and 3rd in state respectively.</p>

<p>Quiz Bowl: Two championships, one runner-up, one third place at a major outside tournament. Captain this year, 4 years of experience.</p>

<p>About 300 hrs. of nursing home volunteer work.</p>

<p>Facing History Leadership Committee for my school</p>

7

<p>NSM - I agree with you if it were just a matter of the spelling bee question. I think it's the financial aid one that bothers me the most. It is completely inappropriate and he has no right to ask that question as Penn states that it is need-blind for admission purposes.</p>

<p>Thinking about this some more, I wondered what I would do if this were my own kid. It would have to come down to whether or not he thought he was able to answer all those questions without getting thrown. If he thought he did well, I might advise him to leave it alone. But I've read about a lot of Penn interviews, (including Wharton ones) on this site, and have never seen one like this. I don't think Wharton gives separate interviews from the College at any rate.</p>

8

<p>I guess that I don't know what the concern is about the interviewer's asking whether the student applied for financial aid. I have no idea why the interviewer asked the question since it doesn't factor into admissions. I am wondering, however, if perhaps the interviewer asked out of fear that such an outstanding-appearing candidate might decide to accept another college that might offer merit aid more generous than Penn's need-based aid.</p>

<p>I wouldn't have been insulted or put off by such a question when I interviewed for college (and I did apply for aid) nor would I be concerned if that question were asked of my sons.</p>

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<p>I do know that Penn interviewers do not know an applicants stats pre-interview.</p>

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<p>my daughter had about 6 or 7 interviews during the winter she was applying to colleges and she said only one of those interviewers was unusual and that was the women who interviewed her for U Penn. my daughter said the other interviewers were friendly, polite and encouraging but the interviewer for U Penn was borderline rude and she was discouraging. she even went as far as to tell my daughter none of the schools she was applying to was a safety. That statement,in reality, was ridiculous.</p>

11

<p>I'm offended that the interviewer said that Wharton was style over substance!</p>

<p>In any case, interviewers are not given questions to ask based on what school you apply to. In fact, none of those questions are even on the recommended list of questions that we receive (ie what is your greatest achievement, who is your hero, etc).</p>

<p>I would also recommend telling your regional director as you can have been unfairly evaluated and it is important for them to know what interviewers are not behaving in a way that represents the university in a positive light. In the least, he shouldn't be criticizing one of the four schools!</p>

12

<p>It appears that Penn does not give its interviewers much guidance on Dos and DON'Ts for interviewing. Was the interview evaluative? How much weight is it given? The Indian guy probably conducts the same kind of interview with every student, so it might be a matter of just not freaking out or getting defensive. I would hesitate to complain while you're still being considered. It could make you look like a difficult person. But the Penn Admissions office should know about this before next year's cycle.</p>

13

<p>I would tell your GC what happened and, if you have a good relationship with your GC, let it be known that you would like Penn to know what happened, but don't want to be the source yourself. </p>

<p>Something similar happened to a friend of D a LONG time ago. It involved a different school. The GC called and explained what happened, said the girl was upset and asked whether the college would suggest that she request another interview or let it go. It turned out that the previous year, another student had complained about the same interviewer, but hadn't done so until the results came out and she got a thin envelope. While the college did talk to the interviewer, it thought that the complaint was in part the result of sour grapes. A second very similar complaint, made before results were known, was viewed quite differently, understandably. </p>

<p>This is one of those times when you really should go through your GC if your GC is half-competent. He or she can say that you came to him/her for advice on what to do, if anything--which makes you look mature and reasonable. GC can then say something like "I haven't run into this sort of thing before, so I didn't know what to tell her. What do you suggest?" At the very least, there will be a note in the file, so in the unlikely event he does say something negative, it will be discounted.</p>

14

<p>This doesn't have much to do with the original post but...</p>

<p>For those who had problems with their Penn interviews, were the alumni from Wharton or from the College?
I'm applying to the College, but the alumna who interviewed me had graduated from Wharton. She approached the entire interview as if I were applying to Wharton rather than CAS; every question she asked revolved around specifically what my goals are for the future...what my career plans are..where i see myself in 10 years etc... It was bothersome because the very reason I applied to the College was because i wasn't (and still am not) sure exactly what field or career path I want to pursue. I would assume, though, Wharton applicants would have a much tighter grasp on that. </p>

<p>it seems to me that there should be a different set of interviewers for Wharton applicants.</p>