<p>I have to say I really think it depends on the specific admissions officer. At Penn this fall, emails were answered in 24 hours however at other institutions this was not the case. I have heard all different stories this admissions cycles from many different schools and I will tell you it really varies my admissions officer not by school. Face it some people are not as organized or diligent as others. Good Luck!</p>
<p>In defense of the admissions folks, it has been a massive year for applicants, and it does seem like Penn’s portal is basically broken in many ways. If that is the main way for getting emails routed to the proper regional coordinators, it is possible that your emails just never got delivered.</p>
<p>Having said that, it is important for schools to realize that impressions developed while interacting with schools (either through emails or on phone or on campus visits) can easily clinch or torpedo applicants’ interest in the school. All applicants’ antennae are up, looking for reasons to love or dismiss a school as they work toward making their final decision.</p>
<p>I took my sister to a school for an admitted student’s day, and the day was very good, but they ran out of box lunches and had overflow crowds in some of the sessions. The computer running the presentation at the main event had no audio working, and another one the microphones were not working; there were a couple of other minor logistics mess-ups, most of them miniscule. </p>
<p>Now, this was a major national university, and our experience was obviously not a reflection of the education or experience my sister would receive there. However, she has pretty much written the school off, saying “if they can’t count heads at 8:30am and get lunch for everyone by 12noon, or guarantee a seat at sessions when they knew in advance how many people were coming, then what happens when I try to get into a popular class? Do they overbook everything here?” First impressions are lasting…</p>
<p>You’re acting like an entitled crybaby. It doesn’t matter what other schools do, just like it didn’t matter when other kids got their Game Boy Colors two months before you did. Stop acting like a small child.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=cathedra]
Their acceptance letter will say, “Dear angelolee69.” Hope that will make it all better
[/quote]
</p>
<p>So will the rejection letter :P</p>
<p>Brown used “Warm Regards” in an email. It made me feel really fuzzy inside.</p>
<p>depends on adcom. i got replies both times, and they were nice.</p>
<p>I think it’s just that admission office is overwhelmed right now. Before RD apps are officially due, I sent an email (I had screwed up my application essay) and someone replied the next day. The lady was incredibly nice. She gave me an opportunity to fix the mistake and also gave me some words of comfort. So I don’t think that penn lacks personal touch, just time to get around to everyone.</p>
<p>Well, the application numbers for Penn are actually down this year. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure I didn’t make the wrong decision going to Penn. I don’t want to spend 4 years in a college that is not close-knit. If that means being a cry baby, so be it. I want to go to a university where people are happy and respect other’s opinions. There is still a possibility of transferring out of Penn to a school like Brown or Stanford and I just wanted to know whether the impression I got from Penn is anyway representative of the school.</p>
<p>how does an email response reflect in any way whether the people are close-knit, happy, or respect other’s opinions?</p>
<p>Because I believe that the atmosphere of universities are to an extent shaped by those who manage it and that the personalities of people that are expressed are affected by the environment in which they are exposed to. Now, if the university does not do its part in making students feel welcome, this may cause the community to be a little less tight-knit, especially if the university does not plan getting-to-know-people events for freshmen. Also, the email conveys that the university could care less about the students’ concerns, which may create an atmosphere of indifference in the university. Furthermore, I guess the respecting others’ opinion comment came not so much from the emails, but more from some of the responses to this thread such as " You’re acting like an entitled crybaby," and the mockingly sarcastic, “Their acceptance letter will say, “Dear angelolee69.” Hope that will make it all better.” Now, I’m not sure what the university is like, which is why I am asking on this board. I was convinced that it would be perfect for me. Now, I am a little less sure.</p>
<p>Why would you apply to the school if you didn’t know what it was like?</p>
<p>You claim that the admissions office is conveying a message of apathy by not responding to your emails and/or responding with short, impersonal answers. </p>
<p>I submit to you that the admissions office is about 1/667th the size of the applicant pool, and that you are not the only person in said pool with questions about the application process. Imagine working with a team of 30 people and trying to address the needs of 20,000 applicants. Now imagine addressing each inquiry with a long, detailed, personal letter. Nothing would ever get done because the ad-coms would be too busy answering questions on a personal level.</p>
<p>The university does plenty to make prospective students feel welcome. Penn Previews? Overnight visits? New Student Orientation? Assigning advisors to you over the summer? The school does a lot to make the new students feel welcome that you simply haven’t been around long enough to experience yet, so don’t assume that the administration doesn’t care because the overwhelmed admissions committee may have been too busy to respond to your emails.</p>
<p>A question: were you already accepted? If so, for what reason are you trying to get in touch with the admissions committee, anyway? I didn’t deal with them at all once I got my acceptance letter.</p>
<p>actually i got paragraph long replies from my adcom</p>
<p>Every time I called Penn I got to talk to a real person within a couple of minutes. No hopeless phone trees or long periods of time listening to MUZAK. Whereas other colleges I called I was on hold for a loooong time.</p>
<p>How do you find an adcom email? I used to email the info@penn and got no responses.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Look up your admissions officer.
[Penn</a> Admissions: Contact Us](<a href=“http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/contact/]Penn”>http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/contact/)</p></li>
<li><p>Look up his/her email.
<a href=“https://medley.isc-seo.upenn.edu/directory/jsp/fast.do[/url]”>https://medley.isc-seo.upenn.edu/directory/jsp/fast.do</a></p></li>
</ol>
<p>Ahh. Tricky.</p>
<p>Thanks =]</p>