I was considering apply to to Penn and I just wanted to know from a bunch of you who go there and have personal experiences about how U got in ?! I have been hearing a lot of things and just wanna know how much of it is true …any recommendations would be appriciated 
Have you seen what Penn’s own website says they are looking for? That’s generally step one. Go with specifics before seeking anecdotes. Good luck
Yes I have I was just wondering if people would like to share Thier personal journeys …like average …EC’s etc.
This is what the ED/RD results threads are for.
Idk what those r
One additional hint for you: when posting to any advice forum, entitle your posts more clearly: “Advice wanted: Penn admissions tips please”
“Penn Students” and “Ivy league” will get you ignored.
@Soookh Did you get the information you need? What additional questions do you have?
Sorry I’m trying to change the title I will keep that in mind next time
@Much2learn thank u ! R u in penn? What courses r u taking ? How did u get in? That’s basically it
I am a Penn parent. DD is a student in SEAS.
The average admitted student has good grades (3.8 - 4.0 unweighted), strong SAT scores (2.200 average), and solid ECs. Having said that, there is no clear formula for admission, however, there are better and worse strategies.
In our case, her scores and grades were above average for all Ivies, but she did not have a talent hook for an EC. She was a varsity athlete, a high school sports team captain, and had done well in State level academic competitions. Many people thought she would not be accepted to any Ivies due to her lack of a hard hook, but she was accepted to three of the five she applied to and waitlisted at one more. One was so negative that I had to convince her that trying was worthwhile.
Here are a few guidelines that I would suggest:
- Look at Naviance and be objective about your chances. This is hard for most people. Be sure to consider added factors like race, URM, sex, and the specific college you are applying to at the University.
- Be sure to apply to a distribution of schools that you would actually be happy to attend. The more top schools you are applying to, the more schools you need to apply to.
- Spend time researching and visiting the schools you are applying to, and develop a more sophisticated understanding about which schools you are interested in and why. Be specific. "I don't like the vibe" is not a good explanation. Be sure to investigate both academic programs and social fit. You will spend four years there and it is important that you like the school you attend, and also get a good education in a subject that interests you. Too many students focus on all academics (more of these on cc) or all on the school that seems to be the most fun (more of these in the general population). It needs to be a balance.
- Use the information in points 2 and 3 to write better essays explaining what you like about each school.
Oh, and one more thing:
- Hope for success, but be prepared for failure. Before the Ivy regular decisions came out, we had already planned out final trips to her top 3 EA admission schools, and developed a plan for how we would modify the plan if she were admitted to one or more of her top picks. I think that really helped prepare her. She was hoping to get a top pick, but she was happy will her other choices, and knew she would like it there and get a great education.
@Much2learn thank u for all of your opinions. Do u by any chance know what scale Penn sees GPA like percentage wise? I’m from Canada and most universities do it differently than each other.
@Soookh I am not sure whether I understand your question. I believe that in the Common Data Set Penn reports that the average gpa of the enrolled freshman is 3.91 out of 4.0.
@Soookh Penn admissions understands that different countries have different grading scales and is aware where grade inflation/deflation exists. Especially, since you have absolutely no control over it, pour your energies into aspects of you application that you can affect.