Hi everyone. I was admitted to Penn (CAS) as a transfer in 2015 and graduated in 2018. I’m happy to answer any questions y’all may have about Penn/the admissions process. I don’t have access to the numbers anymore, but when I was friends with the Penn Transfer Student Organization board I was told around 200~ were admitted in total, and I think 120-130ish matriculated, only 13 of which were for Wharton btw (for Fall 2015).
I’m still involved with Penn and am currently interviewing applicants for RD, which prompted me to dust off the keyboard and log onto this very old account again. Feel free to PM me. By the way, we are conducting interviews until 3/4, which is when my reports are due. We are also basically given free rein to conduct our interviews. The website has some basic template questions, and we are encouraged to structure the interview as a conversation.
That being said, I don’t think the interview portion is given much weight in the evaluation process at all. I was never contacted for one the year I was admitted.
I’ve been a Penn Alum interviewer since the program started. After the interview, we submit a summary to the admissions portal. As I understand it, this then becomes part of you application. Admissions has consistently told us that they read every interview report, but I can’t speak to the specific evaluation process or sequence of events.
Thank you for interviewing applicants. My son enjoyed his interview. He and the interviewer had many of the same interests and and it was more like a friendly talk than a formal interview.
No, you should not be concerned. Interviews are offered on the basis of alumni availability. A good interview might help validate what is in the admissions file, but they don’t need an interview to make an admissions decision.
Still no interview, we submitted on 01/05 which was the deadline. Hope that is not the cause for the lack of interview.
I understand that it depends upon alumni availability, but we are in NJ/NY metro area. I find it difficult to believe that there is a shortage of Upenn Alumni in this area. Also, location doesn’t matter because everything is remote anyhow.
Just concerned whether it implies anything at all
I am in Texas and my son also didn’t get interview. He also applied on the regular deadline date. I am not sure if that’s the reason but I am not worried. There are many Ivys. He got interview from Princeton in Jan but nothing from others.
I wouldn’t worry too much. I got interviews from Harvard, Northwestern, and Georgetown, but not Penn, and I’m from Northern Kentucky. It seems pretty random - btw I also submitted on 1/04.
Actually, location still does matter. They try and assign interviewers who are familiar with the applicant’s high school or region so that they have the proper context of the opportunities (or lack of) available to the applicant.
Although you’re in an area with presumably a lot of alumni, it’s possible the interviewers have reached their capacity and are unable to take on more.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the lack of interview though. Plenty of applicants get admitted who weren’t offered an interview.
For the most part this is true, Penn also has a program they call Heroes ( referring to interviewers). Yes they initially try to have local interviewers for specific areas it has nothing to do with knowing a particular HS. Alumni do not necessarily know much or anything at all about applicant HS (I’ve interviewed many applicants whose HS I know nothing about).
The heroes program essentially asks people who are interviewing that season if they will take on extra interviews above what they initially agreed to. Many of these are last minute and most are not from the interviewers home region in order to make interviewing available to areas that may not have anyone of fewer people- I’ve done this and interviewed applicants all across the country. In the virtual world this is possible and likely to be the big positive of the pandemic.
That must explain my senior’s interview. The interviewer was clearly in the Eastern time whereas we live in Mountain time, in a location that is likely to have fewer alumni. But she was a good match with same major so it felt purposeful at the time, but I guess it was coincidental.
She contacted him and the interview happened 2.5 weeks after he applied.