UPENN asked for current grades

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

I applied early decision to UPENN and my counselor told me they asked my current grades. It is not a mid year report as my school is on a semester system, so the grades they see aren’t final. My counselor thinks this is a good sign for my admission. Is that true? Or are we looking too deep into it? Thanks

2

I would think it is a good sign.

3

I got the same request, hopefully it is really a good sign

4

Hi! Do u mind sharing which undergrad college you applied to?

5

I applied for CAS, how about you?

7

Is it bad if I ask my counselor if she got an email from Penn asking for my current grades?

8

I don’t think it is necessary. Maybe you are good enough to get accepted without further information

9

It is my understanding that UPenn requires a "mid-year " report for ED applicants in February. Many schools also want to see to date/quarter grades and request from your guidance counselor - this is different and is happening more this year due to the inconsistent grading across the world for junior year.

If you are on the semester system, your counselor will gather up your grades to date from your teachers and submit a quarter report - these are not official transcript grades - but your grades by that date.

Calling it mid-year is a bit confusing - as it really is quarter 1 or 1st trimester for ED applicants. You will then be asked to submit a true midyear report after acceptance and by February.

For many schools you can see on your portal if quarter grades are missing. AO’s will reach out to your admission counselor for this information, in most cases. I would not read anything into the request except for the admissions office needs this for your file and to confirm that your grades are tracking senior year.

Waiting is hard - hang in there and make sure your counselor provided the info and keep track of all items/deadlines on your portal.

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10

In fact, only Duke ED formerly requires interim report. For other schools, I did not know about this request. You are not able to see this request from Portal. For Upenn, not everyone got this request (Not on portal neither). It is something new this year anyway.

11

did you apply with SAT/ACT test scores?

12

Yes, I submitted all scores, SAT/ACT, SAT subjects and AP test. Those scores are above 75% range in other years.

13

did you apply with SAT/ACT test scores?

14

yes, just act as I didn’t get to take subject tests

15

I don’t think it is a bad sign that they ask for grades, but I also don’t think not asking for grades is a bad sign because if they’ve already decided “yes”, they would not bother to ask for grades.

17

It is a good sign.

18

Penn does not usually require mid-year reports from ED applicants except for those they plan to defer. This is directly from their website under First Year Materials:

  • Mid-Year Report - Early Decision: Required February 15, 2021 if student is deferred

My D was admitted two cycles ago and only had to provide a final transcript.

19

You’re right. I had quickly consulted that page before I posted but I obviously misread it (maybe because having already seen Coffeeat3’s post, I saw what I expected to see instead of what was clearly there). In any event, thanks for the correction; I’m going to delete my earlier post to avoid misinforming anyone.

20

That’s not exactly right. It’s not if they PLAN to defer them – it is after they have been deferred. That’s why the mid-year report is due Feb. 15th.

Asking for interim, mid-semester grades now (many high schools don’t have quarter grades) is not the same as asking for a mid-year report in February from a deferred student.

I’d guess that Penn is on the fence about this candidate. If they clearly were going to defer the student there would be no reason to ask for interim grades now – they’ll get the first semester grades later, when they consider the deferred student in the regular decision pool. OTOH, if they clearly were going to admit the student, they probably wouldn’t ask for interim grades. To me, the idea that they are on the fence about this student makes the most sense.

21

Do you think perfect GPA with the most difficult courses (15-16 APs above) is on the fence? I got the in progress request but I don’t think I am on the fence academically, maybe other reasons.

22

I don’t know. I was replying to the post that said asking for interim grades meant Penn was planning to defer the student. I don’t think that is what it means.

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