@thefinancekid I’m doing IB but nah i took the act
From what is says on the Upenn website, early decision considers whether a person has alumni family background or not the most. Hence the ED seems to give disadvantages to applicants who do not have family alumni from Upenn… Look here: http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/apply/freshman-admission/early-and-regular-decision What are you guys take on it? I obviously don’t have family from Upenn so would applying regular decision be better?
I think you may be misinterpreting that. It doesn’t mean that legacy applicants will receive the most consideration among all ED applicants. It means that legacy applicants will receive the most consideration of their legacy status during ED, as opposed to RD. In other words, they get more of a boost for legacy status during ED than they would get if they applied during RD (and it’s arguable that legacy is ONLY a boost during the ED round).
Hello aspiring Quakers,
Thinking of applying ED to M&T.
Welcome to the thread! We are all in this together. 
Do you guys think it’s a good idea to visit in June? Or should I do it when students are back in school in the fall?
Hi guys, I’m thinking of applying to SEAS/CAS for ED. Took the old SATI last year and taking the subject test in June. I’m also taking IB 
@dandelion101 If you want the most authentic feel for a campus, I’d say wait until when students are back in school. Not that a June visit is bad by any means, but visiting a college while it’s in session gives a lot better representation of what that college is like on a day to day basis and its atmosphere than going when it’s more inactive.
Hey guys, Im an international student admitted RD class of 2020 to CAS. Feel free to ask any questions. Good luck
Hi everyone!! absolutely in love with Penn and planning to apply ED to CAS.
@lauraazumah thank you for the best wishes! What would you say the strongest part of your application was? Did you reach out to Penn before applying, and if so how? Do you feel like doing so had any impact on how your application was examined?
@lauraazumah Thank you! I’m also an international student in Singapore, applying this year to SEAS. How do you show that you are a fit for penn? Did you reach out to penn before applying? During Dean Kumar’s visit to Singapore this March I attended his talk and showed him my interest in studying at penn, and he seemed to be quite impressed. I gave him my CV, he took the hardcopy but asked me to email him the softcopy. But sadly he never replied… What should I do?
We should make a facebook group so we could all join and it would be much easier
@Aztreas The strongest part of my application was probably my essays and recommendations. Make sure you teachers who know you and are likely to write the nicest things about you to do your recommendations. Ironically the two teachers that did my recs were the “mean” ones nobody went to so I guess they had a lot of time make sure their recommendations were solid. Ohh yeah and invest a lot of time in your essays.
Well no I actually didn’t reach out before applying because I am that shy kind of person. I had an alumni interview however and I was freaking out.
When you write your essays, make sure you talk about specific stuff only Penn can offer you. i spoke about specific stuff i wanted to do at Penn. If you generalise, they might feel like its just a template.
But you should definitely reach out and let them know you exist. When you show interest, it goes a long way.
@Chc260810
Hey, well as i said in the post above, I talked about my interests in my essays and explained how the opportunities at Penn would help me achieve my goals. I talked about the clubs I would like to join to destress and I also spoke about being a Benjamin Franklin scholar. Well one thing I really love about penn is the interdisciplinary study approach and that was a key factor to me.
Relax and don’t panic lol. You can always send him the soft copy and apologise for not doing so earlier. Im sure he’d be glad that you even took the time to email him.
Good luck!!
@lauraazumah thanks for you helpful response! I also like the interdisciplinary part of penn a lot. Other schools are too strict with double majors and even minors. I also don’t like the rigorous cores of a lot of other ivy like Columbia…
I do have a lot of community service and leadership related to volunteering, but I don’t have a lot of engineering related prizes or medals, though I’m very interested in the field. I also don’t have recommendation letters from famous professors(which some of my super smart friends have), so I feel stressed out haha. Do you think I’m disadvantaged?
Btw I mean I’ve emailed him the softcopy but he never replied:(((
@Chc260810
Same!!! I also felt very disadvantaged because my EC consisted mostly of volunteering and two sports. I only had recs from my teachers.
Dont be scared, just be true to yourself and don’t feel intimadated by others. I’m sure there were better qualified applicants than me who still didn’t get in. Just focus and try your best. That’s all that counts. Penn would be lucky to have you guys there next Fall
@happywharton please make a fb account! p sure a lot of people would join
@happywharton Haha a Facebook group will be awesome!
@lauraazumah haha thanks it’s really encouraging. Thanks!! Did you apply penn for ED? How was the alumni interview like? Was it super scary?