Service Academies do not issue Likely Letters; they issue Letters of Encouragement and Letters of Assurance which do not have the same impact a a LL.
Yeah but a likely letter basically means you’re in–otherwise they wouldn’t waste their time sending them. Unless your grades drop or commit a felony or something, you’re in
a. true but in the past they’ve sent them to nursing applicants or athletes only
b. they don’t usually come out until the first week of march-ish
c. this year since there are so many applicants, they might not (they did not last year)
so if you’re not a nursing applicant or a recruited athlete, don’t worry about it lol
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Likely letters are basically early acceptances. If you get one, you are in.
Wow, learned something new today.
I was a Penn alum interviewer for several years. The admissions office has always prided itself on filling as many interview requests as possible. I don’t know about this year since I’m not allowed to interview the year my child is applying to college. They do try to match interests and I’ve interviewed kids from all over the country.
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So do you think interviews matter in the app process or is it just a courtesy?
I don’t think they matter a lot. I got an interview from an Indian alum. Students are selected randomly for the interview regionally.
I have zero insight to how much weight they carry. But I can surmise that if it’s between two applicants, more data is always helpful. Not every interview is identical either so an alum in NY might be similar to CA and two alum from the same city could be totally different. I’ve talked to alum interviews from other ivies and I’m always impressed at how thoughtful alum are in their approaches. For me, I’m not out to “trick” anyone, if anything I want to help applicants put their best foot forward—the process is already grueling. It’s an opportunity for you to tell me what’s “not” in your application and add another layer of authenticity. I also invite them to tell me anything they want me to highlight in my comments.
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Understood. But this is an unusual year. Penn received 56K applications - a 34% increase. But there are not 34% more interviewers and the existing ones are not talking to 34% more kids.
True but not all kids ask for interviews. Usually there are several pushes in the Jan/Feb Timeframe for everyone to sign up for a few more interviews. Honestly, the switch to virtual interviews made it tons easier for me to add a few more each year which increased my norm by 30% and there are certainly alums who are more active than I. For any applicant, it’s a balance of whether they think it will make a difference. I can only speak to the integrity of the Penn process and their intentions from my own experience.
They didn’t relax their rule about alumni with HS seniors sitting out this year, so I am going to assume they figured out how to cover it. If anything, they might extend the window for interviews. Usually it stops before president’s day. It sounds like they are still scheduling them.
My son had an alum that went to the same high school he goes to. That was pretty cool. She also lives near us now as well.
Yes- so nice when they have such connection. My son’s interviewer lives about 2 minutes away in the same town and his wife went to my son’s high school. 
Do you guys think non-athletes will receive likely letters? If so, by when?
I think a handful of non-athletes receive likely letters. Due to the Ivy Leagues pushing their decision notification date to April 6, I’m going to predict/assume that they might be coming out mid-march or soon.
nope, probably only nursing applicants–If they even send them this year because of the volume of apps
SAT: n/a
SAT Subject Tests: World History (790)
GPA W: 4.0
GPA UW: 4.0
APs
- AP European History- 5
- AP Psychology- 5
- AP United States History- 5
- AP Statistics- 4
(There will be a total of eleven AP exams after senior year is over.)
USA, NY/NJ/CT Tri State Area Suburb
Applying to University of Pennsylvania College of Arts and Sciences (Political Science Major)
Public High School
Hooks: Jewish
ECs:
- DECA Role-play Officer (State Competitor Sophomore and Senior Year)
- Assistant Opinion Editor School Newspaper
- Vice President Stock Market Club
- Varsity Basketball Team Manager (Junior Year)
- JV/Varsity Lacrosse
Academic Awards
- National Honor Society
- National Science Honor Society
- World Languages Honor Society
- National Merit Scholarship Program Commended Student
- AP Scholar with Distinction Award
Chance me.
Holy, I thought you are in, and shared your stats. 
Looks like you are test optional. Sorry if I am too honest. For Top-15 colleges, I do not believe Test Optional can get in unless earned awards at national level.
“Applicants who do not submit SAT, ACT, or SAT Subject Test scores will not be at a disadvantage in the admissions process” - the UPenn website
Most schools, from what I’ve seen, have been admitting a percentage of test-optional applicants proportional to that of test-optional candidates in their entire applicant pool.
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Yes, I think they are doing that so they can’t be accused of disadvantaging someone for not submitting scores. Ironically, I think it disadvantages students who DO submit scores.
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