<p>Yeah, I'm sorry to all the current Penn students, but I am going to side with all the applicants on this one. You can only do so much research on the web, and while it is certainly still possible to write a great essay based on the info you accrue, getting first hand opinions and experiences would be quite helpful.</p>
<p>I don't know about any of you, but when my little brother applied to Penn I told him about some of my best professors, told him stories, told him what they do their own research on, etc. Did you honestly expect me to say "Jeezus, go do your own research! I'm not going to tell you any of that, you need to figure that out for yourself?!?" This is simply another method of research.</p>