<p>Just a heads up to anyone sending supplemental materials…Penn can never confirm if they receive it or not; even if they know they received it.</p>
<p>^So, basically they don’t always look at them?</p>
<p>Well, I think they do. They just won’t tell you “Yes, we have received your _________ (art portfolio, supplemental rec, etc.)”, even if you e-mail them pleading and asking them. AND, even if they know 100% that your ________ (art portfolio, supplemental rec, etc.) made it, they still will say “We cannot confirm the acceptance of supplemental materials…”.</p>
<p>Anyone know if Penn sends you an email when they’ve checked that you have sent all the required financial aid documents. Or do they only notify you if you had something missing?</p>
<p>Has anyone emailed the records email for Upenn to change their app and received a reply?</p>
<p>@mylife - I emailed them a couple of weeks ago cuz I forgot to add some additional info about my transcript and they replid that they would add the info to my application for review</p>
<p>I got an email from Penn Financial Services about 1.5 weeks after sending in all my paperwork saying that they received it all.</p>
<p>Can we put all the different hooks in order of which one is the best for Penn? Want to know your opinions!</p>
<p>African American, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander, First Generation, Being Female (if this is one), Low income family, Legacy, Recruited Athlete</p>
<p>@hardworking21 - Do you think they’re still taking time to check everyone’s docs? Should I ask for a confirmation?
I sent the Penn supplement last minute like Nov 14 though hehe</p>
<p>^^ That’s tough but I’ll put what I think it is. Certainly don’t take this as fact.</p>
<p>Recruited Athlete >>>>>> Legacy > First Gen > URM (all of them?) > Low income family</p>
<p>I know recruited athletes with 3.5s and 1900 SATs who got in.</p>
<p>How can low income be a hook at all if Penn is a need-blind institution (of course you could write about it in your essays…but I doubt it’s a hook).</p>
<p>I don’t think legacy is more of a hook than URM.</p>
<p>I would put it in this order:</p>
<p>Recruit>URM>Legacy>First Gen</p>
<p>@sweetcookie: Yeah, I sent mine in October 28th under the assumption it was due Nov 1st. So, yours is probably still processing. No worries. 
</p>
<p>At first, I thought the same thing as laodicean; that is, Penn is need-blind so your ability to pay is not factored. But…what about Questbridge applicants?! (For those who aren’t aware of what Questbridge is, considering going to <a href=“QuestBridge”>QuestBridge; )</p>
<p>I don’t know how Questbridge works, but if it doesn’t show up on the application, it’s not factored into the decision.</p>
<p>From what I know of Questbridge (my friend last year was in that program), it is for low-income students to apply to some of our nation’s most elite universities (including Penn). Students can rank, I believe, 8 universities. They all have to be done by Nov 1. And then, if you get in, you go. So quick example: If your list was “Harvard, Penn, Yale, Cornell, etc…” and you got denied at Harvard and Penn but accepted at Yale, you’d be going to Yale. This was the gist I was given. Not 100% sure if that is accurate, but many that I’ve known in the Questbridge Program explained it as such. If so, it will be obvious that you’re in the program, particularly at EA schools (not so much ED schools, I guess).</p>
<p>@EmPaige, thanks! were you at the Penn Info Session at Gilman perchance?</p>
<p>@sister, thanks for the advice, but I’m having trouble working on other apps knowing that Penn is releasing its decisions in only 13 days! ahhh :)</p>
<p>I cannot afford to torment myself during the wait these upcoming two weeks, because I need to finish a senior research project that determines whether I graduate or not this year…oh goody! I’ll be rehearsing my presentation up till the Thursday before decisions come out, so that doesn’t leave me much time to mentally prepare myself for a possible rejection =(</p>
<p>Darn, I feel like I should have done Questbridge. I qualified, but I was told it was a scam and was very inconvenient. I should have done the research.
Oh well.</p>
<p>Back on the topic of hooks… Why do I feel like first gen students don’t get that much of a boost? I feel like I would be a qualified student for admission (3.7 with extreme hardship that was explained, 2210 SAT, excellent ECs… also, note the difference between qualified and competitive), but everyone that has “chanced” me has said I don’t have much of a chance despite the fact that I’m a first gen student.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s because there are a lot of first gen students? Or it’s not as important as ethnic diversity?</p>
<p>Don’t listen to the chances if you don’t want to, especially because the people who gave you feedback isn’t working for Penn admissions. Anything can happen.</p>
<p>But the wait still kills me. And that week will be SO hectic - December 7 is my 18th birthday. (Profile is wrong, my mistake) December 8-9 is Penn decisions. December 10 is All-Regional Band auditions which is really really competitive for my instrument.</p>
<p>@Straciatella
I totally was at the Gilman info session
And that certainly narrows it down since so few people were there.
The world is insanely tiny, as proven by this thread.</p>
<p>And also this is a few pages delayed, but it’s probably too late for supplementary material unless it’s updates on grades, etc. Because I’m pretty sure they already started review. I say this because my neighbor (who applied to Princeton REA) called and asked how to send additional info/ material, and they said “Early applications have already been reviewed, and are waiting to go to committee, so no more material can be received at this time.” Although Princeton certainly is not Penn, I feel like this may be applicable (especially due to the fact that the notification date is pretty close.) But it couldn’t hurt to give them a call. Or better yet, email your regional rep. I’ve found mind to be prompt and more than helpful.</p>
<p>WOMP. Opening the portal will be the most frightening experience of my life.</p>
<p>@sweetcookie- The reason I’m responding to you is because of your name. Waiting is awful, and so are senior projects. But cookies are totally an appropriate consolation or celebration item. Get a family member to make you a batch the hour before decisions come out, and then you can cry (either of joy or depression) with delicious baked goods It’s a win-win-win situation, really.</p>