<p>Is it supposed to be more formal and straightforward or can it have some elements of personality in it?</p>
<p>it can be both, just go with your gut. I mean talk a lot about UPenn and how you really want to go there and everything, but you can be creative too. I mean it's important, but your main essays are going to be the real deals. Good Luck :)</p>
<p>If you are filling out Penn's application, the Why Penn essay is a main essay. This essay is weighed just as heavily as the other(s). In this essay you need to show Penn your personality, not tell them how great of a school they are. Pretend the prompt is "Why are you a good fit for Penn?" Make sure you describe what most qualifies you to attend and what would make them want to select you above the other 20,000 applicants.</p>
<p>"Why Penn" is the MOST important essay. For the other longer essay, you can write a very similar essay that you use for all colleges. For the shorter essays, they are too short to get your true voice. The Why Penn essay is the most importnat because it shows your voice and why you and Penn are meant to be. It said courses of study, so I kept my essay more on the academic side, talking about my intersts and how they fit with Penn and a perspective I can bring. Talking about location and other superficial stuff will not help. You need to say why the offerings at Penn are perfect for you.</p>
<p>It says courses of study but it also says unique characteristics also. Every college has the same classes, they want to know what specific to Penn sets it different to all those other colleges. Obviously, location, social life, etc. are unique to Penn so why would it be superficial? Everyone wants to go to penn to get the "high level of classes" and the "excellent courses of study", how does that make you unique compared to all the other candidates. Taking a more personal route to how the college (not just the courses/academics) shows how Penn fits you not just how you want to learn in the business classes like everyone else applying. Just my thoughts, though, I may be wrong about this...</p>
<p>I did not really talk about location. I basically divided my essay into three parts. First I talked about the program I was interested in. That took away the majority. Then I talked about the cultural aspects of Penn, like their diversity, etc and their many clubs.
Then I talked about my interest in Art and how I will be able to be involved in Arts even though my major (if I get in) won't be anything close to art.
I think you can add location. I didnt include location because I havent been to Philly. I dont care about the location, I care about the univeristy. You can add location in your essay if you feel that is important. After all, the essay is about what unique characteristics of Penn interest you. Location can be a part of the interest.</p>
<p>About your main question: I think it is important to have a bit of your personality in. For example I started my essay saying that I always wanted to be a mad scientist and how my interests have changed little. Your personality lightens up the essay...</p>
<p>venkater how do you know that it is the MOST important essay?</p>
<p>did they specifically tell you that?</p>
<p>yeah - it depends on what parts of penn you love the most. if the location blows u away (like it did me) then at least mention it. if you can picture your daily life at penn, then talk about that. find a niche to fill there and describe it.
the essay probably is super important tho - this is the one essay without a word limit and a very free prompt that speaks directly to the adcom.</p>
<p>it has a word limit. well, one page.</p>
<p>really?
...oops.
lol</p>
<p>aah! did you send it in already?</p>
<p>It's page limit is somewhat liberal. If you are a little over, I doubt they will care. If you have 3 or more pages single spaced, it may prove to be a problem.</p>
<p>yeah dude, i did. - but its like a page and a couple of lines. that's not illegal, right?
gosh i hope so</p>
<p>They will take it. One of my essays was a little over, so I did 11 font. They don't care if it is a little over, but if it was 8 font, single spaced, small margins, and fit on one page, that would be the worst.</p>
<p>No school will nock you for writing one or two lines more. If the essay was horrible (not saying yours was) then it will count against you a little more. I'm guessing your essay was average at worst, so they wont care.</p>
<p>They didn't say one page on the online application. I saw that on the paper one so they can't burn us</p>
<p>Bad move, on Commonapp online they cut off the essay if it overly exceeds the word limit (UPenn admissions officer told us at school). It doesn't cut off at 500 but if you wrote too much like 2 pages it'll be partially cut off and they won't be able to read all of it. If you mailed in the essay they won't care about length unless its ridiculous.</p>
<p>as long as it fit on the print preview, it will be fine</p>
<p>coolsushicutter~My essay was 600 words and I used 12 font. It was about a page and a half. I couldve made it 10 font and made it fit in one page but usually people prefer to read 12 font. I doubt two pages will be cut off</p>
<p>Were we supposed to double-space...i didnt...i prolly look like a douchebag if they see everyone elses essay is double spaced and mine isnt. I didnt think it should be double spaced because they ask for only one page so double spaced one page is going to be like 250 words, which def is not enough for a college essay.</p>
<p>lol its not double-spaced, chill. if its yped, then def not. </p>
<p>and venkater, thanks for assuming the average =) it means i sound at least halfway decent when i type on CC.</p>