How To Stand Out In Your UPenn Supplemental Essays for 2021 - Crimson Education US (2023)

FAQs

How do you respond to UPenn supplements? ›

Include examples of how your personal experiences make the programs at Penn a good fit for you. Consider why you are a good fit for the undergraduate school of your choice (College of Arts and Sciences, School of Nursing, The Wharton School, or Penn Engineering).

The essays help UPenn determine if you are a good fit for their campus. While your academic background tells UPenn if you have the ability to succeed at their school academically, your essays are how you convey your personality. This is how you can show what kind of student you will be like on campus.

UPenn Acceptance Rate

According to the class of 2026 profile, UPenn's regular decision acceptance rate is about 4.4% and UPenn's early decision acceptance rate is 15.6%. The overall acceptance rate in 2027 was around 4.1%. As is the case for any Ivy League school, you will need to work hard to gain acceptance.

Average GPA: 3.9

(Most schools use a weighted GPA out of 4.0, though some report an unweighted GPA. With a GPA of 3.9, University of Pennsylvania requires you to be at the top of your class. You'll need nearly straight A's in all your classes to compete with other applicants.

What kind of student is UPenn looking for? In the University of Pennsylvania's own words, they are looking for students who “are inspired to emulate [the school's] founder Benjamin Franklin by applying their knowledge in 'service to society, to our community, the city of Philadelphia, and the wider world.”

Colleges think a lot about what to ask in their supplemental essay prompts, and they really want you to take time and care in these answers. Pay close attention to the prompts, and really think about how best to answer. This goes even for the tiniest of school-specific essays.

It's not a requirement, your application will not mean any less than an applicant who did the writing. You should do the optional college essays if you feel you have the right means to create an impressive essay.

Yes, colleges care about supplemental essays. Your writing gives colleges extra insight into who you are as a person beyond your grades. Strong supplemental essays can give you an advantage in your application to many different schools.

Does UPenn have demonstrated interest? ›

Penn does not consider demonstrated interest when reviewing applications for admission.

Write the essay as if you were writing directly to the person you've picked. It's okay to mention your accomplishments and experience, but if including that information would sound weird in a thank you note, then it might not be best to include it. You want your gratitude to come off as genuine and personal.

The most popular majors at University of Pennsylvania include: Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services; Social Sciences; Health Professions and Related Programs; Biological and Biomedical Sciences; Philosophy and Religious Studies; Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies; Mathematics and Statistics; ...

Cornell is considered the "easiest" Ivy League to get into because it has the highest Ivy League acceptance rate. While it's easier, statistically speaking, to get into Cornell, it's still challenging. It's also important to remember that students apply directly to one of Cornell's eight undergraduate colleges.

The average GPA at University of Pennsylvania is 3.9. This makes University of Pennsylvania Extremely Competitive for GPAs. (Most schools use a weighted GPA out of 4.0, though some report an unweighted GPA. With a GPA of 3.9, University of Pennsylvania requires you to be at the top of your class.

On average, students admitted to UPenn have a GPA of 3.9 on a 4.0 scale. This means you should look at your unweighted GPA when considering your chances of acceptance. It also means you will need straight “A's” (or very close) to have a competitive GPA for UPenn.

You will be expected to provide the cumulative GPA 9 through 11 as recorded on your transcript, but will not need to recalculate to a 4.0 scale. Enter the GPA as it appears on your transcript.

According to UPenn's Common Data Set for 21/22, 88% of admitted students had a GPA of 3.75 and above, and 52% had a GPA of 4.0. To increase your chances, we recommend aiming for a GPA of 3.75-4.0. The high school profile is also reviewed to understand the school's grading policies and available classes.

Why is UPenn so prestigious? ›

The University of Pennsylvania, commonly referred to as UPenn, is a prestigious university known for having a strong tradition of academic rigor and cutting-edge research. Because of this, UPenn is highly selective, receiving a large number of applications each year and accepting only a fraction of those who apply.

Yes, admissions officers do actually read essays, but they might have already screened candidates first in a preliminary round.

If a student's essay isn't great OR good, the admission officer will probably just skim past the essay and move right on to your transcript and your test scores to evaluate your candidacy for admission. Bad essays don't get read.

Yes, every college essay is read if the college has asked for it (and often even if they did not ask for it). The number of readers depends on the college's review process. It will be anywhere from one reader to four readers.

You should write the optional essay if you actually have something substantial to say about it. If you're just doing it because “you think you should,” “everyone else is doing it,” “they say it's optional, but I think it's mandatory,” or “I'm sure I can come up with something to say,” then don't write it.

Write Your Essays Efficiently

But generally speaking, the Common App essay or the personal statement itself really takes at least five hours of work, while supplemental essays each take around 2-4 hours per school, factoring in research and writing. Remember that each essay must be written for the individual college.

Often, these essays are more important than the Personal Essay. Colleges ask these questions for a reason — and it's usually to make sure they learn more about you and the HUMAN you are (not a test-taking, grade-making, EC doing machine) and how you will bring that human (you) to THEIR specific campus.

Colleges often want to know more specific information than is requested on the Common Application, especially as it relates to their particular school. Supplement questions may ask you to think about why you want to attend the colleges, why you think you'd be a good fit, or what you can bring to the campus.

What should you not mention in a college essay? ›

Many essays included things that you should not do in your college admissions essay including: Never rehash your academic and extracurricular accomplishments. Never write about a "topic" Never start with a preamble.

Sometimes you need to be able to explain the circumstances in your life — and colleges want to know about any hardships you've had. They want to understand the context of your application, so don't worry about thinking you're asking the colleges to feel sorry for you (we hear kids say that all the time).

In the admissions process, colleges do not care about high school attendance and whether it's perfect or not. Instead, they place a higher priority on things like the difficulty of classes and one's GPA.

GENUINE INTEREST VS “DEMONSTRATED INTEREST” AT THE IVIES

Although the Ivies do not care about the mechanical demonstrated interest, they certainly do care about an applicant's genuine, deep, convincing interest in their schools.

Founded in 1740, Penn is one of the oldest universities in the United States and has a long history of academic excellence. Over the years, Penn has become one of the most prestigious universities in the world, with a highly competitive admission process.

The ideal note is brief and to the point. Start by thanking the person, with specificity, for their gift or kind act. Write about how you plan to use their gift or how their actions made you feel. And then reiterate your thanks and mention the next time you'll see the person.

Examples: Thank you again, I really appreciate working with you. Even though I may not say it all the time, I appreciate all you do. Thank you again for your support, it made a real difference for me.

While all the different undergraduate schools are competitive, some are more so than others. Wharton (9% acceptance rate) is the most competitive school, while the UPenn School of Nursing (25% acceptance rate) is the least competitive of the four.

University of Pennsylvania (PENN) – Notable UPenn Alumni

Famous PENN State Alumni include Anil Ambani; Donald Trump; Elizabeth Banks; Elon Musk; Ivanka Trump; John Legend; Noam Chomsky; Sachin Pilot; Sundar Pichai; Tory Burch and many others.

What are the chances of getting into UPenn? ›

5.9% (2021)

University of Pennsylvania / Acceptance rate

Campus happiness: Brown is widely known as the happiest Ivy, perhaps because of students' freedom to choose courses with almost complete autonomy. Students report feeling less competition amongst themselves and an overall sense of campus community.

Just one bad grade in an advanced level course is not going to ruin your chances at an Ivy League. However, consistently underperforming in advanced classes in your area-of-interest classes will penalize you in the applications process.

Harvard University

The most challenging Ivy League school to get into is Harvard, established in 1636 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. According to Harvard Admissions, only 2,008 out of 43,330 candidates were accepted to the college.

You should also have a 3.9 GPA or higher. If your GPA is lower than this, you need to compensate with a higher SAT/ACT score. For a school as selective as University of Pennsylvania, you'll also need to impress them with the rest of your application. We'll cover those details next.

Please tell us something about yourself, your experiences, or activities that you believe would reflect positively on your ability to succeed at Penn State. This is your opportunity to tell us something about yourself that is not already reflected in your application or academic records.

If you choose to submit an optional additional letter of recommendation, please submit it directly through the Coalition or Common App. If you have exceptional and recognized talents in visual arts or music, you may submit samples of work for review by department faculty.

When answering this prompt in the Yale supplemental essays 2022-2023, think about a group or place that has impacted you—it could be your ethnic or religious community or it could be a club at school, or an organization outside of school that matters to you.

Does Penn State look at personal statement? ›

College admissions typically use an applicant's personal statement to better understand who the applicant is as a person and what strengths they will bring to the university. In other words, the Penn State Essay response is an applicant's chance to show what makes them unique in the admissions process.

We take a hard look at the many roles you serve as a student, sibling, athlete, son or daughter, volunteer, and/or employee. Assembling a class of students with diverse interests and experiences is a task that we take seriously. Penn State does not have a minimum GPA or standardized test score used for admission.

We do strongly encourage applicants to complete the personal statement as part of their application submission. When can students begin applying to Penn State as test-optional?

A supplemental question response should include the following: Describe the knowledge, skill, or ability (competency) we are seeking. Tell us how you gained the competency. Tell us where you gained the competency.

We do not screen the secondary applications, so anyone who is verified as an eligible candidate through the AMCAS system is sent the link to our secondary application.

In addition to the required counselor recommendation, all Penn applicants are required to submit two recommendations. We also allow students to submit 1 optional supplemental letter if they desire.

Most colleges will ask for up to three letters of recommendation, so keep that in mind and don't overdo it. If a school wants two recommendation letters, only submit two.

How do I get a dean's excuse Yale? ›

Applying Single-Choice Early Action does not increase the likelihood of being admitted to Yale. Historically, the rate of admission among early applicants has been higher than the overall admission rate because many of our strongest candidates, from a wide range of backgrounds and interests, apply early.