Penn Admissions: Admissions Tips

Admissions Tips

If you apply to Penn online using the Common Application, then you must also submit our Penn Application Supplement to the Common Application online or we will not receive your application.
Please do not submit both an online and paper application. Also, please do not apply to Penn using both the Common Application and Universal College Application. Use one or the other, not both. Apply only once and complete your application in the manner in which you began, either online or on paper.
Please be sure to proofread your essay for spelling and grammar. No, really, we mean it. Seriously.
The optional essay in the Penn Application Supplement, asking you to submit page 217 of your autobiography, is truly optional. We even put "Truly" next to where it says "Optional." Yet, people keep asking us if it really is optional. It is. Truly.
All transfer applicants must submit their mid-term grades. Failure to do so within the specified guidelines will put you at a disadvantage in the process and may delay our decision. Use the Common Application Mid-Term Report; or if using the Universal College Application, you must complete PennÕs Form 4: Mid-Term Grade Report for Transfer Students.

Engineering and Wharton applicants are strongly encouraged to take AP Calculus.
The rigor of your coursework is considered in relation to the possible courses offered at your school.

When planning your SAT and ACT testing, please keep in mind that candidates to the School of Engineering and Applied Science or the Wharton School are strongly encouraged to take a Mathematics Subject Test.
Please be sure to indicate the University of Pennsylvania as a recipient of your test scores.
Don't leave your SAT and ACT testing to the last possible date. Unforeseen emergencies and illnesses might keep you from attending the exam.
Early Decision candidates should take SAT and ACT exams either during the junior year or in the summer before the senior year, but no later than November 2009. Early Decision candidates who opt for November examinations must rush their test scores to us.
The American College Test with Writing, may be used in lieu of the SAT Reasoning Test and two SAT Subject Tests.

It is most helpful to us if your recommendation letters are from teachers in a course that relates to your intended major or lies in an area of continuing interest for you.

The Alumni Council on Admissions offers advice and guidance for alumni families who have children or grandchildren going through the undergraduate college search and application process. They host informal "Legacy Advising Sessions" where prospective legacy applicants may learn more about Penn's application process and the college search process in general. Contact the Alumni Council at (215) 898-6888.
Personal interviews are available through our Alumni Secondary School Committee volunteers, who will contact first-year candidates after they have applied to Penn. Individual on-campus interviews are not available as requests vastly exceed our ability to meet this need.