Penn Admissions: Admissions Tips

Admissions Tips

If you apply to Penn online using the Common Application, then you must also submit our Penn Supplement to the Common Application online or we will not receive your application.
Please do not submit both an online and regular application. Also, please do not apply to Penn using the Common Application and also submit a Penn application, either by mail or online. 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.
All transfer applicants must submit the Form 4 Mid-term Grade Report. Failure to do so within the specified guidelines will put you at a disadvantage in the process and may delay our decision.

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 2008. 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 interviews on campus to the children and grandchildren of Penn alumni, both graduate and undergraduate. An appointment for an interview can be arranged by contacting 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.