University of Pennsylvania Law School C/O 2018 Applicants Forum

R. Jeeves · Post by **R. Jeeves** » Sun Nov 16, 2014 12:11 am

grizzlybear wrote:I have been under committee review since the beginning of the week

when did you submit? are you ED or RD?

grizzlybear · Post by **grizzlybear** » Sun Nov 16, 2014 12:29 am

Post removed.

limabean15 · Post by **limabean15** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 1:21 am

Hey everyone!

I'm figuring out how to write the essay about your values and how they align with Penn's. Do you think it should be more of a personal/narrative style, or something more straightforward, like, I believe in x, y, z, which is similar to Penn's...

It's tough!

Thanks all!

BillsFan9907 · Post by **BillsFan9907** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 1:24 am

limabean15 wrote:Hey everyone!

I'm figuring out how to write the essay about your values and how they align with Penn's. Do you think it should be more of a personal/narrative style, or something more straightforward, like, I believe in x, y, z, which is similar to Penn's...

It's tough!

Thanks all!

Honestly, the prompt is sort of BS. Consensus around here is that their motivation is the same as the other heavy YP schools. They want a Why X. You talk about how Penn is a good fit for you. "I really thrive in a small classroom setting..." "I am passionate about [this cause], and the XXXX clinic would be a perfect place for me to nurture this passion..."

grizzlybear · Post by **grizzlybear** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 1:01 pm

Post removed.

Mack.Hambleton · Post by **Mack.Hambleton** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 1:07 pm

grizzlybear wrote:I've looked around but can't seem to find the answer to this, but does anyone know when ed decisions start going out?

>three hundred thousand US dollars

grizzlybear · Post by **grizzlybear** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 1:12 pm

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WeeBey · Post by **WeeBey** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 1:32 pm

grizzlybear wrote:That was super helpful. And that's also technically incorrect unless you debt finance it.

$238,080, but then add the opportunity cost of collecting interest on that money.

But to answer your question, the first ED on mylsn went out 12/12 last year.

grizzlybear · Post by **grizzlybear** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 1:47 pm

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WeeBey · Post by **WeeBey** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 1:51 pm

If your not debt financing, your probably rich, so you might as well go to the best school you can regardless of scholarships. But Penn is deff not worth 75k more than any other t13.

grizzlybear · Post by **grizzlybear** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 1:59 pm

Post removed.

Clemenceau · Post by **Clemenceau** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 2:04 pm

grizzlybear wrote:
canadianbrother wrote:If your not debt financing, your probably rich, so you might as well go to the best school you can regardless of scholarships. But Penn is deff not worth 75k more than any other t13.
Was gonna say except gulc but then saw t13 so I completely agreed. But then again I would pay 75k to not live in Ithaca haha (kidding, mostly)

You applied ed with a 3.8/169. You aren't kidding

Clemenceau · Post by **Clemenceau** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 2:06 pm

But more power to you. Penn's my first choice as well and nearly talked myself into applying ed

grizzlybear · Post by **grizzlybear** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 2:13 pm

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WeeBey · Post by **WeeBey** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 2:25 pm

With a 3.8 169, your at Penn's medians. Your in with money. Let them know their your first choice and with your numbers, your not in YP territory.
Even if they dont give you money, you'd get money at other T13s that you could leverage at Penn. Btw, 3.8 169s get the ed 150k at NU.

AOT · Post by **AOT** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 2:55 pm

Seoulless wrote:
limabean15 wrote:Hey everyone!

I'm figuring out how to write the essay about your values and how they align with Penn's. Do you think it should be more of a personal/narrative style, or something more straightforward, like, I believe in x, y, z, which is similar to Penn's...

It's tough!

Thanks all!
Honestly, the prompt is sort of BS. Consensus around here is that their motivation is the same as the other heavy YP schools. They want a Why X. You talk about how Penn is a good fit for you. "I really thrive in a small classroom setting..." "I am passionate about [this cause], and the XXXX clinic would be a perfect place for me to nurture this passion..."

Oops I just sent the same PS to them as I sent to all the other schools. There are no reasons I want to go to UPenn other than that it's a good school with good employment stats - doesn't exactly make for a compelling Why X

hillz · Post by **hillz** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 3:32 pm

alloverthat wrote:
Seoulless wrote:
limabean15 wrote:Hey everyone!

I'm figuring out how to write the essay about your values and how they align with Penn's. Do you think it should be more of a personal/narrative style, or something more straightforward, like, I believe in x, y, z, which is similar to Penn's...

It's tough!

Thanks all!
Honestly, the prompt is sort of BS. Consensus around here is that their motivation is the same as the other heavy YP schools. They want a Why X. You talk about how Penn is a good fit for you. "I really thrive in a small classroom setting..." "I am passionate about [this cause], and the XXXX clinic would be a perfect place for me to nurture this passion..."
Oops I just sent the same PS to them as I sent to all the other schools. There are no reasons I want to go to UPenn other than that it's a good school with good employment stats - doesn't exactly make for a compelling Why X

It's fine that you sent the same PS as all other schools. You could always write up a Why Penn essay now and see if the admissions office will add it to their file since decisions haven't been made yet. I didn't know much about Penn before but I found info on their website that aligned with my interests and I bet you could do the same. Of course, don't write it if you aren't interested at all...

AOT · Post by **AOT** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 5:11 pm

hillz wrote:
alloverthat wrote:
Seoulless wrote:
limabean15 wrote:Hey everyone!

I'm figuring out how to write the essay about your values and how they align with Penn's. Do you think it should be more of a personal/narrative style, or something more straightforward, like, I believe in x, y, z, which is similar to Penn's...

It's tough!

Thanks all!
Honestly, the prompt is sort of BS. Consensus around here is that their motivation is the same as the other heavy YP schools. They want a Why X. You talk about how Penn is a good fit for you. "I really thrive in a small classroom setting..." "I am passionate about [this cause], and the XXXX clinic would be a perfect place for me to nurture this passion..."
Oops I just sent the same PS to them as I sent to all the other schools. There are no reasons I want to go to UPenn other than that it's a good school with good employment stats - doesn't exactly make for a compelling Why X
It's fine that you sent the same PS as all other schools. You could always write up a Why Penn essay now and see if the admissions office will add it to their file since decisions haven't been made yet. I didn't know much about Penn before but I found info on their website that aligned with my interests and I bet you could do the same. Of course, don't write it if you aren't interested at all...

It's not that I'm uninterested, it's just that I feel like unless you have something really specific and compelling to say Why X's sound kind of flat. Things like "you have an awesome immigration law clinic" can be said about most schools. I guess my attitude to these apps so far has been that less is more, and not to weigh them down with filler. Writing a Why X unless I have something specific to say that I feel they need to know kind of goes against that.

Not saying anyone is wrong for writing them, and I probably will write one too! It just seems like a weird thing for them to request or even want, when they probably know full well that everyone's just going to read their website and try and come up with something convincing.

(also not saying that this is a UPenn specific issue. I <3 you UPenn)

DCNTUA · Post by **DCNTUA** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 11:34 pm

canadianbrother wrote:With a 3.8 169, your at Penn's medians. Your in with money. Let them know their your first choice and with your numbers, your not in YP territory.
Even if they dont give you money, you'd get money at other T13s that you could leverage at Penn. Btw, 3.8 169s get the ed 150k at NU.

Just want to say that this isn't really true. Very few students here get merit aid--I think the number thrown around is 20%--and, in my class anyway, the financial aid office wouldn't really negotiate with people who had good money from lower T14s. They are relatively generous with need-based aid though.

Also, anyone who cares about getting in should write a Why Penn. They take it pretty seriously around here.

WeeBey · Post by **WeeBey** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 1:10 am

I think I wrote a pretty weak why x. I didnt feel like bsing them and just said I wanna work in NYC, Penn places very well in NYC and that I like the small class size. It was prolly 2/3 of a page long

lilith66 · Post by **lilith66** » Fri Nov 21, 2014 11:00 am

Hey Penn plz let me in. Philly is the best city and I'll miss it way too much if I have to leave.

Clearly · Post by **Clearly** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 4:10 pm

DCNTUA wrote:
canadianbrother wrote:With a 3.8 169, your at Penn's medians. Your in with money. Let them know their your first choice and with your numbers, your not in YP territory.
Even if they dont give you money, you'd get money at other T13s that you could leverage at Penn. Btw, 3.8 169s get the ed 150k at NU.
Just want to say that this isn't really true. Very few students here get merit aid--I think the number thrown around is 20%--and, in my class anyway, the financial aid office wouldn't really negotiate with people who had good money from lower T14s. They are relatively generous with need-based aid though.

Also, anyone who cares about getting in should write a Why Penn. They take it pretty seriously around here.

that number might be off, at least in my experience.

jawsjawsjaws · Post by **jawsjawsjaws** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 5:19 pm

So if I get wait listed because I didn't write a Why Penn, would I still have a decent shot after writing a LOCI? I'm at their 75th lsat and GPA. Penn rejected me for undergrad so I have a bad feeling that it will do it again lmao

BillsFan9907 · Post by **BillsFan9907** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 12:24 pm

jawsjawsjaws wrote:So if I get wait listed because I didn't write a Why Penn, would I still have a decent shot after writing a LOCI? I'm at their 75th lsat and GPA. Penn rejected me for undergrad so I have a bad feeling that it will do it again lmao

I'd write your Why Penn now and ask it to be added to your application. That's what I did this cycle and they were cool about it.

T1H320 · Post by **T1H320** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 3:15 pm