U Penn 2010 Forum

[Helmholtz]

Oh, Penn waitlist here as well.

[oneforship]

Oh, Penn waitlist here as well.

Rough day, I feel for you.

[hiro86]

A school that is ranked #8 in the nation should have a little more confidence in the quality of its own program. YPing sucks.

[wackjickham]

I need a quick rant. Penn and UVA are two schools that are utterly sad. If they think they are top schools they should not waitlist candidates out of simple fear that the candidates will not attend. It makes no sense. Yield is a very small factor in the rankings and hardly worth worrying about. Also, if they don't want to offer us scholarships that is fine. But, they really have almost nothing to lose by at least accepting the very top candidates and waiting to see if they can snag a few (maybe even without scholarships). A school that is ranked #8 in the nation should have a little more confidence in the quality of its own program.

I never seriously considered Penn because I was almost certain of a YP, but nonetheless I am very bothered by this practice.

As eloquently as I can say it: YP is bullshit. I say this fully expecting that my rejection was not YP (otherwise it would have been a WL). Seriously it's just horrible. I understand that by playing devils advocate someone could say: All you have to do is write an extra essay. Really? If I'm applying to your school it means I at least have some desire to attend.

With that said, the process of applying to certain schools for a chance at a scholarship to negotiate with at other schools really throws a wrench in the system, and can perhaps be as bad as YP.

Edited to sound less rant-y (and yes, it sounded much more rant-y before the edit)

[hiro86]

...

[Bronte]

WL'd at Penn via email. It was expected.

[JetstoRJC]

Are you notified of waitlist via e-mail?

[hiro86]

Are you notified of waitlist via e-mail?

Yeah, I happened to see it on my status checker first. But, the e-mail arrived within 10 minutes of when I noticed it on the status checker.

[The Kim Jong illest]

Today I got an E-mail from Columbia saying my application had been withdrawn due to my acceptance at Penn. I was planning on doing my withdrawals within the next couple days, and I haven't decided if this was convenient or kind of scary.

[Revisionist]

Rejected via status checker. I'm not on LSN, but my dot would be surrounded by green. Sigh.

Edit: The other green dots in the area are mostly ED, so that might be making a difference.

[holybartender]

Denied via status checker. RD complete middle of November, 175 3.4, wrote an additional essay.

[kittenmittons]

Rejected via status checker. I'm not on LSN, but my dot would be surrounded by green. Sigh.

Numbers? PM if you don't want to share them in pubs

[wackjickham]

Denied via status checker. RD complete middle of November, 175 3.4, wrote an additional essay.

In a similar boat as you, so take comfort in knowing you're not the only one. Condolences from here though... what Penn is doing this cycle really seems strange in some cases.

[alabamabound]

Waitlist, via e-mail.

[summerschooled]

I'm starting to really wish I'd written another of their supplemental essays... today's been insane.

[poprox]

Waitlist, via e-mail.

same here. 3.59 173

What are your thoughts as to why Penn is WL'ing and YP'ing seemingly qualified cadidates? Considering my numbers, I did expect WL at Columbia (or even ding there), and WL maybe at Penn and Chicago, but others seem to be getting WL'ed with same or higher numbers. It doesn't make sense to me.

[Amelie]

Waitlist, via e-mail.

same here. 3.59 173

What are your thoughts as to why Penn is WL'ing and YP'ing seemingly qualified cadidates? Considering my numbers, I did expect WL at Columbia (or even ding there), and WL maybe at Penn and Chicago, but others seem to be getting WL'ed with same or higher numbers. It doesn't make sense to me.

Looking at LSN Penn doesn't seem to be heavily waitlisting 173s... though they are keeping away from lower GPAs. Did you write the Why Penn?

[holybartender]

Denied via status checker. RD complete middle of November, 175 3.4, wrote an additional essay.

In a similar boat as you, so take comfort in knowing you're not the only one. Condolences from here though... what Penn is doing this cycle really seems strange in some cases.

Saw you on LSN. Sort of a frustrating start of the cycle, but what're you gonna do?

[poprox]

Waitlist, via e-mail.

same here. 3.59 173

What are your thoughts as to why Penn is WL'ing and YP'ing seemingly qualified cadidates? Considering my numbers, I did expect WL at Columbia (or even ding there), and WL maybe at Penn and Chicago, but others seem to be getting WL'ed with same or higher numbers. It doesn't make sense to me.

Looking at LSN Penn doesn't seem to be heavily waitlisting 173s... though they are keeping away from lower GPAs. Did you write the Why Penn?

yes, I wrote it. Talked about wanting to take some of Ke***'s classes at Penn. I'm worried now - LSN does indeed make it look like Penn wouldn't waitlist my numbers. Must have been something wrong in my application - but then wouldn't they have just denied me?

[02082010]

what Penn is doing this cycle really seems strange in some cases.

Yeah, I'm confused.

[alabamabound]

Waitlist, via e-mail.

same here. 3.59 173

What are your thoughts as to why Penn is WL'ing and YP'ing seemingly qualified cadidates? Considering my numbers, I did expect WL at Columbia (or even ding there), and WL maybe at Penn and Chicago, but others seem to be getting WL'ed with same or higher numbers. It doesn't make sense to me.

Looking at LSN Penn doesn't seem to be heavily waitlisting 173s... though they are keeping away from lower GPAs. Did you write the Why Penn?

I would have to assume today's batch of RDs/WLs means at least a few of those extra recession-driven apps this year have pretty good numbers.

[jdcballer]

waitlist via email....bummer

[Amelie]

Waitlist, via e-mail.

same here. 3.59 173

What are your thoughts as to why Penn is WL'ing and YP'ing seemingly qualified cadidates? Considering my numbers, I did expect WL at Columbia (or even ding there), and WL maybe at Penn and Chicago, but others seem to be getting WL'ed with same or higher numbers. It doesn't make sense to me.

Looking at LSN Penn doesn't seem to be heavily waitlisting 173s... though they are keeping away from lower GPAs. Did you write the Why Penn?

yes, I wrote it. Talked about wanting to take some of Ke***'s classes at Penn. I'm worried now - LSN does indeed make it look like Penn wouldn't waitlist my numbers. Must have been something wrong in my application - but then wouldn't they have just denied me?

Who knows what they're doing... I would have expected you to be a straight admit. I do think that Penn's waiting to see what happens and who decides to attend - they may be trying to raise their GPA median (and overall ranking).

[The Kim Jong illest]

Considering the plethora of applicants, if any school is slacking on the quality of applicant they are accepting, they are setting themselves up to be gamed by rankings-conscious schools like Penn, frankly.

[ankit]

Waitlisted here as well. I wrote 2 essays but didn't write the 5-year plan one.