UPenn Essay Tips

Huntsman: The Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business

1. In light of your personal interests in language, business, and international affairs, please discuss a current global issue and explain how the Huntsman Program would allow you to explore it in greater depth. (500-700 words)

2. Please indicate how many years and how extensively you have studied the language you selected for the Huntsman Program.

LSM: The Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management

LSM seeks students who are enthusiastic about combining science with management. What excites you about this combination? What advantages and opportunities does the combination provide, and what does it address? Be as specific and original as possible in addressing these questions. (400-650 words)

M&T: The Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology

Please complete both prompts.

1. How will the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology help you pursue your specific interests in both engineering and business? Please address in depth engineering fields, areas of business, and their potential integration that you plan on pursuing through this Penn program. (400-650 words)

2. Please describe a time in which you displayed leadership. (250 words maximum)

NHCM: Nursing and Healthcare Management

Discuss your interest in nursing and health care management. How might Penn's coordinated dual-degree program in nursing and business help you meet your goals? (400-650 words)

VIPER:  The Roy and Diana Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research

Describe your interests in energy science and technology and your previous experiences (academic, research, and extracurricular activities) that have helped you to appreciate the scientific or engineering challenges related to energy and sustainability. If you have previous experience with research, consider describing your research project at a level appropriate for an educated non-expert, outlining the goals, hypotheses, approach, results, and conclusions. Describe how your experiences have shaped your research and interests, and how the VIPER program will help you achieve your goals. (400-650 words)

NETS:  The Rajendra and Neera Singh Program in Networked and Social Systems Engineering

Describe your interests in modern networked information systems and technologies, such as the Internet, and their impact on society, whether in terms of economics, communication, or the creation of beneficial content for society. Feel free to draw on examples from your own experiences as a user, developer, or student of technology. (400-650 words)

Seven-Year Bio-Dental Program

• Please list pre-dental or pre-medical experience.  This experience can include but is not limited to observation in a private practice, dental clinic, or hospital setting; dental assisting; dental laboratory work; dental or medical research, etc.  Please include time allotted to each activity, dates of attendance, location, and description of your experience.  If you do not have any pre-dental or pre-medical experience, please indicate what you have done that led you to your decision to enter dentistry.
• List any activities which demonstrate your ability to work with your hands.
• What activities have you performed that demonstrate your ability to work cooperatively with people?
• Please explain your reasons for selecting a career in dentistry.  Please include what interests you the most in dentistry as well as what interests you the least.
• Do you have relatives who are dentists or are in dental school?  If so, indicate the name of each relative, his/her relationship to you, the school attended, and the dates attended.

What Penn Looks For

“What you seem to be, be really”  Benjamin Franklin

Each year, the University of Pennsylvania Admissions Selection Committee seeks to enroll a class of 2,420 scholars, scientists, artists, athletes, entrepreneurs—and more—who hail from all corners of the world and a wide range of backgrounds.

Through the application review, we look for students who aspire to develop and refine their talents and abilities within Penn’s liberal arts-based, practical, and interdisciplinary learning environment. Our ideal candidates are inspired to emulate our founder Benjamin Franklin by applying their knowledge in “service to society.”

The Admissions Selection Committee looks for students with a demonstrated record of academic excellence, a commitment to seeking challenge, a range of interests and talents, and developing leadership. In terms of academic credentials, our primary focus is on the high school transcript, grades and rigor based on what is available at the student's high school, but we also take a close look at standardized test scores, correlating them with high school performance.

Additionally, Penn seeks to attract students with intellectual curiosity, interdisciplinary mindset, and the desire to engage with faculty. Our ideal applicants are people who have demonstrated an ability to channel their ideas and interests into positive action—students whose talents and experiences are likely to make an impact on our campus community, the city of Philadelphia, and maybe even the wider world.

So how does our admissions philosophy relate to your application? While we could easily fill the class with valedictorians and students with perfect test scores, our goal is to build the ideal incubator for tomorrow’s leaders. As such, we look beyond mere numbers to intangible qualities. It is therefore essential that you help us discover what separates you from those with the same, or similar, GPA and test scores.

Let us hear your authentic voice. Tell us your story. As you prepare your application, take some time to reflect on these questions:

• What matters most to you?
• Why do you want to attend Penn?
• Down what path will Locust Walk lead you—academically, socially, and personally?
• How do you plan to use your Penn education as a foundation for making your mark on the Penn community and the larger world?

Penn is firmly committed to ensuring this education is available to the brightest minds. We are need-blind through the evaluation and selection of our class, meaning we do not take a student’s financial background into consideration when making admissions decisions for citizens or permanent residents of the United States, Canada and Mexico.  Penn's financial aid is need-based only.  We do not award academic or talent-based, such as athletic or music, scholarships.  Instead, all aid is devoted to helping families who need financial assistance to afford Penn.  All admitted students who demonstrate need will have their full financial need met throughout their undergraduate years at Penn; we will meet 100% of the demonstrated need. Finally, our financial aid packages do not include loans.  All aided students are awarded no-loan aid packages, allowing them to graduate debt-free.

Our Admissions Selection Committee looks forward to reviewing your accomplishments, learning about your ideas and dreams, and getting a sense of what you might contribute to the Penn community.

When looking at colleges, I always ask students to first look within yourself, a self assessment that I call the 5 I’s:

1. Identity: How do you see yourself and how do others see you?
2. Intellect: How do you think and approach the acquisition of knowledge?
3. Ideas: What do you think and why?
4. Interests: What do you choose to do when you have the time and flexibility?
5. Inspiration: What really motivates you?

IDENTITY: To figure out this piece, you must ask yourself who you are as an individual.  How do you see yourself and how do you think that others see you?  How do you drill into–essentially, unpack–the definition you create for yourself?  Forget putting a name to a college now–don’t say I have to get into Penn or any other school.  That comes later. Think about who you are without connecting yourself to anything external, such as brands, people, grades, etc.  Think about who you are at your core.

INTELLECT: Part of your identity is your intellect.  How do you think and how do you take in information? We want to know about your mind.  Pretty simple, right?  As educators, we know that all students have a unique intellect with different strengths and learning styles.  Recognize that your intellect comes into play in a range of activities, not only while you are in class or doing homework.  The problem solving skills that you utilize during club meeting, your perseverance during track practice, and the public speaking ability you employ while running for leadership positions are all positive manifestations of an intellect that is alive and growing.

IDEAS: We want to know what you think about and why. When you have time to hang out, what are your ideas? What do you think about big issues like global warming? What do you think about local issues right here in your backyard? What are your ideas and what has informed those ideas? Ideas are what make college communities really interesting.  When diverse students with unique intellectual paths share their thoughts with one another, it results in a great synergy.  Students who work together, crossing traditional academic boundaries, have the potential to make waves in their community and world.   So yes, your ideas, even if at this point they don’t seem realistic, can help you get into college.  We are interested in the intellectual innovation you will bring to campus.  We are interested in your spark.

INTERESTS: What do you like to do?  What do you like to do when someone is not telling you to do it? What are your hobbies? This is one way that I think about interests:  If you could pick up three books or three magazines, what would they be?  Sometimes we need to pick books or magazines up because they feed into the courses that we are taking; other times it is a reflection of our natural acclimations and interests.  You can do the same exercise with films, or museums.  When you walk into a museum, what is the first section that you go to? All these things are going to be interesting to you and they’re going to interesting to the community that you are looking to be part of in college.

INSPIRATION: What really motivates and inspires you?  We can sit down for forty-five minutes and you might not be sure how you want to answer this question or you might be thinking too hard about it.  But then, there is this point in the conversation where I ask you something and your eyes light up and your arms start to move about.  You are inspired; something really moves you.  Tap into this power source and build on it.

Be mindful of content already conveyed to the Admissions Committee in your application and the opportunity this question offers you to articulate specifically “Why Penn?”  For example, imagine standing at the nexus of Locust Walk and College Green and looking at the path ahead. What are the opportunities you would like to explore in this space? What do you hope to learn about and create in your undergraduate school of choice? Strive to make this piece both uniquely you and uniquely Penn. 

And while this text is not binding (you are encouraged to explore, expand, and change in college), it can serve as a blueprint for the mark you make on campus. As inspiration, consider Jake Cohen C’13 who pledged to start a bagpipe band in his freshman application. Jake created Penn Pipes in his senior year and now student pipers can be found at events across campus. The Admissions Office, including Jake’s Regional Director Jordan Pascucci, is proud.