Penn Admissions -> Blackbox ???

MLEVINE07
Sun, 01 Jun 2008 14:48:22 +0000

So you’ve discovered that transfer admissions is more about how they want to build their class, not getting the best students. Why would they care substantially about your GPA, if it will not contribute to any statistics about enrollment (almost all statistics reflect the freshman classes)? You need to be incredibly intelligent to go to a top school, yes. But they look for so much more than that. I got into Wesleyan with a 3.65 at a top 40 LAC. Academically, I thought I had no shot at getting in. But obviously, my person as a whole was what they wanted. Whether it be my involvement in sports, or my strong interest in political theory and social reform, or my desire to explore the mind-body connection, something stood out and I was accepted. It doesn’t matter if your grades are perfect, when it comes down to it. SAT scores and GPAs don’t save lives, engineer new inventions, or write novels. People do.