<p>Like some students in this forum, I am one of the students who are marked as ‘significant interest’ by Kelly Writers House.
For me, I contacted one faculty personally though e-mails and sent her my writing samples before she categorized me. (btw I’m applying to CAS, bio major)
She said that this ‘significant interest’ group was small, so I thought it would be fairly beneficial for my application.
In contrast to her statement, many Penn applicants on cc seem to be in this ‘significant interest’ group. :(</p>
<p>Does this ‘recruitment’ happen to Penn applicants very often?</p>
<p>Did you have to contact her before she contacts you?</p>
<p>Nope. I just contacted her, because I wanted her to see my passion for writing even though I’m not majoring in English or creative writing.</p>
<p>That’s awesome! Good for you for taking the initiative :D</p>
<p>Writing was actually one of my main extracurriculars (sigh…), and I never thought of contacting the KWH.</p>
<p>I, too, was marked as a candidate of ‘significant interest.’ I contacted the KWH on my own volition (on a whim, really) and sent her some of my writing. I’m a Wharton candidate. </p>
<p>An article from 2006 says about 45 were recruited and 35 were actually accepted ([Gazette</a> | Cover Story: The House that Writers Built](<a href=“Penn: Page not found”>Penn: Page not found)), and last year around 45 were recruited with a high acceptance rate ([Kelly</a> Writers House attracts most talented student writers](<a href=“http://writing.upenn.edu/wh/about/news/20101005_recruitedwriters.php]Kelly”>Kelly Writers House attracts most talented student writers)).</p>
<p>However, the KWH just established an actual Director of Recruitment position this year. I would think, then, more than 45 students are being recruited/marked as a candidate of ‘significant interest.’ </p>
<p>But even if the number of recruited students doubled, and everyone applied ED, that’s still a very small percentage of the overall ED Penn pool. In fact, only 1.88% of the overall pool. So yes, a very small group. </p>
<p>Remember, CC is not an accurate sample of Penn ED applicants.</p>
<p>In case you haven’t seen it, here’s another excellent article about KWH, in an obscure publication of which you may have heard 
:</p>
<p><a href=“Writers Find Haven on an Ivy Campus - The New York Times”>Writers Find Haven on an Ivy Campus - The New York Times;
<p>Would it hurt my application/credibility if I didn’t contact KWH? </p>
<p>Writing is one of my biggest extracurriculars and I even attached an additional page (in the Common App’s additional information section) detailing various state/national essay competitions I’ve won… I’m sure they can judge the quality of my writing in my application essays, but still - I knew about KWH, but didn’t know students could contact them!</p>
<p>@foxtails: no, it won’t hurt your application. Would it have helped your app? Sure. But I think the fact you included additional information about the writing competitions you’ve competed in is an advantage as well. You have proof of your dedication to writing and of your skill. That’s always a good addition. </p>
<p>It’s too late to worry now. Just relax and let what will happen to happen :)</p>
<p>Thank you, psychedelia, for the much-needed calming words.</p>
<p>I guess we really have to just sit still and wait now.</p>