<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I’m working on my Upenn essay “What do you hope and contribute to UPenn community?” however, because I’m not entirely sure what type of students Upenn looks for, I don’t know what I should write… Studious? Business-minded? Quirky? If you’re a current student or someone who has visited Upenn—please give me some clue. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I visited last weekend and based on my visit, I would say that there is no typical Penn kid. I saw nerds, jocks, theater kids, band kids, quirky kids, quiet looking kids and many more. Don’t try to make yourself something that you’re not, otherwise it will come through in the essay. Be true about how you can bring out the best of yourself in Penn, and how you and Penn will benefit from your experience at Penn. Another tip for the essay is make sure it applies to Penn and Penn only. If you would be able to substitute Penn with any other school in the essay, it will not be a good essay.</p>
<p>Thanks! That was kind of what I was hoping to hear-a more heterogeneous group than homogeneous. I’ll definitely make the Penn essay unique as it’s my top choice.</p>
<p>Penn has clubs for almost anything you could imagine, so really when I applied, I saw that essay as a way to just say what I wanted to do. I wrote that I would join the Daily Pennsylvanian, the UA and the band… wound up doing the Glee Club, a fraternity, research, a campus job, religious community and a few other odds and ends here and there.</p>
<p>I remember in high school, I saw clubs and teams as things to do to make friends, but really for oneself. At Penn, I realized that the “Penn Community” exists wholly because of its clubs, groups and organizations. Whether you are conducting nanoresearch in a biology lab, singing in an a cappella group, playing football, writing, tutoring students in West Philadelphia, joining a fraternity, or anything in between, as long as you do SOMETHING, you will inevitably have contact with dozens, if not hundreds, of other people. THAT is the University of Pennsylvania community, and that is one aspect of student life that Penn excels at. </p>
<p>Take some time to think about what you want to do, and write it. Don’t try to impress anybody… even small groups have the ability to really shape the community (sometimes literally, in the case of some engineering clubs!), so you really can show your true colors with that little paragraph. :)</p>