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Applied Graduate Student Chat, Dec 11, 2019
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AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:00
Good day, all. My name is Will Fenton and I'm an Enrollment Specialist for Graduate Admissions at Penn Engineering. I'm here to answer questions you may have about our Graduate Programs, life as a graduate student at Penn and living in Philadelphia.
10:01
Here are some links that you may find useful:
How To Apply/Application Requirements/Decision Dates:
https://gradadm.seas.upenn.edu/how-to-apply/
Grad School FAQ Link:
https://gradadm.seas.upenn.edu/faq/
Student Financial Services:
http://www.sfs.upenn.edu/
Costs
https://gradadm.seas.upenn.edu/paying-for-your-education/
Potential Fellowship and Financial Aid Information
http://www.cis.upenn.edu/prospective-students/graduate/aid.php
https://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/gradstudfunding.php
JP Eckert Fellowship for CIS-Related programs
http://www.cis.upenn.edu/prospective-students/graduate/aid-eckert.php
International Students & Scholars Services:
https://global.upenn.edu/isss/new
April 15 National Grad School Decision Agreement:
https://cgsnet.org/april-15-resolution
Where do you live?
United States (42.1% | 8 votes)
 
China (21.1% | 4 votes)
 
India (26.3% | 5 votes)
 
Europe (0% | 0 votes)
 
Middle East (5.3% | 1 vote)
 
Another Region (5.3% | 1 vote)
 
Total Votes: 19
10:03
What questions do you have for me today?
Maitreya Venkataswamy
10:04
Hi Will, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. I have two questions about the admissions process.

1. For the Data Science Program, for which I applied through the early cycle, there are two dates listed for the decision release. Are all the decisions released on one of the two days, or is it split between the two?

2. If we are not accepted during the early cycle, will our applications be reviewed again during the late cycle?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:06
Hi Maitreya. Here are answers to your questions:
1) It is really up to the programs and when they get all of their decisions entered into our system, so that we can complete the review process and release the decision. We hope that all decisions will go out Jan 15, but if they don't, then they'll be released on Feb 15.
2) No, each application is only considered once during the application cycle; if you receive an unfavorable decision early, your application will not be reviewed again.
Moein Taghvaei
10:06
Good morning William. I am a MS student at Drexel finishing up my master's this week. I have alreaady submitted my Fall 2020 PhD application in Mechanical Engineering; However, I wanna apply for PhD in Materials Science and Engineering as well. I mean I wanna apply for 2 different programs simultaneously. I could not find the link or any option in my account to do so! What should I do?
Thank you
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:07
Moein, good day. I believe you emailed us earlier this week. You are only able to apply for one PhD program per application cycle. So if you've submitted one PhD application, that's it. You can only submit applications for master's programs now.
Akanksha Parikh
10:06
Good Morning, I have applied for the Biotechnology Program and I wanted to ask after completing the master program, how  does one shift into a doctoral program. Thank you!
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:08
Akanksha,
You'd need to go through the application process. There is no "transfer," or "shift" into a doctoral program.
Guest
10:06
Hi Will, good morning!
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:08
Goof morning, Guest.
Guest
10:08
I have applied for Data Science, MSE as well. I was wondering if applying in the Early Round is easier to be accepted than the second round?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:09
Guest, historically the earlier round has a higher acceptance rate than the regular round.
Prashant Krishnan
10:08
Hi Will. Thanks for taking time off for this chat.

I have applied for the MS CIS program in the early deadline. My question is similar to Maitreya's.
Do all decisions as part of the early deadline come out by Feb 15th? And if we get no intimation, that does
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:10
Prashant, our goal is that all applicants that qualified for the early decision deadline will receive a decision on either Jan 15 or February 15.
Prashant Krishnan
10:09
Does that mean it will come with the later deadline application?*
Moein Taghvaei
10:10
Thanks for your reply.What if I create another account
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:12
Well, considering one of our specific rules is that an applicant may only apply to one PhD program per application cycle, we would ultimately find out. In addition, the application asks if you've ever applied to a program at Penn before, and you'd need to be truthful with your answer to that question. Otherwise, if you were not truthful on that, or any other part of your application, and it was discovered...
We strongly recommend you follow our process for applying.
HS
10:13
Hi Will, may I know if there is a relatively fixed quota for the first round and the second round? Or it entirely depends on the quality of applicants?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:14
Hi HS. Do you knowledge, it depends on the quality of the applicants. Ultimately, each department determines the criteria and number of applicants they're looking for each year.
cool 2
Guest
10:15
Hello Will. Glad to see you today. I'm applying for master degree of Biotechnology. I'd like to ask what proportion of applicants to this major are accepted last year?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:16
Hi guest, we admitted approximately 45%.
Moein Taghvaei
10:16
I did not mean that I want to lie. I think it was a misunderstanding. I thought that your application website does not support 2 simultaneously. So I said "what if I create another account"
Thank you for your answer by the way
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:17
Moein, you're welcome. You can submit a second application, you just have to have submitted the first. Once you've done that, you can log into your application account, select Apply Online, and you can begin a new application.
Moein Taghvaei
10:17
Another question I have is regarding TOEFL test score. Since I am getting my master's degree from a US institution, how can I waive the TOEFL test score? I mean to whom should I email?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:18
Moein, you don't need to email anyone, or do anything else. We'll review your application materials and, once we note that on your unofficial transcript and the application, the English Language Proficiency requirement is waived by our enrollment specialists.
Guest
10:19
Hey! What was the acceptance rate for Bioengineering PhD program last year?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:19
Hi Guest. It was approximately 13.5% last year.
Guest
10:21
Wow, it's amazing that nearly half biotech applicants are admitted. So, is the acceptance rate in the first round (Nov.15th) application greater than the second round and the third round (Feb and March) ?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:22
Guest, we are actually still working on our report for the rate of early admits to regular admits for last year. I can tell you that two years ago, the early rate was approximately 56%.
Devesh
10:22
Hi Will, Good Morning. I understand you have the acceptance numbers, so I'd like to know if you have the same when it comes to MS in Robotics?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:23
Hi Devesh. Sure, we admitted approximately 16% last year.
Moein Taghvaei
10:22
Thanks for your answers regarding TOEFL and also 2nd application. So you mean I can apply for 2 different PhD applications? The first one has already been submitted a week ago. Now, I can submit 2nd PhD application through your system using the same account? I am confused sorry for that
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:23
Nope, you can't. You can only apply for one PhD program, as I've previously said. You CAN apply for a master's, or multiple master's programs, though.
Siddhant
10:22
Hey Will, I have applied for the earlier Deadline for MS in DS, and I wanted to know the average GRE score of students accepted for the same course in 2019
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:24
Hi Siddhant, the Data Science program doesn't release those numbers, but you can find them for our CIS programs here: https://www.cis.upenn.edu/graduate/how-to-apply/admissions-statistics/. They have comparable admissions rates.
Flora
10:23
Hi Will, Good morning! I've applied for CIS MSE. Could you please give an approximate number of applications in the early review pool? Thanks!
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