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Applied Graduate Student Chat - Feb 21, 2019
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AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:41
Felipe, you're welcome.
Nahee
10:41
Mr. Fenton, is there any student has received a decision already from bioengineering dept for phd program?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:42
Nahee, yes, we have sent out some decisions,  but the majority have not been sent out.
Where would you plan to live?
On campus (22.2% | 2 votes)
 
Off campus, but near UPenn (33.3% | 3 votes)
 
Off campus in West Philadelphia (11.1% | 1 vote)
 
Off campus in Center City (11.1% | 1 vote)
 
I have no idea, help! (22.2% | 2 votes)
 
Total Votes: 9
Jose
10:42
Hello Will, I applied for the specific Robotics program this year. I recall that decisions would be sent out by April 5th, but will some decisions be sent out beforehand as they are made or will they all be released that same day?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:42
Jose, all decisions for the programs with the Feb 1 deadline will be sent out on April 5.
Jose
10:43
Thank you very much! Have a wonderful day.
cool 1
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:43
You're welcome, Jose.
10:44
All, just to reiterate: Master's decisions for all Feb 1 deadlines will be sent out on April 5. Master's decisions for all March 15 deadlines will be sent out on May 15 at this time. PhD Decisions are still being made at this time and ALL applicants will receive a decision.
Guest
10:44
Mr. Fenton,

I applied for a PhD in ESE and received an email 4 weeks ago (after being interviewed) that I can expect to receive a decision within 2-3 weeks. However, I have yet to hear back by email or on the website. Does this mean I was rejected? Or is the process for decisions for PhD in ESE just taking longer than predicted?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:45
Guest, I'm sorry that the dept told you that - these decisions are made on a rolling basis and are sent out when we receive the decision from the dept. If you haven't received a decision yet it means we haven't received it from the dept.
Siddharth
10:45
Hey Will, I wanted to that if selected, do the students of the MSE IPD program get opportunities to undertake guided research work under faculty members?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:46
Siddharth, yes, you can get these opportunities - however, these opportunities are more self-directed, so we encourage students to seek them out and speak with faculty that are doing research that interests them about research opportunities.
Nahee
10:46
Thank you. Have a great day
cool 1
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:46
Nahee, you're welcome!
Qi
10:46
Hi Will, what’s the rate of admission after interviews for the BE PhD?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:47
Qi, I'm sorry, but I don't know that, as the dept handles all of the interviews. I can tell you that the overall admission rate last year was 15%.
Akash
10:47
Sir, it's not mentioned in the FAQs anywhere. Anyhow, do I have to email the department now for consideration for Ms or after I receive my Ph.D. decision?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:48
Akash, if it's not, then I'm sorry, but as I said, we state in the Graduate Admissions FAQ that we do not automatically consider rejected PhD candidates for the master's programs. You can email the dept now, but if they haven't made a decision on your PhD application yet, they may not respond at this time.
Guest
10:48
Hi Will, could you please tell me who would be the best person in Bioengineering department to ask regarding status of my application and decision timeline?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:49
Guest, all decisions are made on a rolling basis - and released by the Graduate Admissions office (my office), so I don't know if there's anyone there that can tell you anything different. However, you can email the Program Coordinator, Kathy Venit, at kvenit@seas.upenn.edu if you'd like. I can tell you that she can't tell you your decision.
Qi
10:49
15% of all the applicants or interviewees? I was at the first weekend of interviews.
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:49
Qi, 15% of all applicants.
Kevin
10:49
Hi,
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:49
Hi Kevin
Prerit
10:49
Thanks Will for the links. Should the financial documentation be provided before I-20 and how to exactly see the amount for my program? Does that amount include cost for one Fall and one Spring semester only?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:51
Prerit, you need to send the financial documentation when you apply for the I-20. We don't have the tuition estimates for the 2019-20 academic year year. You can find this year's rate - https://gradadm.seas.upenn.edu/paying-for-your-education/
Kevin
10:51
Hi Will. I applied for the MS in Robotics. However, I have already heard back from other universities who need a decision by the end of March. Is there any way I can have somebody look at my application and get it back to me before April 5? I would like to make a decision with all of my options in front of me
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:51
Kevin, I'm sorry, but unless they have special funding criteria, programs are not supposed to ask for a decision before April 15, according to the national agreement - you can read about it here: https://cgsnet.org/april-15-resolution
Kevin, as such, we won't be sending out decisions until April 5.
Congtao
10:52
Hello Will! Is the GRE score top priority criteria for MS Robotics program? Do you have specific GRE cutoff line? If my GRE score is not that high, do I still have chance to be admitted? Can I still update my GRE score?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:52
Congtao, the GRE is not the top priority. You can see some stats for admitted students here: https://www.grasp.upenn.edu/academics/masters/admission-stats
Guest
10:52
Are decisions sent via email or somewhere on the application portal?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:53
Guest, you'll receive an email stating that you have a decision - you will actually be able to see it by logging into the application portal.
Guest
10:53
As a follow up to the question in regards to receiving an email about 2-3 weeks until a decision is made (ESE PhD). Is there typically a large lag time between department decisions and released decisions?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:53
Guest, no - we release the PhD decisions when the dept puts them into the application system. However, as to when a dept may tell someone a decision is coming and they ACTUALLY send it to our office - I can't really say, unfortunately.
Christian
10:53
Thank you so much, Will, for keeping us informed. I look forward to hearing great news from your office soon!
cool 1
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:54
Christian, you're welcome. Good luck!
Shreya
10:54
Sir, Approximately how many students applied last year for the MSE in ESE program and how many got accepted?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:55
Shreya, we had 612 apply for the EE program and 246 for the SE program; we had accepted 329 for the EE program and 120 for the SE program.
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