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Applied Graduate Student Chat, January 29 2020
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Gunnar Thorsteinsson
10:11
Dear Mr. Fenton,

a quick question on the deadline of the letters of recommendation (MSE). One of my recommenders is a volcanologist and literally this weekend they discovered that there's an imminent eruption in our country (Iceland), meaning he'll be quite busy in the next days/weeks. What's the deadline for handing in the letters of recommendation?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:20
Gunnar, that is hopefully not going to bring any harm to to anyone! As to your question, the deadline is the application deadline, so if you're looking to apply for a master's program with a Feb 1 deadline, that is the deadline for the letters of recommendation.
Chengyang
10:11
Hi Will. Do you know if any decision has been made for materials science and engineering PhD?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:19
Not at this time.
Guest1
10:11
And have applications for Masters programs already been started to be reviewed?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:20
Yes, but it is up to the department.
Andy
10:12
Hi Will, I am an applicant for ESE PHD program. I was wondering if all the offers have been sent out or the majority of decisions are still in progress?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:21
Hi Andy, we have sent some decisions out.
Fang Bohang
10:13
In the email, it says "Please note that IPD decisions may be released after May 8, 2020". What is the meaning of IPD?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:21
Fang, the IPD program is the Integrated Product Design masters.
Amy
10:14
Hi will, have all the invitation for interview for PhD bioengineering sent out already? Or is the department still sending out invitation for interview?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:22
Amy, this is handled directly by the department, so unfortunately, I don't know.
Alex
10:14
Hello, I was contacted by a potnetial phd advisor to setup a skype call later this week and have a few questions about it. How common is this, what impact will it have on final decisions, and is it individual professors that admit students or committee based admissions?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:23
Alex, unfortunately this is handled entirely by the departments, so I really don't have additional information to give you. I can tell you that usually PhD decisions are made with both a committee and at least one faculty member weighing in on their application.
Bryan
10:14
Thank you, Will! I phrased my question incorrectly though! I meant if there's a date where decisions will start to roll out until National deadline?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:23
Bryan, they are released on a rolling basis, so it's whenever we get the decision from the department.
Jae Won
10:15
I am an applicant to the chemical engineering.
I contacted 'admissions2@seas.upenn.edu' to update my resume.
But I did not receive a reply. Do I need to send mail again in this case?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:25
Jae, we do ask for patience at this time, as we are receiving a very high number of emails per day. You will receive a response. However, if you applied to a Chemical Engineering PhD program, your application has been under review for over a month, so an updated resume may not be included in that review at this time. We consider all applications final upon submission.
Guest
10:15
One of my papers have been recently accepted to a conference but I have already submitted my application. Is there a way I could update my SOP and resume?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:26
Guest, you can send an updated resume/personal statement to one of the two email addresses listed here: https://gradadm.seas.upenn.edu/how-to-apply/admissions-contacts/. There is no guarantee that updated materials will be included in the review, as we do consider all applications final upon submission.
Bryan
10:15
Sorry for that!
cool 2
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:26
Not a problem, Bryan.
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:16
To which program did you apply?
Master's (17.6% | 6 votes)
 
PhD (82.4% | 28 votes)
 
Both (0% | 0 votes)
 
Total Votes: 34
John Zhang
10:16
Got it, thanks Will!
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:26
You're welcome, John.
Liu
10:19
Sorry, I didn't describe my question well. I mean, I already found the webpage you just provided, and it's easy to calculate my tuition by multiplying $7300 with numbers of course unit. However, the program webpage only provides information about credit unit instead of course unit, and I don't know the relationship between these two concepts. So I'm puzzled now.
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:27
liu, in our case, the relationship is the same - one course unit = one credit.
SD
10:20
Hi Will. I'm an applicant of the CIS PhD program. Will most of the admitted students get interviews before receiving the decision?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:27
SD, the CIS PhD program does not conduct formal interviews.
Roy Meng
10:20
Hi, Will. How could I know that my application is under review?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:28
Roy, you can log into your application account and check your status - if it says "ready for review," that means it's been forwarded to the department for review.
Zekun Li
10:21
Good morning Will, may international applicant for Master in Materials Science and Engineering receive a scholarship?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:28
Zekun, we don't offer financial aid to any master's students.
Eme
10:25
Hi Will, do you start sending the admission decisions for the CIS PhD applicants?? If not, when?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:28
Eme, we have started sending them out. But don't worry, all applicants will receive a decision.
Bryan
10:26
If there's has been an update to my transcripts since I submitted my application for a PhD program, can I send my updated transcripts to the department reviewing the applications? I am an PhD Chemical Engineering applicant.
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:29
Bryan, you can send an updated transcript to admissions2@seas.upenn.edu. However, there's no guarantee that new information will be included in the review, since we consider applications final upon submission.
Charles
10:27
Hello Will, My GRE status still shows "Needed", weeks after submitting the application. The scores should have been matched by now. Should I be worried?
AvatarWill Fenton, Enrollment Specialist
10:30
Charles, if you submitted the unofficial scores, you have nothing to worry about. If not, we'll contact you if we need the scores. Sometimes the "automatic" matching system isn't as automatic as we'd like.
Guest
10:28
If I have not received interview invitation for phd program at this point, am I been rejected by this program?
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