JotCast | Prospective Graduate Student ALL-DAY chat, January 31, 9AM-5PM

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Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

2:42

Vikas, you are welcome. Best of luck to you.

Rohan

2:43

I wanted to know about ms and not phd :)

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

2:44

Rohan, my apologies. Decisions for the CIS MSE will be released on Friday's through May 8, when decisions are available.

Vikas Krishnan

2:45

Does UPenn, by any chance, offer an application fee waiver to international applicants?
[If this is department-specific, how about Electrical Engineering, MSE]

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

2:46

Vikas, I'm sorry, but we rarely offer fee waivers. If you believe you have a compelling reason to request one, you can send an email to our Associate Director, Christina Burton, at chburton@seas.upenn.edu. However, as the deadline is tomorrow, I don't know if she would be able to get back to you before the deadline.

Vikas Krishnan

2:48

I guess the reason isn't very compelling. Just wanted to know if there is one that I could avail. No issues with that. Thank you!

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

2:48

You're welcome. It never hurts to ask. Good luck!

neha

2:48

Thanks Will for all your replies but now I think my profile is not adequate enough to apply to UPENN so I am confued weather or not I should apply.

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

2:49

Neha, are there other questions that I might be able to answer that would assist you with your decision to apply or not?

neha

2:53

I wanted to pursue ROBO because specialization subjects in EE do not resonate with my past works which reduce my chances of admit there, and I have good projects but my GRE score is 297; TOEFL score 103, and I think with this score it is impossible for me to get an admit in ROBO as well.

Can you suggest any other STEM program which suits my profile

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

2:55

If you are concerned that your profile may not meet that of a Robotics applicant, perhaps apply to the EE program? There are electives which you could potentially take that might steer you more towards the Robotics industry, and there is always the transfer option, as I believe I mentioned earlier. Ultimately, it is a decision that only you can make. I will say that a 103 TOEFL score is above our minimum recommendation, so that is a positive.

Vikas Krishnan

2:57

Will, are there any guidelines (mainly the page/word count) for drafting the SoP?

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

2:58

Vikas, there are, and you can find them here: https://gradadm.seas.upenn.edu/how-to-apply/. We recommend no more than two pages, but don't have a word count or spacing requirement.

Stanley

2:59

Sorry, I had to take care of something. Thank you for all your help today, Will!

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

2:59

You're welcome, Stanley. Good luck!

Vikas Krishnan

3:00

Got it. And one more specific question. Is there any downside in mentioning my interest to work under the supervision of a couple professors?

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

3:00

Nope, and actually we encourage that, primarily if they are in the program to which you plan to apply.

Vikas Krishnan

3:01

Also, is there a provision to apply directly to the PhD?

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

3:01

The deadline to do so was December 15.

Vikas Krishnan

3:03

Ah.. I've been filling up the UPenn application for the past 75 days.. Glad I would be completing it at least at the 11th hour :)

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

3:04

Ha, don't worry - it's only you and about 1300 people that have outstanding applications, as of this morning. You're in good company :D

Shahrukh

3:04

Do graduates from GIK Institute, Pakistan receive TOEFL waiver ?

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

3:05

Hi Shahrukh, yes, a graduate from their would qualify for a TOEFL waiver.

Niki

3:04

Hi Will, Happy Friday! I had a question about the IPD program. Within the 'Programs' page, there is a sample schedule that begins with Summer Year 1. Do you know if summer courses are mandatory in the IPD program?

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

3:06

Niki, I do not believe that they are mandatory. However, incoming students do often start in the summer. You can contact the Program Coordinator, Mary Eileen Griffith, at mebg@seas.upenn.edu, for further information.

Vikas Krishnan

3:04

Whoa! 1300?! For MS in EE alone?

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

3:05

No, that's for all of our programs with the deadline as of tomorrow.

Shahrukh

3:05

Also, what is the acceptance rate for MS Data Science?

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

3:07

Shahruk, last year it was 9.3% and the year before it was 8.7%.

Vikas Krishnan

3:06

Thank God! Any specific number that you can provide for MS in EE? If that data is available and disclosable...

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

3:07

Vikas, I don't have the number of potential applications still outstanding, but I can tell you that last year we had 693 applicants.

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

3:09

Have you been to UPenn or Philadelphia?

Yes, I live here (0% | 0 votes)

Yes, both (18.2% | 2 votes)

Philadelphia, but not UPenn (9.1% | 1 vote)

The US, but not Philadelphia (18.2% | 2 votes)

I've never been to the US (54.5% | 6 votes)

Total Votes: 11

Vikas Krishnan

3:09

Alright. The program strength for MS EE? Meaning the total permissible admits.

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

3:10

I don't know if there is a specific number this year, as there has not been in the past. I do know that there were 66 in the class that started this past fall, and 86 the year before.

Vikas Krishnan

3:13

Alright! Thank you so much for your time and answers, Will. That helped a lot.

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

3:13

My pleasure, Vikas. Good luck to you.

Vridhi

3:17

Hi Will! Application deadline of 1st Feb means I can submit by the End of the Day on the 1st of Feb?

Will Fenton, Enrollment Specialist

3:18

Yes, the deadline is 11:59PM EST on February 1.

Vridhi

3:18

Okay Thank you!

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