Admit office changes application essays

For high-school seniors considering Penn, the application process just became 150 words easier.

The Admissions office has changed the essays on the Penn supplement to the Common Application, eliminating one of the previously required questions and revising another.

The supplement formerly consisted of three written components: a general "Why Penn?" essay, a short-answer question and the optional "Page 217 of your autobiography."

The new supplement eliminates the short answer concerning the faculty member with which the applicant would most like to study and revises the "Why Penn?" essay.

The updated essay references Benjamin Franklin's contributions to the Philadelphia community and asks the applicant to explain what he or she would offer specific academic and social communities at Penn. The autobiography question remains optional.

The Admissions office decided to modify the essays in order to stimulate the applicants' thoughts on the intellectual and social communities available at Penn, according to Admissions Dean Eric Furda.

"The question we asked within the admissions office was - 'How can we provide an opportunity for students to represent their thoughts on Penn and also express their own voices?' without asking too many questions," Furda wrote in an e-mail.

He added that the new essay serves the purposes of the previous essays by combining them into one requirement.

Beatriz Albornoz, a prospective Penn student and high-school senior, said the single required essay will allow her to write a more personal and reflective response as opposed to the former short answer.

"There is only so much you can say while being insightful and contemplative about yourself when you don't really know whom you're talking about," she said.

She added that Penn is one of her top choices and that more essay requirements would not deter her from applying, but that the supplement change helps to reduce the stress of the application process. Having to balance college applications and homework in the fall of senior year can be "a lot," she said.

Reflecting on her own experience, Wharton and Engineering junior Leah Haimson said the changes to the essays make the supplement easier for both the applicant and the admissions officers.

"People will make stuff up to answer the questions and fill the space instead of saying what they really feel," she said. "Having two questions is just as good as having three. It's less fluff, and you can assess a person better."

Some students, though, think the extra question gave students more of a chance to focus their answers.

Nursing sophomore Michelle Cselovszky said she preferred having both the faculty short answer and the "Why Penn?" essay when she applied as a transfer last year.

"Personally, I think it's better to have two because they're both separate and you can be more specific about each one," she said. "It's more structured and more organized."

Although the Penn supplement has changed, the required long essay and short answer on the general Common Application remain the same.

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