Penn Law Class of 2015 Forum

[PennBull]

Question to the ED people or to anyone who knows they are going to Penn for sure: How many days are people going to spend at Admitted Students Weekend? I am from the west coast, so ideally, I would like to take care of my housing search/ visiting campus/ ASW stuff in one weekend. My concern with doing Friday- Sunday, which is my current plan, is that Friday and Saturday are going to be filled with ASW activities and that will only leave me Sunday to look for housing... Is that enough time/ Are most leasing offices open on Sunday? Will we have time on Friday and Saturday to look for housing?

Can current students who found housing at ASW chime in? Or post the schedule from last year? I've been checking the website for an updated ASW itinerary, but it hasn't shown up yet.

Any input would be greatly appreciated since I want to book my flight and hotel soon! Can't wait to meet everyone.

I have similar questions as Copacetic. I also plan to look for housing during ASW.

Lots of students will be hosting (including me). You'll be given a survey soon asking if you want a student host, along with a bunch of other questions about the events you'll be attending.

I personally would do Thursday-Sunday simply because it's more fun haha. Penn was my favorite ASW when I was visiting. There's Thursday night events and Saturday's end pretty early in the afternoon, so you could spend lots of Thursday and Saturday looking for housing, too.

My personal opinion is that the internet can really give you a ton of information on housing and you can narrow it down from there. Also, there are lots of places where you know exactly what you will be getting and for what price, because so many law students live there (Left Bank, Domus, Sansom, 2400 Chestnut).

[MiamiOxford]

For those admitted, or for current students who may know... Has anyone gotten/heard about scholarship information? I didn't hear anything with my acceptance, so would that be in the portfolio?
Also, anything cool in the portfolio?

[iamrobk]

For those admitted, or for current students who may know... Has anyone gotten/heard about scholarship information? I didn't hear anything with my acceptance, so would that be in the portfolio?
Also, anything cool in the portfolio?

If they did send the packet out yesterday, hopefully I'll get it tomorrow. I'm way too excited for it.

[r6_philly]

For those admitted, or for current students who may know... Has anyone gotten/heard about scholarship information? I didn't hear anything with my acceptance, so would that be in the portfolio?
Also, anything cool in the portfolio?

Scholarship info came out last year a couple of weeks before ASW. Early-mid march.

[jpal13]

I just got in today! Penn is my number 1 and so I am all in. What should I know? I am so excited!

Do students reallly live in Domus? It is so expensive! Plus they charge cat rent, where is my cat going to come up with $35/month???

[r6_philly]

I just got in today! Penn is my number 1 and so I am all in. What should I know? I am so excited!

Do students reallly live in Domus? It is so expensive! Plus they charge cat rent, where is my cat going to come up with $35/month???

Congrats! I believe a good number of people live in Domus. I wish I could live in Domus, it is so nice and convenient.

Wherever you decide living, make sure it is a place quiet enough that you can study/read at home anytime. There will be a lot of reading, and you don't want to have to come to the library to study.

[Smumps]

Just got admitted, insanely excited. Definitely going to check it out for ASW.

Anyone going to ASW happen to be from the bay area? I'd love to have a travel partner/cut down on hotel costs. Shoot me a PM!

[jpal13]

I just got in today! Penn is my number 1 and so I am all in. What should I know? I am so excited!

Do students reallly live in Domus? It is so expensive! Plus they charge cat rent, where is my cat going to come up with $35/month???

Congrats! I believe a good number of people live in Domus. I wish I could live in Domus, it is so nice and convenient.

Wherever you decide living, make sure it is a place quiet enough that you can study/read at home anytime. There will be a lot of reading, and you don't want to have to come to the library to study.

Thank you, I'm very excited. What are the pros/cons of Fitler Square?

[DonnaDraper]

Sent in my seat deposit a couple days ago...do we get a confirmation email when it is received, or is it noted by changes in the "Amount Paid" section of my status checker?

[r6_philly]

Sent in my seat deposit a couple days ago...do we get a confirmation email when it is received, or is it noted by changes in the "Amount Paid" section of my status checker?

Last year it showed on the checker. However it's still busy season and I don't know if they are that quick with the deposits right now. I like your enthusiasm though!

[JDizzle2015]

Checking in. There's definitely a possibility I'll end up in Philly this fall.

[iamrobk]

The ASW schedule is online. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to the Thursday night social but I may get to Philly too late.

[Aspen]

I got into UPenn back in December. I'm waiting to hear from Berkeley (my top choice) but if that doesn't work out I'm going to have to pick between UPenn and UVA. I want to practice in California and neither seems to have a huge boost for that market. The smaller class size of UPenn is a big plus for me but since the cost of living is way higher in Philly (compared to Charlottesville) it makes me nervous. I guess I have to see what my financial aid package will be before I decide.

[r6_philly]

I got into UPenn back in December. I'm waiting to hear from Berkeley (my top choice) but if that doesn't work out I'm going to have to pick between UPenn and UVA. I want to practice in California and neither seems to have a huge boost for that market. The smaller class size of UPenn is a big plus for me but since the cost of living is way higher in Philly (compared to Charlottesville) it makes me nervous. I guess I have to see what my financial aid package will be before I decide.

Cost of living is not way higher in Philly. Actually it's about the same:

http://www.bestplaces.net/col/?salary=5 ... 2=55114968

It is just that Philly has more luxury offerings, giving you the sense that it is way higher. Some of my friends are living in apartments around 5-600/month.

[jpal13]

I am totally at a loss about how to ask for merit aid....

Penn did not send me an invite to apply for a named scholarship last Friday. At this point I am choosing between Penn (which is my number 1), Columbia (no scholly offer yet), and Michigan (which offered $54k dean's scholarship).

Do I write Penn a letter, email, call or just wait a bit to request merit aid? If I contact them do I straight out say I am choosing between the 3?

I am leaning so hard for Penn for personal reasons that I am likely to go there regardless but it would make the choice a lot easier if they would toss me a bone. I guess I could go for broke at Columbia in NYC!

[Aspen]

I got into UPenn back in December. I'm waiting to hear from Berkeley (my top choice) but if that doesn't work out I'm going to have to pick between UPenn and UVA. I want to practice in California and neither seems to have a huge boost for that market. The smaller class size of UPenn is a big plus for me but since the cost of living is way higher in Philly (compared to Charlottesville) it makes me nervous. I guess I have to see what my financial aid package will be before I decide.

Cost of living is not way higher in Philly. Actually it's about the same:

http://www.bestplaces.net/col/?salary=5 ... 2=55114968

It is just that Philly has more luxury offerings, giving you the sense that it is way higher. Some of my friends are living in apartments around 5-600/month.

Oh wow that's pretty cool.

[Nelson]

I am totally at a loss about how to ask for merit aid....

Penn did not send me an invite to apply for a named scholarship last Friday. At this point I am choosing between Penn (which is my number 1), Columbia (no scholly offer yet), and Michigan (which offered $54k dean's scholarship).

Do I write Penn a letter, email, call or just wait a bit to request merit aid? If I contact them do I straight out say I am choosing between the 3?

I am leaning so hard for Penn for personal reasons that I am likely to go there regardless but it would make the choice a lot easier if they would toss me a bone. I guess I could go for broke at Columbia in NYC!

Wait for Penn's aid package to come out in March first. There isn't much point in negotiating with an offer that you haven't received yet. Penn gives awards up to 20k/yr as non-named scholarships.

[jpal13]

I am totally at a loss about how to ask for merit aid....

Penn did not send me an invite to apply for a named scholarship last Friday. At this point I am choosing between Penn (which is my number 1), Columbia (no scholly offer yet), and Michigan (which offered $54k dean's scholarship).

Do I write Penn a letter, email, call or just wait a bit to request merit aid? If I contact them do I straight out say I am choosing between the 3?

I am leaning so hard for Penn for personal reasons that I am likely to go there regardless but it would make the choice a lot easier if they would toss me a bone. I guess I could go for broke at Columbia in NYC!

Wait for Penn's aid package to come out in March first. There isn't much point in negotiating with an offer that you haven't received yet. Penn gives awards up to 20k/yr as non-named scholarships.

Thanks, as you can tell I've moved from the stress of waiting for admits to the stress of waiting for financial aid.

This is all after the stress of deciding to go to law school and taking the LSAT. By end of 2012 it will be exams! It never stops.

[JDizzle2015]

Thanks, as you can tell I've moved from the stress of waiting for admits to the stress of waiting for financial aid.

This is all after the stress of deciding to go to law school and taking the LSAT. By end of 2012 it will be exams! It never stops.

Used to be like this too. I think there's a correlation, but even though it doesn't necessarily mean causation ( ), between the amount of time we spend on TLS and the level of stress in our lives. Therefore, I've been trying to seriously budget the amount of time I'm allowed to go on TLS. I've recently decided to take on a Que Sera, Sera approach to things and my life is noticeably much more pleasant.

[Champion]

I am totally at a loss about how to ask for merit aid....

Penn did not send me an invite to apply for a named scholarship last Friday. At this point I am choosing between Penn (which is my number 1), Columbia (no scholly offer yet), and Michigan (which offered $54k dean's scholarship).

Do I write Penn a letter, email, call or just wait a bit to request merit aid? If I contact them do I straight out say I am choosing between the 3?

I am leaning so hard for Penn for personal reasons that I am likely to go there regardless but it would make the choice a lot easier if they would toss me a bone. I guess I could go for broke at Columbia in NYC!

Wait for Penn's aid package to come out in March first. There isn't much point in negotiating with an offer that you haven't received yet. Penn gives awards up to 20k/yr as non-named scholarships.

Is 20k the most they give for non-named scholarships, even in like a matching scholarship situation with peer schools like Berkeley?

[r6_philly]

Is 20k the most they give for non-named scholarships, even in like a matching scholarship situation with peer schools like Berkeley?

20k per year, pretty much. Remember even Wilson is only a half scholly.

[Nelson]

I am totally at a loss about how to ask for merit aid....

Penn did not send me an invite to apply for a named scholarship last Friday. At this point I am choosing between Penn (which is my number 1), Columbia (no scholly offer yet), and Michigan (which offered $54k dean's scholarship).

Do I write Penn a letter, email, call or just wait a bit to request merit aid? If I contact them do I straight out say I am choosing between the 3?

I am leaning so hard for Penn for personal reasons that I am likely to go there regardless but it would make the choice a lot easier if they would toss me a bone. I guess I could go for broke at Columbia in NYC!

Wait for Penn's aid package to come out in March first. There isn't much point in negotiating with an offer that you haven't received yet. Penn gives awards up to 20k/yr as non-named scholarships.

Is 20k the most they give for non-named scholarships, even in like a matching scholarship situation with peer schools like Berkeley?

I'm just going off what they say on their website.

I have no idea to what extent they negotiate. There are definitely scholarships on LSN between 60k total and a full ride, I just assumed they were either Wilsons or Silverman/Rodins, which are both half tuition basically.

[r6_philly]

Just to add, they didn't match mine, but they gave a good offer. I don't know anyone who received an exact match, but the sample is small.

[Nelson]

Just to add, they didn't match mine, but they gave a good offer. I don't know anyone who received an exact match, but the sample is small.

You were negotiating with an MVB offer(s)? I'm pretty annoyed that I'm not going to have any leverage with Penn since I'm not going to get into UVA or Mich. I would really prefer to go to Penn but don't think it's smart over CC if they're all at sticker or roughly equivalent.

[r6_philly]

Just to add, they didn't match mine, but they gave a good offer. I don't know anyone who received an exact match, but the sample is small.

You were negotiating with an MVB offer(s)? I'm pretty annoyed that I'm not going to have any leverage with Penn since I'm not going to get into UVA or Mich. I would really prefer to go to Penn but don't think it's smart over CC if they're all at sticker or roughly equivalent.

I had a substantially larger V offer. I think enough for most people to choose V. Penn did changed the initial offer, but maybe most people would have chosen the V offer still. I had my personal preferences, so it worked out well for me. My M offer was smaller. My B offer was comparable. I had pretty much a full offer from UT. I was not really successful with negotiating with MVBD, but I can tell you B was more willing to listen. I appreciate that Penn took my negotiation seriously, but don't expect a full match.