The University of Pennsylvania, or Penn, is an outstanding Ivy League university with equally impressive outcomes. It is mid-size, with 10,610 undergraduates across a range of colleges, and attracts students who think big. At Penn, students put their big ideas into practice. The Philadelphia setting empowers taking action rather than waiting for graduation.
Unsurprisingly, Penn is extremely sought after by prospective transfers. For enrollment in the fall of 2024, they received 4,521 applications and admitted only 145 transfer students — or 3.2%. Those are some steep odds, but there are specific and measured things you can do to increase your odds of slipping into the tiny pool of accepted transfer applicants.
Before you can apply to the university, though, you need to decide what undergraduate college within Penn you’ll be applying to. Transfers can apply for admission to DMD: Digital Media Design, the College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Nursing, or Wharton, the business school of Penn. There are some caveats though.
DMD: Students are only eligible to apply as transfers if they would enter as a sophomore (second-year student), and prospective applicants can’t simply throw away already completed credits to go back to sophomore year.
School of Nursing: This college accepts students with up to two years of credits — but all transfers into the school start as sophomores regardless of how much college they have already completed. Note that this may add a year to your college journey.
Remember, too, that applicants during the 2025-2026 cycle, including transfers, are required to submit an SAT or ACT score. There is no minimum score to be considered for admission, but we recommend sending the highest scores you can. For transfers, that may mean retaking either test, as well as preparing diligently in advance.
In this post, though, we’ll be focused on something even more important than test prep: your essays. The essays offer you the opportunity to make a compelling case for transfer that transcends hunger for admission to an Ivy League institution. Acing them, then, is imperative. We’ll help you do just that.
We help strong students transfer into exceptional schools. Learn More.
As a famed educational institution, Penn sells itself on a few ideas. First, it’s an exceptional education. Next, it’s an elite community. After that, they write a lot about how much Penn students get to explore as part of their education. As a transfer, though, you need to remember that the room for exploration shrinks drastically. Keep this in mind as you work on your supplements, because you don’t want to invest time writing about how much you’ll explore at Penn if that actually won’t fit into your time there.
Instead, you need to focus on your focus. By showing Penn admissions that you have a definite passion, a clear trajectory, and a vision for your future, you’ll bring your application to life and help the admissions officials see a place for you on campus.
THE TRANSFER ESSAYS
You’ve applied to college before, so you know the basic drill. Applying as a transfer is different, though. Penn is less interested in your dreams, now, than in your actions. This was true before for first-year applicants, of course, but now its extra true. As we break down the essays you will be tackling, keep this in the back of your mind. They need to see confidence, certainty, and action.
The first three supplements we’ll break down are for all applicants, but you’ll need to direct your responses (where applicable) to the specific college and degree you are most interested in. Remember that Penn expects to see clear direction and focus from transfer applicants, so speak confidently even if you are still unsure (basically, they shouldn’t know that).
Please explain your reasons for transferring from your current institution and what you hope to gain by transferring into another institution. (4150 characters)
First, let’s talk about character counts. All of these Penn supplements have character counts instead of word counts. The number of characters they allow for is long. Like, for this one, it’s about two full pages of single-spaced text. We do not advise applicants to use all that space. Instead, keep your answers focused and tight. You want to control the application readers’ attention, and the longer you go the more likely their focus with stray. For this supplement, that would probably mean keeping your response under 350 words.
Content-wise, your supplement needs to accomplish two things. First, it needs to explain why you are transferring. Second, it needs to outline what you hope to gain. Now, this is not a “Why Penn?” Those come later, so you don’t want to spend time here going into Penn specifics when they’ve dedicated space to that further along. Instead, you want to speak more thematically about the big picture of your collegiate goals. The one thing that shouldn’t go into this, though, is social stuff.
One of the biggest reasons students seek to transfer is because their current school isn’t meeting their social or community needs. However, if you want to transfer to a highly competitive and extremely selective school like Penn writing about social woes is not a winning strategy. We discourage our students from mentioning social issues at all in their transfer application. Instead, it needs to be about academic vision.
This supplement should focus on something about the academic program — whether it be major or course offerings, departmental focus, or the academic experience more broadly — that does not work for you at your current school. To do this, share what first made you want to go to the school and then how your interests developed or shifted to make it a bad fit. You should be quite specific here.
Then, without explicitly writing about Penn, set the scene for what you are looking for at a new school. This part can hit on community, but ideally through an academic lens. You should also include teaching style, academic structure and style, and major offering. This is a place to dream up your ideal, but it’s best to tune it to what you could actually access at Penn.
How will you explore community at Penn? Consider how Penn will help shape your perspective, and how your experiences and perspective will help shape Penn. (2295 characters)
One of the stereotypes about transfers is that they struggle to integrate into the undergraduate community. So, when Penn is reading transfer applications, they do look carefully for students who will do the work to become contributing members of the campus community. Show them that you are a strong fit by sharing two or three student groups or community initiatives that you want to join. Ease into that portion of the supplement, though, with story that highlights how you engage with community already.
For example, if you want to join a service organization at Penn you should start this supplement with a story from a recent experience serving others at your current school, in your college community, or closer to home. This shouldn’t be a broad strokes story, but instead a very specific and detailed narrative that could include dialog and must include vivid imagery. This storytelling will illustrate for Penn how your experiences and perspective will shape Penn, but finish the supplement by speaking to this explicitly.
Considering the specific undergraduate school you have selected, describe how you intend to explore your academic and intellectual interests at the University of Pennsylvania. (For students applying to specialized programs, please answer this question in regard to your single-degree school choice; your interest in the specialized program may be addressed through the program-specific essay.) (2295 characters)
This is the last of the supplements that all Penn transfer applicants tackle, and in many ways, it is the most important. Why you want to transfer matters, of course, but what you want to do at Penn matters most. The application readers need to be able to envision you at Penn, and this is where we get to do that through an academic lens. It is a college, after all, and the ultimate goal is a degree!
Before you start writing, do your research. Learn as much as you can about your prospective major, from course offerings that cater precisely to your areas of most interest to a professor or two who you would love to study under. If you are interested in research, don’t skip learning more about different research opportunities and labs.
Once you have all your research, it’s time to spin it into a supplement. Start the essay with a story that puts you in the midst of the major — whether working in a lab, engaging in the field, or immersing yourself in primary source documents. Then, use that story as a way into writing about what you envision yourself doing at Penn.
Finish the essay with another story, this one probably imagined. We like supplements that finish by showing the reader you at Penn, even if entirely imagined.
For students applying to the DMD program, there is one more essay to complete.
DIGITAL MEDIA DESIGN (DMD)
Discuss how your interests align with the Digital Media Design (DMD) program at the University of Pennsylvania? (3575 characters)
The DMD program is super-specific to Penn, and so it’s crucial that if you apply to it you really know what it is and how to position yourself as a strong applicant.
If you don’t know what DMD is, it is not an art program. Despite the name sounding super artsy, it is actually a major within the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The DMD program brings together computer graphics, communications, and fine arts through the School of Design. Students who pursue the DMD program tend to have an interest in a future in animation, game design, virtual reality, or other high tech fields.
To pitch yourself as a DMD applicant, you need to show how you are already active in this arena. This needs to be written in a compelling way that brings your passion for the field to life. If the reader isn’t excited when reading this supplement, it’s a failure. They need to be looking for ways to accept you because your supplement is truly awesome.
If you aren’t sure how to do this, get in touch. We help strong students get into exceptional schools through storytelling.
If you want a transfer application strategy that is customized for you, contact us.