08/12/2026
"Whitney Soule, dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania, said that one of the most pervasive myths she encounters among Penn applicants is that there is such a thing as a perfect, or even ideal, application.
She frequently sees advice online telling students that admissions officers strongly prefer certain extracurriculars, or that they’re looking for a certain “correct” answer to an application question. But there’s no such thing, Soule said, and Penn wouldn’t want to admit a truly “perfect” student anyway."
