I transferred to Penn from the cultural wasteland known as Cornell University. Whenever someone asks me if anything at Cornell is better than Penn, my answer is always the same: The on-campus dining is better, Slope Day concert brings bigger name performers than Spring Fling and, other than that, everything about Penn is better than anything about Cornell.
But yesterday, when I went to pick up a transcript, I realized that wasn’t the case. Penn’s prices for transcripts are ridiculous compared to the cost of transcripts at Cornell, who sends them for free. So, I ordered 10 fresh, crisp transcripts from Cornell yesterday, and they were mailed overnight. Shipping cost: $0.
Cornell is on the other end of the spectrum from Penn, whose prices are abnormally high. To send a transcript overseas from Penn, it costs a whopping $35, whereas Cornell charges nothing for the same service. I understand that there are international shipping costs, but Penn’s price seems extremely high and doesn’t vary based on where you are sending your transcript. Sending a transcript to Montreal should not cost the same as mailing one to Mumbai.
I also wish that there was a service where one could order a transcript in person and avoid paying the ridiculous $12 in-person fee if you are willing to wait 3-5 days for your request to be processed.
Let’s not forget that not everyone can afford to throw around so much money. The high cost of transcripts may prevent students who are tight on cash from applying for additional jobs, internships, summer programs, graduate schools, fellowships or even volunteer opportunities.
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December 7th, 2006 at 2:53 pm
If you like Cornell so much, do all of us a favor and go!
December 7th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
jj you’re a moron, learn to read: “Everything about Penn is better than anything about Cornell.”
December 7th, 2006 at 4:08 pm
Steven, stop making anonymous replies to your detractors
December 7th, 2006 at 9:03 pm
I just had some Penn transcripts sent out. I could not believe how much they cost. I’ve been to several different institutions, for several degrees. Not one of my other schools charges anything for students to order official transcripts. $10 is absolutely ridiculous. Penn should be ashamed of how much it takes advantage of its students.
December 8th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
your blog is awful. i mean really, aren’t there worthwhile things to write about? the dp is not this bad.
December 8th, 2006 at 4:17 pm
its finals man. i’m surprised that they even have time to write all this stuff. Don’t you people have classes?
December 11th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
That’s weird. I’ve never had to pay for a Penn transcript to be sent.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:00 am
After paying around 70000 for a masters degree at Penn you would figure they could give you a break when you are trying to find a teaching position and pay back enormous loans. I guess those bastards arent done bleeding me dry. I cant afford to apply all of the places I would like because I cant afford the transcripts. It is really sad.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:25 am
I wanted to add that the average school that is the size of UPenn gets 120000 requests for transcripts per year. If you do the math and figure that the average person will request 5 transcripts in a lifetime, that means Upenn is paid 60 million dollars per year for transcripts. Do you think that is enough money for Upenn? OK, lets subtract the cost of labor and paper and stamps. It Upenn makes a profit of 59 million and some change.