FAQ

What is PennApps?

PennApps is the premier college hackathon, hosted every semester at the University of Pennsylvania. A hackathon is an event where people who are excited about programming come together for a weekend and collaborate to build cool things. Entrepreneurs, designers, and developers work in teams to create hacks and apps for web or mobile platforms — in our case, these creators are university students.

Who can participate?

PennApps is open to all current undergraduate, graduate, and high school students, including freshmen! You don't have to attend the University of Pennsylvania; you don't have to be a computer science major or even an engineering student, though it's best if you have some coding experience. You aren't required to have ever attended a hackathon before: we will have tech talks beforehand so you can ramp up quickly. You can come with a team, come by yourself and hack alone, or come alone and we'll help you find teammates..

What if I'm a newbie?

PennApps has great opportunities for people new to hacking. There will be tech talks and resources posted in the weeks leading up to the event. Mentors will be present at the event to help you with all aspects of your project, including tech talks during the hackathon itself.

Do I have to be a Penn student?

No — in fact, we'd love to have you here no matter where you're from! If you need assistance figuring out how to get here, see the next question!

How do I get in to PennApps?

You need to apply to PennApps. The application for non-Penn students is unfortunately closed for the spring 2014 event. Penn students can still apply through the month of January. (The application has been taken down temporarily, but it'll go back up again in the next week just for Penn students.)

How do I get to Philadelphia? Will my transportation cost be reimbursed?

We offer full travel reimbursements to visiting hackers we accept. However, we ask that you be reasonable and impose a few simple restrictions. If there is a bus route from your city to Penn, we will reimburse your bus or public transportation tickets. Due to the number of PennApps attendees, we try to bus hackers within a 7 hour radius. For those with longer trips for whom riding a bus is not really a viable option, we do pay for flights. We'll completely cover your plane ticket as long as you don't spend extravagantly — don't buy your tickets two weeks before the hackathon, no first class, don't buy a $900 ticket from the airline with the coolest logo if there's a reasonable $300 flight available, et cetera. If you have questions about travel, please email travel@pennapps.com and we'll figure out the best options for you.

What should I bring?

For starters, bring your laptop and charger. Bring your cell phone and charger too, and a power splitter if you have one! If you're coming from outside of Penn, you will want to bring a sleeping bag or blanket, and a sweatshirt which doubles as a pillow will come in handy, along with a change of clothes and the usual toiletries kit of course.

Do I need a team or idea to sign up?

Nope! We will have sessions to help people find team members, as well as an idea generation workshop to help people think of ideas to work on for the hackathon. So you should sign up regardless!

Do I have to be there the entire time?

Nope, you're allowed to get sleep. :) However, all your coding and work must be done at the site of the competition.

Will there be food?

Yes. The only thing you need to worry about is coding; let us take care of the rest. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and plenty of drinks (including energy drinks) will be provided throughout the competition at no cost to participants. We will be providing vegetarian options as well. If you have a specific food allergy or other specific need, contact us and we'll try to find a way to make it work for you.

Where should I go during the event?

We have not yet finalized the schedule of events on Friday.

What are the sleeping/showering arrangements?

Non-Penn students should be prepared to bring their own sleeping bag, pillow, and toiletries if they plan on sleeping. We will have a sleeping area set aside if napping under your table or on a nearby bench doesn't sound appealing. We had showers at the last PennApps (and they were a huge hit), so we're working on securing showers for this one!

Can I start working before PennApps starts?

No. Contestants are not allowed to work on their apps before the 48-hour period. If you want to prepare for the hackathon, focus on gaining experience with and knowledge of the tools you hope to use to build your application.

When are project submissions due?

All hacks will need to be completed by ten on Sunday in order to qualify for awards.

How does judging work?

Teams will go through a first round of judging on Sunday morning. There will be a science-fair-like expo, where participants stand at tables and show off their apps to other hackers, judges, sponsors, and members of the public. A group of judges will rate apps based on creativity, technical difficulty, polish, and usefulness while sponsors evaluate apps competing for their prizes based on their own criteria. The top 10 apps with the highest scores from the first round will go to a final round of judging, where teams will demo their apps in front of more than a thousand people, including a small panel of leaders in the technology world who will judge their projects based on the criteria above.

When are demos?

First round demos begin on Sunday morning at 11 AM, and the final demos will take place at 2 PM.

Do you provide us with any technology?

We are looking into supporting teams interested in making hardware hacks. We should have some Arduinos on hand (more details to come).