<p>A kid at my school with a 16 on the ACT who is known for making stuff up told us that he received an email from Penn congratulating him on his acceptance yesterday.</p>
<p>Has anyone received this email? Is there any truth to his claim? </p>
<p>I was deferred ED and am anxious to find out for myself.</p>
<p>I think you answered your own question -- he is known for making things up! Unless he is a star athlete (and even then, I'm not sure) I sincerely doubt he got a letter. Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>I don't remember whether or not I got an email. If I remember correctly, I had to log on to the penn admissions site and check my letter there.</p>
<p>Right, same with me when I got my deferral. I had never heard of Penn sending out e-mails accepting applicants about 2 weeks before their announced date. </p>
<p>I think I did answer my own question!</p>
<p>That kid is lying obviously. A 16 ACT cannot get you into U Penn even if you were an URM.</p>
<p>Does being a URM really count in admissions?
Sigh. Everything seems to be against me.</p>
<p>URM counts less in more competitive colleges, more in less competitive colleges.</p>
<p>... that was really offensive AY8888.... being an URM does not mean that you will get in with scores that are significantly lower than other applicants... your scores still have to be at least in the school's range...</p>
<p>that wasn't offensive at all, you're reading too much into ay888's post. What s/he said is true; deal with it.</p>
<p>URMs don't get in with crazy low scores... their scores are generally in the college's range or at least close. their scores are also generally significantly better than the average URM just like white kids who are applying have scores that are significantly better than the average white kid.</p>
<p>^^ Preach. Who would want a school full of white people anyway? The point of AA is to ensure diveristy. It isn't there to gie chances to unqualified URMS. URMS who get into top schools are JUST as deserving as any other.</p>
<p>I'm not even going to argue that statement because it is a generality that applies to alot but as generalities go, it never applies to all. Pity you don't even have that level of open-mindedness or you're reading into it way to much. There are kids who could have URM advantage but get in on their own merit, but I can say that the URM advantage does give some and possibly many a significant edge, especially to those who are in the bottom 25% of test-takers. To say that URM doesn't matter is ridiculous. According to college counselors and college admissions from various studies, a URM can give a candidate whose scores are lower by 100-200+ points from their counterpart an equal footing when it comes to evaluation. A study done by Princeton University says that 75% of URM seats would be filled by Asians if AA was removed. Therefore, URM is a deciding factor. For some, it matters more. For others, they are more than qualified and URM is unnecessary. I am completely for college diversity but I am simply stating a fact here that URM is a DECIDING factor in admissions. URM is by no means a meritocratic tool and yet I am for it because of its ability to give equal footing to all of candidates by leveling the playing field. The main purpose of URM was to give the less well-off minority an equal chance to get into the top universities because he probably was not offered the name educational and financial opportunities. However, I think URM loses its original purpose when it is applied to a financially well-off candidate who may be a minority but probably had a better education than the majority. Believe me, I don't get that URM advantage. In fact, I think it weakens by chances of acceptance and yet I am totally for it if it is for someone who is truly disadvantaged. :p</p>
<p>^^ You are very illiterate. I hope you didn't waste your parent's money applying to UPenn.</p>
<p>^^ The Princeton study I think you're referencing is outdated. There's data in there from over a decade ago. Their class numbers date back to 2007. I would take that information with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>It's this one right?
<a href="http://opr.princeton.edu/faculty/tje/espenshadessqptii.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://opr.princeton.edu/faculty/tje/espenshadessqptii.pdf</a>
Anyway it only says Asians would probably take up 23% of spots.</p>
<p>The reference to URM was offensive because the question did not also ask whether the person was a legacy or athlete, implying that being URM equates with a low score.</p>
<p>^^ Sorry just noticed my mistake. It shows class data from 1997.</p>
<p>Jeez what a fight abt AA.
Let's see what we've got:</p>
<ol>
<li>It's good cos it gives opportunity to classes of society which may be disadvantaged socio-economically.</li>
<li>It gives URMs an edge over other people.</li>
<li>It may also be faulty 'cos richer URMs who are only minority by birth (and not disadv. in any other way) may get an edge over majority who maybe disadvantaged.</li>
</ol>
<p>I think that AA should be continued, but not with so much vigor. I mean, its not fair to the majority either, is it? And yeah I am so not racist, I am an ORM. I think that they should give priority to people from low-income backgrounds, it's there they can determine the extent of being "disadvantaged".</p>
<p>I hope nobody's going to call anybody illiterate or anything now.
:)</p>
<p>Thanks to most of you for backing me up. It is just really aggravating when people imply that URMs get it easy. I am an URM and I have worked ridiculously hard to put myself in a position to even apply to schools like UPenn. I may not have a 2300+, but my scores are definitely in the middle 50% range. It is just really offensive and unfair when people label kids like me as AA cases who get in easily, even when we are just as qualified as any other applicant and usually have had to overcome giant obstacles.</p>
<p>......I mean the fact of the matter is that URMs are generally less qualified than their caucasian counterparts not to say they all are, but in general URMs are accepted with significantly lower scores (~100pts) Regardless of how anybody feels though this will just turn into another endless argument about affirmative action rather you think it is fair or unfair</p>
<p>We're suppose to be discussing over the validity of the e-mail and get embroiled in a fight over the qualification of URM. If you are an URM and get in on your merits, good for you. If you are an URM and get in on the URM status, good for you. Idc how you get in, as long as it is morally just, it makes no difference because you have to live by societal standards that are already in place such as AA. My mistake about the statistics from the Princeton Study-Apparently someone had quoted it as 75% in another thread about an asian filing legal action against Princeton for being unfair against asians in the admission process. Rosh420, I am so illiterate :).</p>