<p>I know if you are a legacy and apply ED, you get like triple the regular ED acceptance rate. But what if you're a legacy, and Penn is your 2nd, 3rd, 4th choice? and you apply RD?</p>
<p>You apply RD and being a legacy has little or no weight in your application. Legacies can get in RD (I know several who have) and many legacies get rejected ED. It's all about how strong of an applicant you are and how lucky you get.</p>
<p>I don't think the legacy ED admit rate is TRIPLE the regular ED rate. For the Class of 2011, the overall legacy admit rate was 34%, compared to an overall admit rate of 16.1%. Given that the regular ED acceptance rate was about 29%, it's highly doubtful that the legacy ED rate is 80-90%. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've read that the legacy ED admit rate is now around 50% or lower.</p>
<p>Penn stresses that the maximum legacy advantage is obtained if you apply ED, but it doesn't specify how much--if any--advantage legacies are given if they apply RD. From what I've read, my impression is not much. In other words, if you want to get any legacy advantage, you really should apply ED.</p>
<p>at the legacy info session on alumni weekend they said the legacy admit rate ED was about 40-45 %...that's a little less than triple the RD rate of 16% yes?</p>
<p>Oh, we got confused by how you phrased it. You said, "if you are a legacy and apply ED, you get like triple the regular ED acceptance rate" when you meant "if you are a legacy and apply ED, you get like triple the RD acceptance rate."</p>
<p>haha nope. Oh well, I think I'll be forgoing that legacy boost to apply somewhere else ED, but I'm still not sure yet because many people (GC, parents, friends) encourage me to think hard about giving up that edge.</p>
<p>My D was in the same situation this year (2012). Double legacy interested in Penn, but not willing to commit to Penn via ED. D ended up applying RD, and was accepted to Wharton. Just make sure your application is as strong as possible. We really stressed to our daughter that by not applying ED to Penn she was giving up her legacy bump, and might not get in RD. She rolled the dice and all worked out well. She is really happy that she didn't apply ED. She just wasn't 100% sure she wanted to attend Penn.</p>
<p>that's what my parents have been stressing. I think my dad's pretty disappointed, but i just can't commit to a school that's not my 1st (or 2-5th) choice.</p>
<p>What, pray tell, be your first, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th choices?</p>
<p>I am in the same position...my parents/friends felt the same way until recently they did a 180 saying shoot for your dreams. I think I decided I am going to take the gamble apply EA to Yale and if I get rejected..throw my hat in the ring for ED. This is a once in a life time opportunity--I am sure you, like me worked really hard...so if Penn is not your first choice do not settle.</p>
<p>Well, my top 5: Dartmouth, Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, and Princeton(longest shot ever, but I can dream, right?). No particular order - like all of them equally well.</p>
<p>Looking at the first four schools on your list it sort of makes sense that you wouldn't have Penn as your top choice.</p>
<p>Based on your choices I think you shouldn't apply to Penn ED, in spite of the boost. Also, I would add Middlebury to your list. Its very similar to those you listed.</p>
<p>To be honest with your schools, unless you think you have a shot at Princeton I would do ED Penn. Since if you are talking about how good schools are none of those, except Princeton are materially better than Penn. Though, to truly answer this we need to know your credentials.</p>
<p>Its not about "better", its about fit. The schools listed are all community driven, LACy, study abroad-focused, schools between 2-5K undergrads. Penn is different enough that it might not be worth it to not go to a "dream" school. Perhaps EDing Dartmouth, Williams, or Amherst is the best bet.</p>
<p>my credentials:
SAT I: 800 CR/760 M/790 W (1560/2350)
GPA: upward trend ~3.8 UW/4.2 W
SAT IIs: 800 Literature 800 US History 700 Math IC 750 World History
ECs:
student government secretary - 3 years
varsity cheerleader for football, basketball, and competitions (4-5 competitions every year) - 4 years
youth coaching (8 hours per week in fall and winter with elementary schoolers, counts as community service) - 2 years (you must be 16)
Key Club (VP 11th/12th) - 4 years
National History Day - 11th grade
APs: World Hist 5, taking 3 exams this yr (Eng. Lit, Calc AB, US Hist) and probably 4-5 next year</p>
<p>Grades:
Freshman:
History I Honors: A
English I Honors: A
Physics Honors: B
Algebra II Honors: C+ (bad, I know*)
French II: A
Latin I: A</p>
<p>Sophomore:
AP World History: B+
English II Honors: A
Chemistry: A
Precalculus Honors: B+
French III: A
Latin II: A</p>
<p>Junior (predicted, it's nearly the end of the year):
AP US History: A
AP English Lang. : A
AP Calc AB: A
Biology Honors: A
French IV: A
Computer Art and Graphic Design I: A
(my school requires an art class so I couldn't do Latin)</p>
<p>Senior Classes:
AP Calc BC
AP French
AP English Lit
AP Government and Politics
AP Econ (both macro/micro)
Euro Independent Study </p>
<p>I am an intended History major and I'm going to England to study this summer and then doing an independent study in Euro. Hist senior year since my school offers no AP. Also I hope the upward grade trend will help? I know freshman year was veryyyy rocky. The Algebra II class was accelerated and combined with trigonometry and I asked the teacher to write one of my recs because out of sheer luck I've had him every single year of H.S. and he can talk about how I've improved, etc. I'm also getting a rec. from my history teacher who's proctoring my independent study and taught me freshman and junior year.</p>
<hr>
<p>slipper: Yes, I think I prefer smaller LACs with study abroad opportunities in Germany and the UK and tight-knit communities near a good ski slope...unfortunately my parents attended Penn and Columbia. Oh and Middlebury/Colby/Hamilton/Bates are all under consideration
bescraze: really, I have no shot at Princeton at all, but like I said, I can dream. I would plan on applying ED to Dartmouth or Amherst or Williams though...the williams in oxford program sounds amazing and I'd love that opportunity. I definitely won't be holding out for Princeton since I think I'd pick those 3 OVER Princeton anyway, but it is one of my top 5 I think.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, Penn claims to have "one of the most extensive study abroad networks of any Ivy League university."</p>
<p>See more here:</p>
<p>Your credentials are amazing you can apply anywhere be fine. I mean that absolutely seriously, I am sure in RD you will still get accepted to Penn and have a very good chance at those other schools.</p>
<p>I think you're very solid for ED Amherst, Williams, or Dartmouth (lol and choose Dartmouth!!) You'll be very strong for Penn RD. I would ED one of your chosen three in a nanosecond. </p>
<p>Dartmouth study abroad is fantastic, the best in the Ivy league with 2/3 of students going on a program. The best thing about Dartmouth study abroad is the infrastructure. Unlike other schools where students apply through third party programs (often run by other schools), Dartmouth has an amazing completely in-house program. This means a Dartmouth professor comes with you, its all Dartmouth students, and there is a gigantic budget for travel and weekly excursions to museums, etc. It almost could not be better.</p>
<p>^ Unless I'm misreading your post, this sounds more like taking Dartmouth classes overseas, as opposed to a more immersing kind of study abroad. For example, this is what Penn says about its program:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Wherever possible, Penn encourages study in universities abroad alongside regular degree candidates from the host country. The goals of this kind of educational immersion are several: to deepen your understanding of the organization of knowledge into disciplines with their own methodologies and perspectives; to involve you in social relationships with peers who may hold a new and unexpected range of social attitudes; to hear from leading academics the modes of inquiry, methods of analysis, and educational values offered to students of another country as quality higher education.</p>
<hr>
<p>The staff of Penn Abroad believes that, to be effective, study abroad must be primarily an individual experience that leads to personal intellectual growth. To that end, whenever possible, options are made available for individual placement in a home stay family or in a dormitory with host country students, rather than in group housing with other American students. Students are also encouraged and given assistance to participate in language partner programs or become classroom assistants in local schools. Many students become involved in their local communities through volunteer work. In some sites, it is possible to arrange unpaid internships or other experiential learning activities. In short, the staff of programs affiliated with Penn Abroad is constantly seeking ways to maximize your contact with the host culture on an individual basis.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not that one's necessarily better than the other--they just sound like different kinds of experiences.</p>