Chances for ED with legacy?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Hey,
I'm a junior, and I go to Princeton High School (Which is pretty competitive). Both my parents went to UPenn undergrad. I feel I'm pretty smart, but I'm more or less a B student (in almost all accelerated courses though), so I'm thinking about applying ED as it would be my best chance to get into a top school. I took three APs my sophomore year (US, Music Theory, and BC Calc), and got 5s. I'll be taking 4 more AP classes this year, and probably 5 more senior year. In seventh grade when I took the SAT I got a 1950 (760 in math), so I expect my sat scores will end up being pretty good. I dunno about class rank, they don't calculate it at my school.</p>

<p>I've done jazz band (piano and sax) every year so far, and we're really good, hopefully I'll be in the top band next year. I've taken 10 years of piano and have won a couple awards.</p>

<p>I'm the founder and president of an InvenTeams club I've started at my High School and we've received the Excite Award - I also plan to join our robotics team this year.</p>

<p>I also did frisbee last year and I'm going to keep doing that. I did track my freshman year.</p>

<p>What do you think my chances are at this point? I hope to improve my grades this year (translation: stop slacking off). Is UPenn a reach, match, or safety for me (with ED, and without)?</p>

2

<p>good job on aps. but standardized tests and legacy won’t cover yr track. legacy helps a lot, but it’s not great to be a b-student when yr parents went 2 penn. u had all the opportunities out there to be an a-student. i’m not a legacy and i was an a-student, now how does that make u look?</p>

<p>try to improve yr grades. b/c of yr legacy- u need 2 apply ed, but double legacy is very strong.</p>

<p>also, u didn’t mention community service, so just make sure u have that covered.</p>

3

<p>Edit: By the way, I’m a white male</p>

<p>I got about 75ish hours this past year. Not sure where I’ll get hours this year yet (I know where like 20 will come from), but I’ll try to keep it up. </p>

<p>Does double legacy really help more than single legacy?</p>

<p>Also, does it help that my school is really quite competitive? Will it make my Bs look much better? My school really is up there…</p>

<p>"In U.S. News & World Report’s December 10, 2007 issue, Princeton High School was the 94th ranked public high school in the nation and the third-highest ranked school in New Jersey.[4]</p>

<p>The school was ranked 210th in Newsweek’s 2009 ranking of the top 1,500 high schools in the United States and was the third-ranked school in New Jersey, with 2.943 AP tests taken in 2008 per graduating senior and 60% of all graduating seniors passing at least one AP exam; The school was ranked 142nd nationwide in 2008.[5] In Newsweek’s 2007 ranking of the country’s top high schools, Princeton High School was listed in 208th place, the seventh-highest ranked school in New Jersey.[6] The school was also listed in 133rd place, the third-highest ranked school in New Jersey, in Newsweek’s May 8, 2006, issue listing the Top 1200 High Schools in The United States.[7] Princeton High School was ranked as number 212 in Newsweek’s 2005 survey .[8] and 113th in its 2004 survey.</p>

<p>The November 30, 2007 issue of [The Wall Street Journal], ranking the country’s high schools based on a percentage of 2007 high school seniors sent to eight selective colleges, placed Princeton High School at number 27.[9] PHS was the second highest ranked publicly-funded school, with a total of 31 students matriculating the select eights schools. The eight colleges were Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Pomona, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Swarthmore, and Williams. Princeton High School’s rank was aided by the fact that 19 students from the school matriculated to Princeton University, many of whom have parents working as faculty at the University.</p>

<p>The school was the 6th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine’s September 2008 cover story on the state’s Top Public High Schools. The school was ranked 13th in the magazine’s September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.[10]"</p>

4

<p>Most of us come from very competitive schools. You still have time to improve. Don’t worry so much.</p>

5

<p>Oh, I realized I forgot to post my SAT II scores. I got 710 on US History, and 780 in Math. I’ll take the physics one this year after AP Physics…</p>

<p>Does it look good if I can also squeeze in the chem SAT II somehow?</p>

6

<p>My dad went to Princeton High School :)</p>

7

<p>they generally don’t take B students. going to a top high school doesn’t mean you can get in with straight B’s. and in reality Penn is much more rigorous than Princeton High School, and B’s at PHS will translate in to C’s at Penn.</p>

8

<p>Your standardized tests are good enough but you need to pull your grades up. Yes, by all means take the SAT II chemistry if you think you can get over 700.
In college application, grades usually trump standardized testing since you are basically compared to your own peers. Being a legacy helps,(double or single, all the same) but won’t overcome lower than average grades.</p>

9

<p>if you apply ED to SEAS I would almost guarantee your acceptance. The key is multivariable calculus and differential equations as well as AP Physics C (both) and AP Chem/Bio. And you better have A’s in those fyi.</p>

10

<p>Well we don’t have diff equations (yet, who knows there is some talk of adding it), but I’ll bet taking multivariable and linear algebra this year.</p>

11

<p>that’s fine. Do well in that and you’re pretty much in. (SEAS acceptance rate for ED is something like 40% and with double legacy and very advanced math and science courses, you’re a sure in)</p>

12

<p>Thanks for all the info guys :D</p>

13

<p>A little late on this thread, but I agree you’re strong. Apply ED and I believe that you are in.</p>