Do I Even Have a Shot???

<p>what chance do you think i have if i apply ED to penn. I have a 2100, around a 3.5ish gpa. My dad works at penn. He has a high position in the physics department (director). My mom use to work at penn, my brother is attending penn right now and my other brother is working at penn currently. I worked in a material science program at penn over the summer and this year i'm working in a lab with a professor in chemical engineering. Does Facalty + brother is undergraduate at penn currently + my work experience at penn really bolster my chances? What chance (%) do i have of getting in?</p>

<p>no</p>

<p>■■■■■?
I’ve seen this post before, in last year’s applicants :)</p>

<p>I joined this year.</p>

<p>In that case, don’t you think your mom, dad, brother and brother would be better qualified to answer this question?</p>

<p>they said its probably 50/50… Just trying to see other views.</p>

<p>I am almost certain I know who your Dad is. If I am correct, he is the director of a major Penn research center which gets a ton of money from the NSF.</p>

<p>Given that, although you might not be in the top of your class given your GPA, I am almost positive you will get into Penn. Professor’s kids receive a major admissions boost if their parent is in an important position in the university, which no doubt your Dad is. </p>

<p>My Dad is also a professor at a top ten university; however, unlike in Penn’s case, the university gives the same tuition benefit towards any school. Since Penn’s tuition benefit is much more significant for Penn, that gives them an even bigger incentive to accept you since your test scores show you are well within the threshold to fit in with the Penn student body.</p>

<p>Your family probably told you it’s 50/50 to keep you humble. If you think its a sure thing, you are more likely to screw up by not being as prepared as you would if you thought your chances were lower but you really wanted it.</p>

<p>I say go with your family’s estimate and if some extraneous factor gives you a boost, than good for you but don’t bank on it.</p>

<p>Poeme, yeah that’s my dad.</p>

<p>I think what you should be thinking about is whether or not you want to go to a school where your Dad is a professor. My Dad is in one of the professional schools at the school he is at and does not interact with undergrads. However, even though this university would have been a great fit for me, I did not want to be on the same campus as my Dad, it just felt very uncomfortable and I didn’t want people to think that the only reason I got in was because my Dad was on the faculty.</p>

<p>I considered this same school very seriously for grad school and even though it didn’t bother me as much then, I still felt a little awkward about this issue. Since it was my first acceptance, I still thought in the back of my mind that maybe my Dad’s faculty position contributed (which was very wrong since this really has no effect on grad admissions and I got into other schools that were even more prestigious).</p>

<p>Depending on your class rank, you may be competitive at other top schools, so this might be something to think about. On the other hand, since you know Penn, you know about a lot of the opportunities there that could help you become very successful.</p>