<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Week long Easter college shopping trip yielded new favorite destination for my S1: U Penn.</p>
<p>Having learned that Penn admits 40%+ in their ED cycle, I was wondering if one sheds all the legacy, athletes, VIPs etc. admits out that number, will any statistical advantage over RD is left ?</p>
<p>TIA</p>
<p>Penn doesn’t release specific numbers, so an answer from anyone other than a Penn Admissions insider would inevitably be a bit of a wild guess. My answer (and I’m NOT an insider–just a somewhat knowledgeable outsider :rolleyes:) would be that if Penn remains your son’s clear first choice, it couldn’t hurt. If nothing else, it’s a clear and meaningful statement that Penn is his first choice, and that he WILL attend if admitted. And that counts for something, all else being equal. Given that the RD acceptance rate this year was 9.4%, I’d be very surprised if the ED acceptance rate for uhooked applicants wasn’t at least slightly higher than that.</p>
<p>And just to clarify, I assume you meant that Penn admits over 40% of its entering class target number through ED, and not that its ED acceptance rate is over 40%. The ED acceptance rate is about 25%, as you probably know, and the overall acceptance rate is about 12%.</p>
<p>If you and are son are certain that Penn is where he will
attend regardless of who else may accept him then applying ED is worth it.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It’s much easier to focus on a single application than doing 10 all at once.</p></li>
<li><p>You are done early and can start preparing for the transition early.</p></li>
<li><p>It takes the pressure off the student a little to know early.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Caveat: Senioritis is a wretched disease and can rapidly worsen once an acceptance decision is in hand.</p>
<p>^ As another parent of a child who went through the ED process, I can attest to all of that. ;)</p>
<p>^ditto…</p>
<p>Same from a parent whose son was accepted ED. Great to know so early and have all your financial aid concerns resolved early.</p>