<p>for admission at UPenn ? I have heard differing views on it both concerning UPenn and other schools. Thanks.</p>
<p>Yes, it increases your chances. Penn is big about demonstrated interest and ED is the second best thing you can do (after donating fair to large sums of money). However, you have to keep in mind who else applies ED. You have recruited athletes, developmental candidates, and other hooked people recruited by the university who are guaranteed admission. You also have a lot of legacies applying and ED is the only time their legacy status gives them a boost in admissions. You also have "normal" applicants, except these children are confident enough with their stats that they do not need senior year to earn another award or get their grades/scores up. ED does have a higher acceptance rate, but it is a much more self selecting pool. ED and RD are just different pools, and to get in, you need to be in the top 1000-1500 in the ED pool and the top 2000-2500 of the RD pool. RD has more applicants you need to beat, but ED has a fair number who are automatically placed into the accepted pool based on donations/athletic ability. Life sucks, doesn't it?</p>
<p>Thanks. Actually, I am not sure if my S is anywhere near consideration for admission. He has decent stats, 4.6(w) mostly honors/APs, 15of 575, 1450/2230, Varsity tennis, editor of papers,other good Ecs.. but, in the end, just about everyone who applies probably has "the goods" as well. HOpefully by the summer, things will fall into place. Best of luck. Marc</p>
<p>if your son is sure on penn and you aren't worried about money, i would definitely ED penn!</p>
<p>Yeah, ED can definitely help. I applied ED, was deferred, but then accepted in the RD round. I'd bet that if I had just applied RD I wouldn't have been accepted. So if Penn is your son's number one school, I'd say go for it.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. I think my son likes both UPenn and G-Town but probably UPenn more. I am not sure if UPenn offers any merit scholarship $$ or whether any such merit $$ would be likely. If the answer to either is no, then seemingly ED would appear to be the way to go. I also need to check as to the requirements of SAT IIs with UPenn. BTW, does UPenn place a big focus on the SAT IIs ? Thanks. Best of luck. Marc</p>
<p>I don't believe Penn or Georgetown have merit scholarships... with the top LACs, universities, and the Ivy League merit money is pretty much non-existent (or at least, that what I found this past year as I applied to different schools).</p>
<p>No merit money at any Ivy - need based aid only. Your S has a chance but is no sure thing. You have to decide whether to use your one and only ED shot at Penn or elsewhere. Ideally for an "unhooked" Penn applicant his stats would be a little better. Also keep in mind Wharton is harder to get into than Col. & Eng.</p>
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I also need to check as to the requirements of SAT IIs with UPenn. BTW, does UPenn place a big focus on the SAT IIs ?
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<p>Okay, so Penn requires 2 SAT IIs in any subjects of your choosing. If applying to Wharton, you should (need to?) take Math Level 2. If you take more than 2 SAT IIs, they'll only consider your two highest.</p>
<p>As far as emphasis, SATs as a whole are a huge factor in admissions, about equal to GPA. The SAT I is probably more important than SAT IIs, but certainly you need excellent scores on both to be accepted. Just for perspective, my SAT II scores were far from fantastic (690 and 740), but I scored in the 2300s on my SAT I.
I'd say the average score for accepted students' SAT IIs is in the low/mid 700 range.</p>
<p>My S is taking Math 2 and US History SAT IIs next week. He did 760 on his Math SAT I so hopefully, he'll also do well on the Math 2. Wharton may be a long shot for him in view of his good, but not extraordinary stats, ( see above ). Perhaps a school like G-Town may be more reachable...we'll see. Thanks. Marc</p>
<p>ED Penn does increase your chances a lot, and anyone who says otherwise is lying</p>
<p>At virtually every school that has ED (or even nonbinding EA), the percentage of ED applicants admitted is higher than the percentage of RD applicants admitted. See the table at the bottom of this page for actual numbers:</p>
<p>However, there is also some self-selection that occurs in the ED applicant pool, so the standards aren't necessarily "lower" for admitted ED applicants across the board than they are for admitted RD applicants.</p>
<p>Of course your chances are higher with ED - the trade off is that you only get to pick one ED school and then you are locked into it so you had better choose wisely (if you apply ED at all). You don't want to pick "low" and end up at a school that is not as good as you might have gotten into but you don't want to pick so "high" that you have very little chance and are wasting your one and only ED shot. My gut is that given the lack of "hooks" Penn is just a touch too "high" to be a good ED choice for MBJ's S, but then again if he is strongly interested in Penn then this is his best shot -- RD will be even harder, and the penalty for picking "high" is not large vs. the penalty for picking "low", so maybe he should try it after all.</p>
<p>Of course there is the usual speech - it's not about high or low, it's about fit. ED really should be for the one school that stands out for you way above the others. After you have visited you should hopefully have some vibe about what is the one place you clearly like the most.</p>
<p>Hi all. I am wondering...would my son possibly have a more likely shot at ED at G-Town based on my son's above stat's ??</p>
<p>Yes, I'm sure his shot at acceptance would be much higher at Georgetown</p>
<p>Georgetown doesn't have ED. Also, its acceptance rate is 22%, while Penn's is 18%. Not that significant of a difference. ED at Penn = much much stronger shot. It's the binding part that's key. Your son has really good chances ED at Penn with his scores and accomplishments. Everyone at my school who got in ED had SATs in the 1300s.</p>
<p>yeah GU has Early Action and not even SCEA I think so more people might apply as it's non-binding.</p>
<p>
Penn's overall acceptance rate this year was 15.9%, not 18%, and its RD rate was closer to 12% (although the ED rate was 29%). Also, according to at least one site, the average SATs of those admitted to Penn ED this year were 722 in Math, 697 in Critical Reading, and 705 in Writing:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ivysuccess.com/upenn_2011.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.ivysuccess.com/upenn_2011.html</a></p>
<p>What's your son's unweighted GPA?</p>