<p>I noticed that Penn took almost 400 kids from PA for the class of 2012. Does that mean living in PA increases your chances of getting in?</p>
<p>there is a preference if you're from philadelphia proper; otherwise, nothing</p>
<p>no because Upenn is a private school</p>
<p>do they really favor philly area students?</p>
<p>Didn't your question just get answered, swoopes?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>basically if you're smart enough and come from one of the good philly high schools (mainly central or masterman), you're almost guaranteed admission, and a mayor's scholarship</p>
<p>What determines whether Penn views an applicant as a "favored Philadelphia" applicant?" Is it where one goes to school or where one lives? I only ask because I go to a private school in Philadelphia, but live in the suburbs.</p>
<p>My understanding is that Penn has some sort of agreement with certain schools in Philadelphia to admit a certain number of kids every year.</p>
<p>i believe it's residency</p>
<p>The</a> Daily Pennsylvanian</p>
<p>Gala</a> reception honors newest Mayor's Scholars - Resources</p>
<p>It's residency, yeah. Pretty much every single top student in the Philly suburbs applies to Penn. I would say that it's hardest to get in if you're from that area, especially the Main Line. That said, Philly suburb kids are probably the largest geographic group at Penn, well maybe behind Californians.</p>
<p>And you aren't guaranteed the Mayor's scholarship if you're at Penn from Philly. I'm from Philly and didn't get it (grr), but SFS is still a lot more accomodating.</p>
<p>It's hard to pick apart the strands of whatever Philadelphia-area preference there is. </p>
<p>First, this region is especially rich in four favored groups: legacies, children of faculty and administrators, children of big donors, and children of powerful local politicians. Every college favors those people to some extent, and it has nothing to do with regionalism except that there are more of all of them in the region.</p>
<p>Second, Penn may well get stronger students from its home area than it gets from other areas. Penn is the first choice -- not a "lesser Ivy" fourth or fifth choice -- for lots of Philadelphia-area students, especially kids from immigrant families, and kids who get involved with doing research in Penn-affiliated labs when they are in high school (sometimes even middle school). It's hard to turn someone down who is a great student, is applying ED, and may already have a relationship with faculty who are begging for him to be admitted.</p>
<p>Finally, the Penn admissions office probably feels really, really comfortable with its understanding of how to evaluate students coming out of local high schools -- not just Masterman and Central, but St. Joe's Prep, Penn Charter, Lower Merion, etc. It probably sees enough applicants every year from those schools (and others) to be able to construct fairly accurate class ranks even when the schools don't provide the information. They can tell that the A- someone got in AP Physics really is a good grade, because they can see what everyone else in that class got.</p>
<p>If you look at Harvard, you'll see a similar pattern of favoring Boston-area candidates, for the same reasons (which, of course, include not only the ones discussed above but also the desire to be a regional leader and good citizeen). Or Stanford/Bay Area, or Chicago/Chicago.</p>
<p>And, all that said, the perception here is that Penn has been cutting back -- and will continue to cut back -- on its regional preference. When my older kid was a high school senior, four years ago, her school had sent an average of about 30 kids to Penn every year for the past decade or more, and GCs would tell top students that Penn was a sure thing for them. The past two years, Penn has accepted fewer than 20 kids per class, and it has actually rejected students with single-digit class ranks, something that no one could remember happening in their lifetimes. And you wouldn't believe the whining at suburban Christmas parties the past few years about Penn's deferrals or rejections of legacy kids. So, while Penn doubtless continues to draw disproportionately from its home region, the disproportion is probably being reduced.</p>
<p>are they really cutting back? boo..</p>
<p>wow. i had no idea they did this</p>
<p>The reduction of the disproportionate PA representation is part of the continuing evolution from what was before WWII a largely regional school (and oddly enough one of the best engineering schools in the country) to a national and internationally-renowned university (sans the fabulous engineering school)</p>
<p>Also I believe California just recently overtook Pennsylvania in # of apps...</p>