<p>I’ve asked this question too many times but haven’t had an answer.</p>
<p>Well, some believe that ethnicity is a factor, and Penn wants to be as diverse as possible. One person (i think it was Cavalier07) said that ethnicity will help. Is this really true? I don’t think there’s even five people of my ethnicity at Penn. Can you think of what’s Indian (from India) and what’s Caribbean? Blend the two and that’s me. I’m Guyanese. I guess I would say that’s …diverse…(?)</p>
<p>Certainly ethnicity is a factor. Penn wants to attract an eclectic group of talented students. Being Guyanese will not hurt you.</p>
<p>Being a descendant of a low-income Latin American immigrant or being African American is really what's going to help you in admissions. But being so diverse that you're RARE is nice too.</p>
<p>It's like being from, say, North Dakota, Wyoming, Vermont. Small states. They want a student from every state. Gotta be diverse. If you're the best student from North Dakota who applies to Penn, you're probably getting in. That's a hook.</p>
<p>oh wow. I dunno what to put in the section where they ask about ethnicity. I usually end up putting "other".</p>
<p>In my school, which is one of the elite in NY, I'm one of a very few of my background, and I'm pretty sure the one with the highest gpa (sorry for being pretentious).</p>
<p>Which high school in NYC? public or private?</p>
<p>it's a public specialized school.</p>
<p>In your case I'd have to say that ethnicity probably doesn't help you too much. I don't know if the admissions office delineates that finely in terms of ethnicity, and having any sort of Indian background will not make you stand out at Penn. More importantly though, benefit gained from having a unique ethnic background will probably be balanced by your geographic and educational background; elite schools in New York make up a large chunk of the applicant pool.</p>
<p>My Indian background dates back to the 1800s. I'm generally West Indian (west indies, not west india), but just with Indian ancestry.</p>
<p>It is Sty, Bronx Sci, or one of those public specialized ones?</p>
<p>does native american blood significantly raise your odds, im an 1/8th...</p>
<p>sophomore: yeah it's one of those, namely LaGuardia.</p>
<p>Chillax: Well on the SAT I heard they were being nice to minorities. People have been really mean to Native Americans so I guess you get sympathy points? Meh. </p>
<p>Minority Power!!</p>