<p>Tons of people in Philadelphia would want to go to Penn if only their grades would allow them - academics in public schools of Philadelphia are generally not so good. A number of people go to other schools because they can’t wait to leave Philly, but a big portion definitely do not mind staying in Philly for an Ivy. Around 30/120 students of my graduating class attends Penn every year, and we’re a high school in Philly. I know a number of friends from other schools in Philly who would’ve loved to apply to Penn if only their grades/SATs weren’t so low. Also note that Drexel, USP, and Temple all have a huge Philadelphian population. </p>
<p>muerteapablo: I think when JHS said that the amount of Philly area people applying to Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, etc can’t be compared to Penn, he just meant that Philly people who apply to other Ivies/prestigiousschools also apply to Penn as a no brainer. (By “no brainer” I don’t mean it’s easy to get in, I mean that it’s almost automatic for qualified Philly students to apply to Penn.)</p>
<p>And Cue7 you are right, Penn does have some sort of deal with the city to take in a number of Philadelphia students. I already vaguely knew of this before, but my Penn interviewer reinforced it when he said Philadelphia students get an edge in being accepted to Penn, assuming they are qualified.</p>