<p>Hi everyone. I had a quick question regarding legacy. My father graduated from Wharton, getting his MBA in 2001. I go to school in CA and am now an incoming senior interested in majoring in electrical engineering/computer science. I heard somewhere that legacies are mostly considered during the Early Decision period, but keeping in mind that I have much better engineering options in CA itself like UC Berkeley, Stanford, and Caltech, I cannot commit to Early Decision and will only be utilizing UPENN as a backup school. Nevertheless, UPENN is a great backup, and I was wondering if I could somehow salvage the legacy advantage due to my dad's attending the school. Does UPENN still consider legacy during the regular period? Thanks for your time.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, "backup" is the wrong word choice. What I meant was 5th or 6th choice. UPENN is going to be damn hard to get into for me, as it is for everyone. Sorry, if I mistated my previous question or came across as cocky. It's just that I can't commit to ED because UPENN isn't my first choice. However, my question essentially is whether I can utilize my legacy advantage even in the RD process, or does it go to waste completely? Also, how are the acceptance rates for EE/CS at UPENN? How are the programs ranked, say compared with Berkeley?</p>
<p>Penn says legacy doesn't help RD, but that doesn't mean that leagacies aren't admitted RD. They are admitted (I know very few, fewer than admitted ED) and if Penn is not your #1 don't consider applying ED. I'm not sure I would have gotten into Penn unless I had applied ED with my legacy status, but have seen stronger legacies rejected ED. It's almost luck of the draw.</p>
<p>Penn is good enough for EE and CS. It is not as strong as Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, or Caltech, but that matters more for grad school. If you are a pure engineer and can get into one of those 4 you should probably pick them over Penn. However, if you want a more diverse education with strong options in humanities, business, economics, or other stuff, Penn and Stanford are easily the best places to look. Stanford is tough enough coming from Cali that you should be like me and consider giving up on it and looking at Penn. </p>
<p>Also, don't apply to Penn only because your dad went there. It's a waste of time and money. Only apply if you would actually attend if you were admitted. It's fine to have it as a 6th choice, but if the chances are slim to none that you would actually accept admission (on top of the slim chances that you're accepted) then consider not applying. (my opinion anyway)</p>