@Angelababy30 I was referring to my son’s school which is not Central. They had 50 of 75 applicants accepted and the total class size is 100.
Either way, high stats kids from the city schools have a much higher acceptance rate than kids outside of the city which I believe the overall rate is under 10%.
@Cookies510 50 out of 75 applicants accepted? That’s crazy for a Ivy League School. LOL.
Medical school is very competitive at this point to get into. So I would perhaps think that undergrad school could potentially matter. Like let’s say you get the same grades as someone else they’re considering.
You go to UPenn (an ivy league and prestigious school) and the other person goes to maybe a state school. They might take that into consideration.
Don’t diminish the value and experience you can get at Penn just because other top students in your HS were given the same opportunity.
OP,
I do admire that you are not just making a choice based on name. This is admirable. In fact, it is commendable. However, Penn is your most affordable option, so how is this not (as another poster put it) an easy choice?
Listen, fit is important. If for some reason, the Penn campus (don’t worry about it’s proximity to home; you will absolutely feel “away” at college if you are living there) strikes you as unappealing, or if something about its strong pre-professional contingent (lots of business students, lots of nursing students) also turns you off, or if the school in general just makes you say, “Ick!” then sure, that’s important.
Plus, there was a study conducted by a Princeton professor and a member of the Mellon foundation that examined what happens when students who are accepted to an Ivy choose to study at a school perceived (even though the perception is false) to be “lower.” The study found that there was no noticeable difference in future salaries. In other words, someone who gets into an Ivy will be fine, no matter where they go. This is not surprising, as it is the person who achieves, not the name of a school.
You have three nice choices. Both the name and the cost seem to scream, “Penn!” but if you truly feel the pull towards one of the others, don’t worry. Studies say you’ll be A-Ok!
@Angelababy30 : Were you accepted to any other colleges & universities ? If so, which ones & why did you cross them off of your list ?
I ask because you are not comfortable enough with your current choices to make a decision.
Also, Penn State Honors is not competitive with respect to price & is an option only if you prefer semi-rural location & honors college students place well into med schools. It is important to note that the Honors College has changed over the past several years, so only a current student or recent graduate can address the grading & benefits.
@Cookies510 I think we know which school your son attends. Many of these kids don’t really appreciate the opportunity they get. On top of it they seem to get a boosted aid package.
^@Dolemite It makes no sense to me. Nearly a free ride at UPenn is meh? Though in fairness our local kids think Brown is no big deal too.
@Angelababy30 Why wouldn’t you choose UPenn?
I didn’t read the whole thread, but if for some reason you change your mind and don’t want to go to med school you will be graduating from one of the top schools in the country if you go to UPenn. If you want to go to another part of PA then go to CMU.
Penn
@Publisher I was also accepted at UCSD, Temple U, Pitt, Drexel, and NYU. The reason I crossed them of my list is mainly because of their extremely low financial aid packages (UPitt and NYU) which cost something about 20-30k per year just for tuitions and living on campus alone, and UCSD is simply too far for me and my family (mostly my family). As for Temple U and Drexel, they were only on my list as safeties, so I didn’t really consider attending, especially with CMU, UPenn.
UPenn is offering you a lifetime of benefits. Because Penn is so close to home, you need to inquire about study abroad options & about university & college exchange options for a semester or for a year.
A Penn degree is very valuable in the real world–as is any degree from Carnegie Mellon University.
Penn State Honors is pricey compared to your other super elite options. Nevertheless I think that everyone should research the full extent of benefits offered by the Honors College as it has changed since I criticized it years ago due to its old selection process based on numbers which resulted in an over abundance of engineering students.
The Philadelphia program makes it hard for students to understand how amazing their opportunity is, I guess. But for anyone not in Philadelphia, basically, this makes no sense. UPenn is the best of the bunch by far in terms of resources, support, connections, etc.
(Another example: attending UPenn means you could spend a year abroad nearly for free. Neither Schreyer nor CMU offer this possibility - you’d have to pay. So, not an obligation, but a terrific opportunity.)
A caveat to the study about “it doesn’t matter if you attend an ivy if you got into one” was that this didn’t apply to three groups: URMs, lower income students, and first generation students. For these, attending a top school made a big difference.
@dolemite & @gearmom I think they do appreciate the opportunity (based on the high percentage who ultimately attend) but I think when year after year such a large number of your classmates are accepted it skews a teen’s perception of how competitive admission to Penn really is.
@Dolemite I was pointing out my son didn’t attend Central because the OP seemed to think he did.
@Cookies510 @Dolemite @MYOS1634 Would people think that the only reason I got into Penn is because I attend a high school in Philadelphia, which Penn has a land deal with apparently? Would people think that I am not as qualified for Penn than other student from other parts of the country, where admission seems to be more competitive?
No for most maybe for some. Honestly who cares. Your future employers won’t.
@Angelababy30 That is called “Imposter Syndrome” and many, many kids feel like that. And who cares what other people think. Do kids of alumni or donors or celebrities agonize over that? No and you should too.
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Nobody will even think about that. As an adult nobody will know or care where you went to HS and even if your HS comes up almost nobody will know any specific program your HS had with Penn. And Penn would not accept any student they don’t feel is capable of succeeding at the school WHAT PEOPLE WILL CARE ABOUT is that you went to Penn and (hopefully) did well at the school. (FWIW I’m a Penn alum and one of my good friends was from Phila – I never get it a second thought – and no idea even now if her HS was part of any special program or not – and it doesn’t matter – she was very successful as an engineering student at Penn and has a great job).
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Keep in mind that many others have some help getting into Penn and other top colleges such as legacy, athletics etc. If your HS gave you any advantage in the admissions process then I say make the most of it.
But whatever you decide I wish you the best.