<p>Danson -- That's interesting re: legacy and RD. Hubby & I are Penn alumni and everything we've heard from Penn friends whose kids have applied is that legacy counts only in ED.</p>
<p>Here are direct cut and pastes from the upenn alumni page, so it appears that legacy counts always, but more during ED..</p>
<p>Is there an advantage for legacies to apply Early Decision?
Legacies who apply Early Decision maximize the benefit of their alumni tie. Since Early Decision is binding, however, it is only encouraged to apply early if Penn is the applicant's first choice institution.</p>
<p>Is the legacy tie considered at all during regular decision?
Yes. Family affiliation with Penn is noted in all undergraduate applications - Early Decision, Regular Decision, and Transfer.</p>
<p>momsdream, i suspect you're absolutely right about the international students relying more on rankings. well, it's what i did anyway - with no one knowledgeable to offer advice, rankings are as good a place to start as any. I'm still surprised that so many went for ED, though I figured most people would still go for RD because I assume many will be applying "sight unseen" and that's a big commitment to make (not one that I would have made anyway), not to mention Penn's policy for fin aid for internationals.</p>
<p>Thank you SoozieVT and Cangel. Fingers are crossed around here. I'm probably much more nervous than I realize as I find myself a little edgy today.....deep breaths. </p>
<p>Soozie: here is where I got the numbers I posted. I don't know how reliable this site is. <a href="http://ivysuccess.com/university_of_pennsylvania_2008.html%5B/url%5D">http://ivysuccess.com/university_of_pennsylvania_2008.html</a>
I'm sure Penn site has more accurate stats, though it doesn't matter at this point, right? We're already in the boat and son is rowing hard. :)</p>
<p>lauraanne, I don't think that fin aid is really an issue for most international applicants. I hang out with mostly international students seeing as how I'm international and from the many i've met at penn most are very very very well off. </p>
<p>why do you think owl recruits mostly internationals?</p>
<p>bern-you probably have a point there. maybe it's just something that preys on my mind because i'm one of the (apparently) few that can't just suck it up an pay $40k+ (any rich penn kids out there want to buy me dinner, pay for my textbooks? :p)
But it could also be that a disporportionate number of rich internationals get accepted, because Penn can't afford to take on a lot of internationals who need aid.</p>
<p>very true. Don't worry I'm one of the intl that can't handle the 40k+ but luckily penn guarantees aid for mexico (as well as canada)!</p>
<p>Momsdream....of course the numbers do not matter, I agree. But I think where the discrepancy lies is that you read the numbers in that article wrong. It says the OVERALL acceptance rate (which means BOTH ED and RD) was 21% and the RD rate was 17%. It does not state the ED rate. I can't figure that out myself but it is higher than 21% as you had read it to be. The gap therefore between RD and ED was wider than you had thought. Brown's overall admit rate last year was 17%. </p>
<p>I don't have the 2004 rates but the 2003 ones were 36% ED and 22 % RD for Penn. </p>
<p>Keeping my fingers crossed for your son!
Susan</p>
<p>Thanks Soozie, I did notice that I must have read past the "overall" admit number. Phew...that's good news. </p>
<p>Is your D taking any classes at RISD? (with her interest being in architecture)</p>
<p>danson, you are utterly incorrect. I was a legacy applicant last year. My parents did personally talked to the adcom, they were specifically told that 1. legacy candidate only gets the advantage of a "second look" if s/he was rejected in the first round. By no means there is any bonus point to your application. You have to be as deserving as any applicant. 2. You would definitely lose this advantage if you go RD.
I ended up applying RD because I couldn't make up my mind on one single choice school over some others that I was considering and my GC advised me to go RD so as to give myself time to mature, and get to know myself better before I made that final choice. At the end, I chose Penn afterall.</p>