@millie210 there isn’t an issue at penn here. It is outside of Penn. And most I’ve encountered look to parents for legacy qualifications and no extra bump for additional family members. Just clarifying for the general audiences.
@Hapworth Awesome! I hope just like like jewish quota, one day Asian quota would end as well.
Penn is incredible. Definitely competitive though. If you want to have a less stressful experience, Haverford is probably the place to go. I’d personally pick Penn over Amherst and Haverford in a heartbeat (but I’m a very competitive person).
Agree with @privatebanker in post #17 above that to utilize the “development” card, you (or the grandparents) need to contact the development officer who is their primary contact. While the conversation should certainly be polite, there is no need to beat around the bush. They are used to taking these calls.
I am not directly familiar with Penn, but I am somewhat familiar with how Yale works. My understanding is there are different levels of “support” letters that Development can put into the applicant’s folder having to do with the amount and consistency of giving, ranging from the alums who donate a modest amount sporadically to those that have provided or have solid prospects of providing a major gift, like funding for a building. If the grandparents have been funding a full tuition medical school scholarship for 17 years, it puts their total donations well into 6 figures, and given the consistency of donations, the prospects of further donations are high. While this may not be a named building level, I would guess this puts them pretty high up the list, even among wealthy donors. I also know of significant donors at this level at Yale who were disappointed with the admissions decision, so it is not a sure thing. If your daughter is otherwise fully qualified and submits a decent overall application, I suspect the Development push will be more than just a “feather” in the balance. The dilemma for Penn is that it is an ED school, and they are very upfront the legacy advantage needs to be used there. In the conversations with the Development officer, it will be important to find out if applying ED will be necessary/more advantageous to use this hook.
Thanks so much for the great information! Our family has stayed in touch with the development office over the years, generally having to do with thank you letters from scholarship recipients, and twice with requests to observe surgeries performed by neurosurgeons my father trained over 20 years ago.
My nephew, also a legacy, did not apply to Penn because his grades and test scores were not where they needed to be. Our family wouldn’t have considered asking the development office to help along an unqualified candidate. Truth be told, I’m not certain DD will apply to Penn since another poster correctly pointed out that the advantage is with early decision applicants. Penn is not my daughter’s first choice and it seems a shame to have her apply simply because she has a better chance.
Many thanks for all of the advice!
I’m a Jewish student at Haverford and there’s definitely a large Jewish population. I think Penn and Haverford have a lot more Jewish students than Amherst does. Also, I would describe Haverford as warm and supportive.
Of the examples you listed I think Haverford is definitely closer to the environment you D is seeking. I’d imagine that Amherst and Penn are pretty similar outside of the sizes. Swarthmore is very intense though I’m not sure I’d call it competitive/cutthroat.
As you noted it sounds like she doesn’t want to ED at Penn where your advantage would be and you are probably better off applying ED at her favorite if that’s an option.
@tonroxmysox
Thanks for the reply! Haverford seems like a great fit for a number of reasons: the decent Jewish population; the supportive environment; the honor code; the lack of a Greek scene; the small size, and the 15 minute drive to grandmother’s house :-). Not to mention, the campus is absolutely gorgeous. Do you happen to know how students fare when applying to graduate school from Haverford?
Thanks again for reaching out!
@UrbanMum I think that students do quite well. Anecdotally, I know many students who have gone on to top graduate schools, and I know of recent graduates at Harvard for law, medicine, and their PhD. This ranking of feeder schools to top graduate schools only includes professional schools but Haverford places 6th among liberal arts schools and 18th overall: http://www.inside-higher-ed.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/wsj_college_092503.pdf