Hi all,
If I apply to penn early, how much would I be assisted by legacy status? In other words, how important is legacy to penn?
About 25% of their ED applicants had legacy status. From what I’ve heard (I’m a student as well) Penn is an especially legacy-friendly ivy. However, legacy isn’t usually very beneficial in the regular decision pool, which I assume you’re a part of.
Penn says you need to apply ED for any legacy consideration. 23% of this year’s ED acceptances are legacies. But, if you’re not qualified, legacy won’t help. Look through the ED results page. The legacies posting there who were accepted are just as qualified as non-legacies. It may be that if it’s between a legacy and someone without a hook, all other things being equal, the legacy will get the nod.
It will be a significant boost if you’re a primary legacy – i.e., your parents did undergrad at Penn.
Just a warning that it’s not that helpful if you live in the metro NYC area since there are so many legacies there.
Legacy helps a lot in ED but not so much in RD