<p>-She's half Chinese, half White
-Father received BA & MBA from UPenn
-Grandfather went to UPenn Medical School
-Mother didn't go to college (first gen?)
-Retook SATs in October, but May 2010 scores were 1980
(she worked really hard over the summer so Oct. scores should be much better)
-Speaks English & Chinese fluently, Proficient in Spanish, decent at Japanese
-She's a full IB Candidate (will graduate with either 4 or 8 AP equivalents)
-School doesn't rank or do GPA but top half and maybe 3.6 or 3.7 (I don't know if those are weighted or not.)</p>
<p>She's got a really interesting personality, not your average Asian or White kid, and I think she can write a pretty good essay, but wants to know if legacy will mean anything if she doesn't have the 4.0 and the 2400. Also is legacy only noted for ED applicants?</p>
<p>Below you will find two useful links. The first addresses many of the legacy questions you ask; the second provides an overall profile of your friend’s competition. Having attended the Penn Alumni Legacy information session I’ll share the following:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Legacy is a boost only during the ED round. Statistically there is no appreciable benefit to a legacy during the regular decision phase.</p></li>
<li><p>While there is a significant boost for legacies during the ED round, Penn was quick to point out the more than half of legacies get rejection notices.</p></li>
<li><p>I don’t think the number of legacies in your past affects your chances. Since you’re friend is claiming legacy status it’s hard to see how she can also argue that’s she’s “first generation” because her mother didn’t go to college. Either you’re a legacy or you aren’t.</p></li>
<li><p>The main point we took away from the presentation was that as a legacy if you are statistically around the 50th%-tile and you apply ED, then your chances are “pretty good”. The further away to the downside you are statistically, the worse your chances. My personal guess is that the 50th%-tile is a 3.8 UW with the info page showing an SAT at 2200/ACT 32.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>In your friend’s case, currently her SATs are floating around the 25th%-tile and if her GPA is a weighted 3.6 then that will hurt her as well. The good news is that she’s at least proficient in a number of languages and is an IB candidate (though 4 or 8 APs is a big range).</p>
<p>^This is not true… if the school doesn’t rank it’s fine. I belive 19% of UPenns students come from schools with no rankings, and of the the other 81%, 98% are in the top 10% (2% are basically athletes and URMS)</p>
<p>Well I know she takes 4 IB Higher classes, which are two year courses… so I don’t know if means she graduates with 4 or 8 AP equivalents. Thanks for all the insight though!</p>