<p>Wharton ED pool & RD pool - Which is stronger?</p>
<p>I would have thought that the RD pool is stronger because of the HYPS applicants, but then again, if so, why would Wharton fill up nearly half the class with students from a "weaker" ED pool?</p>
<p>speculations please :)</p>
<p>Don’t know about the pools, per se, but the average stats of the applicants accepted through ED are comparable to those accepted through RD. This has been documented many times in the Daily Pennsylvanian, as well as in places like the minutes of the Admissions Dean’s report to the Trustees (available on-line). For example, compare the average SAT score for the recent group of ED admits as reported in this DP article:</p>
<p>[Early</a> decision admit rate falls to 26 percent | The Daily Pennsylvanian](<a href=“http://www.thedp.com/article/early-decision-admit-rate-falls-26-percent]Early”>http://www.thedp.com/article/early-decision-admit-rate-falls-26-percent)</p>
<p>with the average SAT score cited here under “Undergraduate Admissions” (accounting for the 3-part vs. 2-part scores):</p>
<p>[Penn:</a> Facts and Figures](<a href=“http://www.upenn.edu/about/facts.php]Penn:”>http://www.upenn.edu/about/facts.php)</p>
<p>I would say that the groups are definitely similar, but ED applicants might be slightly stronger (I was an ED applicant so I might be biased, haha). ED is more self-selecting, meaning the kids that know they want to go will apply. Penn uses that as an excuse to say that ED doesn’t help your chances that much, stating that the higher acceptance rate is merely the effect of more qualified applicants applying, so if you buy into that then yeah ED students might be stronger, but again, whats the difference between a 2250 and a 2340, almost nothing.</p>