| Master Dad, he wasn't necessarily penalized--he just didn't get the extra benefit that Penn's stated policy explicitly bestows only on legacies who demonstrate commitment to Penn by applying ED. And in terms of his credentials "blowing away" the credentials of other applicants who were admitted, a quick review of the ED and RD admission threads in the Penn forum quickly reveals that many kids who appear to have objectively superior credentials are waitlisted, deferred, or rejected while other kids with objectively "lesser" credentials are admitted. Like all top schools, Penn's undergraduate admissions process is holisitc and extremely subjective, and many factors--such as essays, demonstrated interest in Penn, the need to create a balanced and well-rounded class that reflects diverse backgrounds and interests, etc.--are taken into account in addition to objective credentials (SATs, GPA, ECs, etc.). Further, the overall RD acceptance rate is in the 10-12% range, and is even lower than that for Wharton. Also, for the Class of 2011, Penn rejected 62% of the valedictorians who applied and 75% or more of the applicants with 750-800 on one or more of the SATs.
With all due respect, the only arrogance apparent in this situation is the apparent expectation that a particular legacy applicant should get special treatment in RD admissions, even though all other legacy applicants are given such treatment only if they demonstrate a reciprocal commitment to Penn by applying ED. |