<p>cc2, what’s your point? How is taking top kids from top schools corruption? </p>
<p>When the Penn adcom is projecting each year’s class, they probably have certain set of goals/targets: get top kids from wherever (happens to be that many of them are from elite privates), get kids from reach zones, diversity, internationals, etc., etc. </p>
<p>Penn can’t simply snub top kids because of where they are from. Elite privates probably have a long standing tradition/trend of producing well-qualified kids, therefore they are rewarded with consistent pipeline to Penn/Ivys. Colleges are also competing to lock down the top kids (though we focus more the opposite dynamic on these forums as most of us are students). </p>
<p>I know at my public school, certain schools (Some Ivys, Uchicago, Wash U) almost as if by strict rule take X number of kids from <80 kids class. Our school performs well in the whole standardized tests game and students are also quite active outside class, therefore top schools like to grab the top kids annually and maintain good relations with the school. I’m sure my school or any other public target didn’t start out like this. If a public school’s teachers and counselor office work hard for many years, then the student quality will obviously improve over time and colleges would take notice. </p>
<p>I don’t see what justification you have to call Penn’s admission process corrupt. You seem to be annoyed by the fact that top colleges take kids from top schools (elite privates or public targets). It so happens sometime that the kids who have the opportunity to go to these top schools are already from affluent backgrounds. Are you questioning the whole socioeconomic fabric of this country (“rich get richer” type dynamic applied to college admissions)? LOL.</p>