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I have heard that Penn has to have a certain quota of students from the city. Is it true?

By Transient (Transient) on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 - 02:35 am: Edit

i think all schools have a rough quota for geographic diversity. every year penn publishes how many people are from each state. magically, each year it's about the same. same with the race breakdowns.

given that, penn has a number of scholarships for local students in particular, so i think the quota would help you.

but at a philadelphia high school i volunteered at, the counselor told me no one had ever been accepted to penn. she also said a 900 SAT gives the kids a full scholarship somewhere, so it's clear the kids aren't ready for penn.

By Chocoman (Chocoman) on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 - 02:00 pm: Edit

Yes, being from Philadelphia helps. But I see that you go to Central High (CHS 264... i know b/c my sister is 263), and Central sends a lot of kids to Penn a year. the most out of any Philly school I think it would be safe to assume. My school (Roman Catholic) sends about 3-4 a year out of 6-8 applicants, but this year upwards of 15 people are applying. They try to say that they dont have individual school quotas, but I think they defintely have a limit or have a red flag jump or something.


However, I've known Philly guys with 1220's that have gotten into Penn.Penn, I'm told, wants to keep the intellectual talent "in Philadelphia" so theyre willing to go to some students who would only be borderline.


hope that helped.

By Chs264 (Chs264) on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 04:00 pm: Edit

Thanks, it helped a lot...Central last year sent 26 kids to Penn, some more got accepted but went pther places. Who was your sister?? Maybe I knew her

By Kk19131 (Kk19131) on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 04:43 pm: Edit

From what I know, there is no "quota" of Philly kids. HOWEVER, Penn clearly looks to accept students from the city, how else can Central send almost 30 kids there every year? Moreover, most high-ranking colleges have local feader public schools, and for Penn, these schools are usually: Central, Masterman, and Girls; Penn seems to be really dedicated to accepting students who live inside the city, espically if said students are minorities.

By Chocoman (Chocoman) on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 06:31 pm: Edit

theres no chance you know my sister. she wasnt involved in anything, and got Bs and Cs in easy classes.


are you a scholar at lasalle chs264? because i am....

By Chs264 (Chs264) on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 08:43 pm: Edit

A scholar at LaSalle? Do you mean as in taking classes there? No. I actually am taking a class at Penn (microecon) this fall.

By Chocoman (Chocoman) on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 10:39 pm: Edit

damn, i got checkmated.


or for a poker analogy: i see your lasalle, and i raise you... ALL IN!

By Jf215 (Jf215) on Saturday, October 09, 2004 - 09:46 pm: Edit

what if you live in the city but got a scholarship to one of the area private schools? are you still considered a "city student"?

By Chocoman (Chocoman) on Saturday, October 09, 2004 - 10:17 pm: Edit

I think living in the city would count you as a city student. But I don't know.

By Momsdream (Momsdream) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 09:11 am: Edit

Yes, if you actually live in the city, you qualify as a city student. In addition, if you are also low income, you can try to qualify for the Mayor's scholarship as part of the "Ivy in the Backyard" program for city students attending Penn. Ivy in the Backyard has other components for non low-income applicants. You should have received an invitation to participate in you live in the city.

By Chs264 (Chs264) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 09:12 am: Edit

Yeah, you are still a "city resident", and that's what I think that counts. But don't take my word for it!

By Chs264 (Chs264) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 11:21 am: Edit

I remember getting something in the mail for the Mayor's scholarship...

By Chocoman (Chocoman) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 01:05 pm: Edit

i didn't get something for the mayors scholarship.... im extremely poor and in the city. my school has talked about it...


maybe because penn is going to get my entire app this week (including 1A..)

By Jf215 (Jf215) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 05:07 pm: Edit

i did get something about the mayor's scholarship - it just came with the invitation to the thingy on saturday. i didnt get anything special though....

By Transient (Transient) on Monday, October 11, 2004 - 08:26 am: Edit

you probably won't hear anything about scholarships until much later. usually you get your acceptance info, and in your financial aid package there'll be stuff about receiving whatever scholarship.

there's also trustee, leadership, and a few other scholarships that are popular.

people i know with high (but not the highest) stats got scholarship packages. i'm guessing (and have some anecdotal evidence) that a lot of the really "accomplished" people come from rich families, so the pool of people needing financial aid is a little less competitive.