College freshman Douglas Halperin got in to Penn during the most competitive admissions season in the University's history.
His mom - Debra Halperin - faced much better odds when she was admitted in 1979.
And when Douglas' sister Katie applies to colleges in 2008, her chances of getting in might be much better than her brother's and could look more like her mom's.
This is because Katie will apply to college during a steep decline in the number of graduating high-school seniors, a decline that will likely change the face of higher education.
For the last 10 years, a swell in the number of students applying to college has made the admissions process extremely competitive.
All that is about to change.
Most of the "baby boomletter" generation - those born in the 1980s and early 1990s - will have degrees by 2009. After that, the number of new high-school graduates will start to decline.
And a shrinking applicant pool means that getting into many colleges will get easier.
Though the number of new high-school graduates is projected drop 4 percent in 2009, Northeastern states will experience an even steeper decline. The Department of Education predicts a 10-percent decline in Pennsylvania, a figure that could spell trouble for schools that aren't exactly awash in applicants today.
Yet University officials say the decline will not affect the competitiveness of Penn's admissions.
"Penn will not be affected much since Penn already has more than seven applicants for every one student we admit," said Bernard Lentz, who is responsible for analyzing statistics about Penn.
Lentz added that the schools most affected by the decline would be those "that already have difficulty filling their incoming class."
Large numbers of students are still likely to apply to the nation's top schools, leaving Penn with a comfortable number of applicants.
Schools that will face challenges will likely be smaller, private colleges like University of the Arts and Chestnut Hill College.
But some of these universities have already implemented strategies to stave off the coming decline in applicants.
Chestnut Hill College, for example, went co-ed in 2003, increasing its number of potential applicants.
The University of the Arts also foresaw the problem and enacted measures to combat the effects.
"In 2001, we realized what would happen after 2009, when less kids would be graduating," Director of Financial Aid Chris Pesotski said. "We've tried to extend our geographical presence in the South and the Midwest, where the decline won't be as high."
Pesotski said more recruiters have also been sent internationally, primarily to Korea and Japan, to attract more students and sustain application rates. He said the measures have been successful, culminating in a dramatic increase in applications from international students as well as U.S. students from states other than Pennsylvania.
Yet some education officials don't expect the decline to pose a significant problem. They believe that other measures will offset some of the detrimental implications for smaller schools.
The National Center for Education Statistics, for example, projects that undergraduate enrollment will continue to swell, according to Frank Balz, a spokesman for the National Association for Independent Colleges and Universities, an advocacy group.
An influx of immigrants to the U.S., he said, will comprise a "significant portion of enrollment growth," but are not included in predictions of the decline in graduating high-school students.
