The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) is a prestigious Ivy League institution nestled in the heart of Philadelphia and ranked #6 in the list of National Universities by U.S. News and World Report. Renowned for its rigorous academics, innovative research opportunities, and vibrant campus life, Penn attracts top-tier students from around the globe. With its rich history dating back to 1740, Penn offers a diverse array of undergraduate and graduate programs across disciplines ranging from business (the renowned Wharton School) and engineering to the arts and humanities. The undergraduate enrollment hovers around 10,000.
PENN’S RECORD-BREAKING ADMISSIONS CYCLE
According to the Common App, college applications are up yet again in the 2023-2024 cycle. This ripple effect has led to a record number of applications to the Penn Class of 2028: 65,230 total—up more than 10% from last year. Of these, over 8,500 students applied through the binding Early Decision program.
While Penn has not published their acceptance rate this year, data from the Common Data Set confirms that, last year, for the Class of 2027, Penn received a total of 59,465 applications and had an acceptance rate of just 5.8%. For the Class of 2026, Penn’s early decision acceptance rate was 15.6%. We expect the acceptance rate this year is even lower in both admissions cycles.
Last year, 14% of the admitted class were legacy students. With the recent pressure on legacy admissions, it will be interesting how this number changes for the Class of 2028.
ADMINISTRATIVE TURMOIL
This has been a tumultuous admissions season across the board. But for Penn, in particular, the fall was an unprecedented semester with both Penn’s president and Board of Trustees chair resigning in December amidst student concern about antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus. While a similar controversy at Harvard over President Claudine Gay’s response to campus antisemitism may have led to the decline in Early Action applications, Penn’s numbers held steady.
ESSAY CHANGES
In an article for The Daily Pennsylvanian, several changes were reported to Penn’s application requirements:
- Unique essay prompts tailored to each undergraduate school. This strategic move not only allows applicants to showcase their understanding of and alignment with their chosen academic path but also offers admissions officers deeper insights into applicants’ aspirations and fit within the Penn community.
- Penn eliminated the question about applicants’ intended area of study, replacing it instead with a question about their involvement in campus groups. This signifies the importance of community contributions beyond the classroom.
- Anew requirement for the Class of 2027: a thank-you note. Applicants were again invited to express their appreciation to someone they’ve yet to thank but wish to acknowledge.
PENN EXTENDS TEST-OPTIONAL POLICY
In a March 5 announcement, Penn announced that it will continue its policy of being test-optional for Class of 2029 applicants. According to this announcement, students who choose not to submit scores “will not be at a disadvantage in the admissions process.”
In an interview with The Pennsylvania Gazette, Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule commented on Penn’s test-optional policy and rationale:
It’s more complicated than most people expect. We, along with our peers, have been using testing in admission since its advent. But for Penn, test scores were not integrated directly into the academic assessment evaluation, even pre-COVID. The primary assessment was, and still is, dependent on the curriculum that’s available at a student’s high school, what the students chose to take, how well they were doing with those courses, and the ideas that they’ve conveyed in their writing and how their teachers describe them, and so forth. Testing was present, but it was separate. So when Penn had to pivot to test-optional during COVID, that primary fundamental approach to academic assessment didn’t have to adjust.
It’s our job to consider what required application materials are sufficient to support our evaluation. And it’s not as simple as just looking at the GPAs of the students who submitted testing and those that didn’t, because every cohort of enrolled students that we’re going to be tracking at Penn, since becoming test-optional, has had many other influences—partly what year they were in school when COVID happened, but also what’s been happening in the world of education since. So it takes really careful analysis to determine the effect of a test-optional application on evaluation and enrollment. So we’re taking it year by year.
WHAT’S NEXT? FIRST IVY LEAGUE MAJOR IN AI
Penn continues to develop new academic initiatives and undergraduate programs to maintain their cutting-edge curriculum. As of February 2024, Penn is now the first Ivy League to offer a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Artificial Intelligence. George Pappas, the new Director for The Raj and Neera Singh Program in Artificial Intelligence at Penn Engineering, reflected on this announcement and the program’s goals:
As an engineering degree in Artificial Intelligence, students at Penn Engineering will also learn how to harness the power of AI in order to shape the future of other engineering disciplines. Our program will create the next generation of AI leaders who will not only possess the technical expertise to excel in this rapidly evolving field but also the ethical awareness and responsibility to shape its future. Our curriculum consists of mathematical and computational foundations, AI courses that emphasize both principles and skills through project-based courses, engineering applications of AI as well as courses in AI ethics and safety.
We are very excited to educate the next generation of leaders and innovators in AI.
At Top Tier Admissions, we are committed to making the college admissions process more transparent. Easy access to clear data helps families understand trends in college admissions to make more informed decisions. We’re collecting regular decision acceptance rate data at selective schools and providing insight and analysis of our own. For historical data, see our collection of Ivy League and Top College Acceptance Rates and Admissions Statistics, including the Class of 2027 Ivy League admissions data and admissions stats for a range of additional selective schools.
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MORE ABOUT PENN
- About the University of Pennsylvania
- UPenn’s Class of 2028: Early Acceptance Rate
Class of 2027: Penn’s Acceptance Rate - UPenn: Acceptance Rates and Statistics
- UPenn’s Supplemental Essay Prompts
- Strong Undergraduate Psychology Programs
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Liz graduated Magna Cum Laude with high honors from Dartmouth College and earned her MA and PhD in Art History at the University of Virginia, where she taught undergraduate courses, earned the All-University Graduate Teaching Award, and received a Fulbright Research Grant.
- Penn’s Record-Breaking Admissions Cycle - April 5, 2024
- Strong Programs in Classics - April 3, 2024
- UVA: Regular Decision Acceptance Rate - March 29, 2024
