Penn’s ED Admit Rate Declined by One Percent for Class of 2016

This year, Penn’s early decision acceptance rate declined by almost 1 percent, from 26.1 percent last year to 25.4 percent, Dean of Admissions Eric Furda announced on Friday.
Online admissions decisions were available to all applicants at 5 p.m. Friday.

The acceptance rate was “marginally more selective,” Furda said, explaining that 1,148 students were accepted into the Class of 2016 through early decision, compared to last year’s 1,192.
These admitted students comprise approximately 47 percent of the class, he added.

“A good part of this was intentional,” Furda said, explaining that “we’re reserving some spots” for students in the regular decision cycle. “We want to give ourselves a little more flexibility.”

Furda explained that Princeton and Harvard universities’ early action programs this year “have had an impact” and that he expects some of the students who applied to those schools to apply to Penn in the spring.

For admitted students, the average SAT score increased by 6 percent, up to 2172 from last year’s 2164.

While the percentage of minority and international students remained roughly even with last year’s, the gender ratio of admitted students did change. Forty-seven percent of the admitted class is female, compared to last year’s 52 percent.

Another trend that Furda noticed was that more students expressed an interest in majoring in fields like architecture and computer science, he said.

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