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Penn Receives Far Fewer Early Decision Applications in 2019

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Penn’s Early Decision acceptance rate rose to 19.7% in 2019

The University of Pennsylvania only received 6,088 Early Decision (ED) applications for its Class of 2024 — down from 7,109 just last fall — a more than 14% drop from last year’s number of ED applications. This news was first reported in The Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn’s student newspaper, on November 13, 2019; yet, adjusted numbers were released from Penn’s admissions office on December 16, 2019 (see below). Before the sudden drop this year, the number of ED applicants to Penn had been rising for years.

While some may argue that an uptick in fires in California or the lack of a recent SAT score re-centering are to blame, one actual reason for the sudden drop in Penn’s ED application numbers is likely Penn’s choice to break its long-time one 650-word supplemental essay question into two shorter essays (still totaling 650 words in all) this application cycle. Enough students make application choices based on perceived effort to complete Common App supplements alone; therefore, seeing two distinct essay prompts scared off up to 1,000 high school seniors – who clearly were not all that invested in applying to Penn to begin with – from applying to Penn Early Decision this fall.

Just goes to show, many students are not as focused on perceived college fit as they are on perceived college application fit.

Penn’s Former Supplemental Essay Question:

How will you explore your intellectual and academic interests at the University of Pennsylvania? Please answer this question given the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying. (400-650 words)

Penn’s Current Supplemental Essay Questions:

How did you discover your intellectual and academic interests, and how will you explore them at the University of Pennsylvania? Please respond considering the specific undergraduate school you have selected. (300-450 words)

At Penn, learning and growth happen outside of the classrooms, too. How will you explore the community at Penn? Consider how this community will help shape your perspective and identity, and how your identity and perspective will help shape this community. (150-200 words)

As one can see above, the change in Penn’s supplemental writing requirement was implemented in such a way as to provide two direct – and more specific – leading questions to Penn applicants in order to give Penn’s admissions team members the information that they really always wanted but were clearly not getting enough of by using Penn’s old 650-word essay prompt alone. Sadly, too few students must have been capable of organizing their thoughts clearly and articulately in the old 650-word responses. But even fewer were even willing to try answering two questions on Penn’s supplement this admissions cycle. Thus, by creating more concrete language in two prompts, Penn upset the equilibrium of its apple cart.

December 16, 2019 Update: Tonight, Penn put out the following information:

On Monday, December 16th at 7:00 p.m. ET, the University of Pennsylvania will announce admission decisions for Early Decision applicants to the Class of 2024, the institution’s 268th class.

The University of Pennsylvania received 6,453 applications under the first-choice Early Decision Program for the entering class of 2024. From this group of highly talented and compelling students from around the globe, 1,269 students were offered admission, approximately 53% of the expected enrolling class in the fall of 2020.

Nationally, 46 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico are represented in the class with the highest concentration of admitted students from Pennsylvania (189), New York (162), California (136), New Jersey (132), Florida (51) and Texas (45). Fifty-nine students reside in the city of Philadelphia.

13% of the class are international students based on their citizenship, hailing from 50 countries from Argentina to Zimbabwe.

54% percent of the admitted students are female, 52% of the U.S. Citizens/Permanent Residents self-reported as a member of a minority group, and 10% are first-generation college students. 24% of the admitted students had a parent or grandparent attend Penn in prior generations. 13% are estimated to qualify for a Federal Pell Grant.

Admitted students have pursued a most demanding secondary school curriculum in a range of educational settings. Their middle 50% testing ranges are 1450-1550 on the SAT and 33-35 on the ACT.

So, either Penn’s student newspaper was completely in error in what it reported (only 6,088 ED applicants) or Penn somehow found 365 additional ED applications after November 13 (twelve days after its ED deadline). Were all of them QuestBridge students? If not, where did the other applications come from?

Even taking Penn’s latest news release at face value, Penn experienced at minimum a nine percent drop in ED applications in 2019 compared to 2018. Accepting Penn’s latest numbers also means that Penn’s ED acceptance rate for Fall 2019 rose to 19.7% after hitting 18.5% in 2018 when Penn accepted 1,279 ED applicants. Penn has now accepted over half of its Class of 2024, which Penn expects to total 2,400 students, via Early Decision.

Penn’s higher ED acceptance rate this fall tracks with softer demand at various Ivies. For more information on that, click here.

Northwestern University vs. Washington University in St. Louis

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If you only have one more spot to fill on your college list and it comes down to Northwestern University or Washington University in St. Louis, here are the factors you should consider before making the final cut.

Enjoy this installment of College List Deathmatch below!

UMass changes EA decision options

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University of Massachusetts Amherst has announced a significant change in what types of responses applicants could receive when applying Early Action (EA).

Previously, UMass EA applicants were either admitted, denied, or given the option of being moved to the regular decision applicant pool. Beginning this year, EA applicants will be given the opportunity to opt onto UMass’ waitlist instead of being moved into the regular decision pool. In making the announcement to high school counselors, UMass shared the following:

“We believe this will give the applicant a better understanding of where they stand earlier in the process. Because you have previously supported your school’s students throughout their UMass Amherst application process, we write to thank you and to let you know how much we appreciate your help. Our holistic review process depends on input from high school counselors, faculty, and staff such as yourself.”

UMass is also encouraging students to include all required materials when they submit their applications. As always, UMass will review every application that is submitted, but priority will be given to applications that are complete by the deadline. This is especially important because of the compressed timeframe for making decisions. For example, if Early Action applicants submit materials after November 5, UMass will still evaluate their application, but only after UMass has evaluated the applications that were complete when the application was submitted by November 5. The same is true for UMass’ January 15 Regular Decision deadline. Information on materials that are required with the UMass application is available on our Admissions web site.

UMass also shares that transcripts submitted with the application that do not include first-term senior grades do not lessen the overall importance of senior grades. Students admitted to UMass are still required to provide senior grades via their final transcript, and if there is a significant drop in an applicant’s performance during his or her senior year, UMass Amherst reserves the right to rescind admission based on this information.

Finally, UMass We encourages students not to use their high school email address as the email address for their application. On the Common Application UMass states that “UMass Amherst has moved to an electronic notification system. This means we use the student email address provided on the Common Application for all official communications by the Admissions Office. This includes notification of any admissions decision.” UMass has apparently found that some high schools restrict emails from outside the high school or school district and this has disrupted applicants using their school email addresses from receiving important emails from UMass.

ACT to allow section-specific retesting starting in 2020

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ACT, Inc. is dramatically reforming and enhancing the ACT® test with options that keep students’ interests in mind. Beginning with the September 2020 national ACT test date, ACT test takers will have more options when taking the ACT:

  • ACT Section Retest—Students who have already completed a full ACT test can choose to retake one or more sections (English, math, reading, science, or writing) without having to retake the entire test.
  • Superscore reporting—To support the growing trend of students taking the ACT test multiple times, score reports will now include a calculated ACT Superscore, along with an ACT Composite score.
  • Faster results with online testing—Students will be able to choose to take the ACT online at a test center on national ACT test dates and get their multiple-choice test results as early as two business days after taking the test

These new options, according to ACT, Inc., will offer students, “more choices, a better experience, and greater confidence that their ACT test scores best reflect their hard work, overall academic achievement, and potential for success throughout their lives.” I tend to agree. Students being able to choose to retake only the sections in which they want to improve their scores (after initially taking the full ACT test) is a wonderful, student-centered approach. ACT, Inc. should be applauded for this reform.

Faster score reports means that students will be able to make decisive plans for college sooner, and superscoring will help students demonstrate to colleges and universities their best achievement in each subject. The ACT is already the preferred choice for many test-takers, despite College Board efforts in recent years to win test-takers back with yet another re-centering of scores. The newly announced changes by ACT will make ACT even more popular starting in September 2020. At a time when more colleges are going test-optional, it’s not surprising that the testing agencies – ACT, Inc. and College Board – will feel ongoing pressure to make their tests student-friendly.

Learn more about the changes here.

Yale Young Global Scholars app now open for Summer 2020

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The Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS) application is now open, and YYGS is now actively recruiting interested students in grades ten and eleven (or the international equivalent) from all around the world.

Scholars taking part in YYGS experience life as a university student at Yale’s Old Campus while attending an academic session of their choosing. YYGS offers sessions in the humanities, social sciences, STEM, and a new cross-disciplinary track that incorporates all of the above.

Students taking part are able to meet peers from over 125 countries around the world (including all 50 U.S. states), and join discussions where students offer global perspectives.

YYGS also provides over $3.4 million USD in need-based financial aid equally to both domestic and international students, offered as discounts covering up to 100% of tuition costs. Those students who apply by the YYGS early action deadline receive a reduced application fee. If the fee poses a financial burden, students are able to submit a fee waiver.

The Yale Young Global Scholars Early Action Deadline is November 12, 2019 at 11:59PM ET; the Regular Decision Deadline is January 15, 2020 at 11:59PM ET. Students interested are able to apply at https://globalscholars.yale.edu/how-to-apply. Those with questions are encouraged to contact YYGS.

Rolling Admission vs. Regular Decision

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When deciding how to apply to a particular college, many students look for that college’s final application deadline, and then, working backwards in their minds, such students decide that they simply need to get all of their application materials into that college by that application deadline date. What such students fail to realize is that many (but not all) colleges that have such Regular Decision application deadlines also review applications and make admissions decisions on an ongoing basis well before their application deadlines.

Don’t be Regular if you can help it! What I mean by that statement is this: while many colleges have Regular Decision application deadlines (usually in January through March) many of these same colleges will review applications and make decisions on such applications well before their drop-dead deadlines (in most cases Regular Decision deadlines, but in other cases these are known as simply “Application Deadlines” at colleges where the deadlines extend very late – approximately late spring through summer). Don’t treat such colleges as Regular Decision for your purposes. Treat them as Rolling!

When you apply Regular Decision you are applying by the college’s Regular deadline. Students can apply to more than one college Regular Decision. Regular Decision admissions decisions tend to be received by students between March and April. When a college is Rolling Admissions, it reviews applications on an ongoing basis and accepts students on a space available basis. Students can apply to more than one college Rolling Admissions as well.

Yet, many of the same colleges that will let you throw in an application by a Regular deadline also review applications by either an earlier Priority or Early (Action or Decision) deadline OR are simply Rolling Admissions colleges.

Of course you would want to apply to a college that offers both Priority and Regular deadlines by the Priority deadline! After all, what’s the definition of priority?! Early Decision can come with major pros and cons. Early Action is generally a good idea for students to consider as well.

But in the case of colleges that offer Rolling Admissions – again, when a college reviews applications as they are received and makes decisions on an on-going basis – it is always best to apply to any such college as soon as you have decided on applying to that college. Some Rolling Admissions colleges don’t have any application deadlines, but a good number of Rolling Admissions colleges do have firm deadlines. Which means they are both Regular Decision and Rolling Admissions colleges. In such a scenario, you want to get your application in ASAP.

Some examples include Indiana University (which has a Regular deadline of February 1, but starts rolling out admissions decisions as early as September; it should also be noted that IU has an EA deadline of November 1), University of Arizona (Regular deadline is February 14, but I regularly have students who have gotten into Arizona by mid-September of their senior years), and Penn State University (which has a Regular deadline of November 30, but also is famous for rolling out decisions in tranche after tranche starting in November; like IU, Penn State also has an EA deadline these days of November 1). Many private colleges also roll out their decisions starting in either the fall or early winter.

The bottom line is this: always work your hardest to determine as early as possible whether colleges on your list review applications on a Rolling basis and make admissions decisions on a space available basis – even if these colleges have firm Regular Decision application deadlines. Colleges that do this are often objectively easier to get into the earlier in the admissions cycle that you can apply. So apply as early as possible if you can put together a strong application early in the fall. Other than Instant Admissions, my favorite way for students to apply to college is Rolling Admissions, and now you can see why. It’s a great feeling knowing you have gotten into one or more colleges by Thanksgiving of your senior year in high school without having to commit to attending such colleges until much later in your senior year (usually by May 1).

So, embrace the superficial contradiction and celebrate colleges that are both Regular Decision and Rolling Admissions because in so doing you will always treat such colleges as Rolling at heart.

Tufts now offers international gap-years and semesters to high school applicants

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While Tufts University in Massachusetts is best known as a very selective research university that offers a diversity of strong undergraduate degree programs, it also offers two First-Year Global Programs that could be great experiences for students looking for a novel start to their undergraduate studies. Both of these programs offer the opportunity to live and work overseas with a cohort of other Tufts students while supporting a community organization, living with a local host family, and discovering the world beyond the borders of the United States of America.

A First-Year Fall Semester Abroad: The Tufts Civic Semester

  • Civic Semester participants take classes together on the Tufts campus in August before departing for one of two service locations (Peru or China) where they study the local language and work part-time at a community organization.
  • Students return to campus for their Spring term with a full semester of academic credit, allowing them to graduate in four years.
  • Civic Semester is a student’s first semester of college, and tuition and fees cover all expenses, including the option to utilize financial aid awards.

A Gap Year Before Tufts: The Tufts 1+4 Bridge Year Program

  • Tufts 1+4 is a year of full-time international work before students begin their four years of study on campus.
  • In one of four countries (Uruguay, India, Brazil, or Ecuador) across the globe, students make a difference on an issue they care about, have time to explore new interests, and return with a deeper sense of self and a broader perspective on the world.
  • The Tufts 1+4 program offers full financial support for any student who is admitted to the program and qualifies for Tufts financial aid at any level.

If you are interested in one of these unique programs, you should indicate interest in them on your first-year application to Tufts. You will have the chance to apply for them on the Tufts applicant portal once you submit your Tufts application or at any time once you have been accepted to Tufts University.

For more information, contact firstyearglobal@tufts.edu.

You CAN apply Restrictive Early Action and Early Action under the right conditions

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Restrictive Early Action and Single-Choice Early Action policies used by hyper-selective colleges such as Stanford, Yale, Harvard, and Princeton aren’t as restrictive as you may think. These colleges still allow you to apply to two classes of colleges at the same time as applying REA or S-CEA. There is no reason why you can’t receive admissions decisions from multiple colleges by no later than January of your senior year in high school. Don’t use REA or S-CEA as an excuse to apply to most colleges Regular Decision.

Dickinson College updates value of scholarships and more

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Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Dickinson College’s merit scholarships are designed to recognize exemplary academic performance without regard to financial need, and the Carlisle, Pennsylvania-based college recently restructured the amount each scholarship is worth. Prospective applicants should sit up and take notice!

Only the presidential scholarship requires a separate application; therefore, all Dickinson applicants are considered for the other merit awards by submitting a compelling Common Application.

  • Presidential Scholarship $35,000/year
  • Provost Scholarship $30,000/year
  • 1783 Scholarship $25,000/year
  • John Dickinson Scholarship $20,000/year
  • Benjamin Rush Scholarship $15,000/year

Those are some major awards that would lead to serious reductions in a student’s cost of attendance.

In other Dickinson College news, the college no longer offers Early Action admission. Dickinson will maintain two rounds of Early Decision (with November 15 and January 15 deadlines) and Regular Decision (a January 15 deadline).

In addition, Dickinson has partnered with MyinTuition, which is a quick college cost estimator. It’s a simple and straightforward way for families to anticipate their out-of-pocket cost and get a sense of their eligibility for need-based aid.

Finally, and in many ways most important, Dickinson’s recent development of a Center for Advising, Internships & Lifelong Career Development has strengthened the college’s emphasis on student success by strategically combining Dickinson’s Career Center, Office of Academic Advising, internship/externship programming and alumni career services. The college is already seeing the fruits of this new organizational structure:

  • 98% of Dickinsonians are employed, completing an internship, attending graduate school or pursuing a fellowship one year after graduation.
  • 94% of the class of 2019 completed an internship, research, externship, service-learning or field experience course.
  • Dickinson’s acceptance rates for the class of 2019 are 94% for law school (compared to the 75% national average, according to the Law School Admissions Council) and 95% for medical school (compared to the 39% national average, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges).
  • 100% of the class of 2023 connected with faculty and Center for Advising, Internships & Lifelong Career Development advisors to select classes.

Those members of the Class of 2020 or 2021 interested in Dickinson should consider attending either Dickinson’s October 14 or November 9, 2019 Fall Open Houses, which offer an wonderful opportunity to get to know Dickinson up close.

Bryn Mawr announces new fly-in program

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Bryn Mawr College’s admissions team members know that visiting campus is a huge benefit for students navigating the college search process. Yet, they also recognize that the cost of visiting campus can be a barrier to many students. As a result, Bryn Mawr, a women’s liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania with roughly 1,300 undergraduates, wants to make the campus visit possible for more students, which is why it is launching a new fly-in program – Bryn Mawr Road Scholars – starting Fall 2019.

Bryn Mawr will fund Road Scholars’ travel to campus for one of three selected Senior Stay programs throughout the fall. During the Senior Stay, Road Scholars will have opportunities to connect with Bryn Mawr’s admissions team, attend a class, sleep in Bryn Mawr dorms, and explore all that the Bryn Mawr community has to offer.

Bryn Mawr’s Road Scholar program is designed to support high school seniors who come from “historically underrepresented backgrounds,” which Bryn Mawr defines as “African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic/Latinx, Native American, and First-Generation students.”

To learn more about the Road Scholar program, click here. If you are a high school counselor and know a student who is a good fit for this program, you are invited to fill out Bryn Mawr’s nomination form by clicking here.