The most intriguing twist on the SAT emphasis is applied at Georgetown, one of a handful of schools still offering nonbinding early action. Whereas Harvard knows that nearly all the students admitted EA will enroll, Georgetown knows that most of the academically strongest candidates it admits early will end up at Yale or Stanford if they get in. Georgetown sticks with EA in part because Charles Deacon, its dean of admissions, is a prominent critic of the increased use of binding programs and the sense of panic and scarcity they create among students. Because colleges often highlight the average SAT scores of the students they admit, not just the ones who enroll, a policy like Georgetown's can make a school look better. While collecting exact numbers on legacy acceptance rates is very difficult at many colleges it can increase your chance of admissions by 2 or 3 times the amount of non legacy. Usually that means being a primary legacy where one of your parents attended that university, but sometimes even a looser connection like a grandparent or an uncle can make a small difference.
Some colleges openly oppose granting any special status to Legacy and most notable would be MIT. Other colleges like U Penn and Cornell will only give Legacy a consideration in their ED rounds. This year I worked with five candidates who applied to highly selective universities. They all got into more than one choice but each student eventually was admitted to and I think is choosing to enroll at the highly selective university where one of their parents attended. Suppose a college needs to enroll 2,000 students in its incoming class. Suppose it receives roughly 12,000 applications each year in the regular admissions cycle—a realistic estimate for a prestigious, selective school.
Suppose, finally, that its normal yield for students admitted in the regular cycle is 33 percent—that is, for each three it accepts, one will enroll. A regular-only admissions policy would thus mean that the college's selectivity rate—6,000 acceptances for 12,000 applicants—was an unselective-sounding 50 percent. It is easy to say "plan ahead", but there is a lot of advantage in knowing what school and program you would like to attend in the future. If you are certain about which school you want to enroll in, it might be wise to apply through the Early Action/Early Decision program.
This way, your deadline for application is earlier, but so is your response date. To utilize this opportunity, you must research your school of choice and determine whether you are a good fit for the program to which you're applying. Early Action programs give you an early answer as to where you stand in the admissions process. According to most recent data, Cornell's acceptance rates for their early decision program is 22.7%! UPenn's early decision program admitted 18% of early applicants! Ivy League undergraduate admissions are difficult to assess because each school claims to take a holistic approach to reviewing students' applications.
A holistic application review considers a broad range of student's accomplishments and circumstances. This allows admissions committees to consider your candidacy as a whole, rather than focusing on only one component of your application. A good example of this theory is the elimination of GPA stats for Brown's applicants. The college announced that it does not calculate its students' GPA and relies on other criteria for evaluation, such as students' coursework, course performance reports and letters of recommendation.
As you might have noticed, the majority of the Ivy League schools do not have specific GPA or standardized test score requirements – all of this is meant to demonstrate that no ONE application component outweighs the other. Now, if all schools consider these factors important in their admissions processes, consider how uncompromising Ivy League schools will be in their applicant choices. Due to the highly selective admissions process of these schools, they put a lot more value in all these factors. You must not give admissions committees any reason to cut you out of the applicant pool. The Wharton School – If you wish to attend an undergraduate business school and get your dream job right out of college, why not apply to the number one ranked undergraduate business program in the country? It means having strong grades and SAT scores by the end of junior year and not thinking that one's record needs to be rounded off or enriched by senior-year performance.
It means that one's family has enough money to be unaffected by the possibility of competitive financial offers. It means that one is emotionally prepared to deal with a rejection if necessary and then to rush regular applications into the mail right away. Some colleges take a significantly higher percentage of applicants who apply using an early program, while other take only a handful more. Keep in mind, though, that early decision is an option you should only use after a great deal of consideration. Early decision typically gives your application a generous boost toward acceptance, but it is a binding agreement (meaning that if you are accepted, you're bound to accept the school's offer). The key to writing this supplemental essay lies in convincingly conveying the research you've done regarding UPenn.
Showcase ways that the features you appreciate about the institution – and particularly the college you are applying to – tie in to your interests and goals. Take the time to explore the course offerings and faculty listings at the school of your choice to identify ways your intellectual curiosity can peak if accepted. Go through UPenn social media posts and YouTube videos to learn about aspects of campus life that appeal to you.
Browse their website for student organizations to see how you can continue your current activities in college. Going over these can help you find the professors, courses, and activities that speak to you. If you enjoy economics and math, write about how excited you are to major in Mathematical Economics, a perfect blend of your interests.
If you're a fan of musical comedy and have been involved in performance throughout high school, write about how you hope to explore this passion further through the Mask and Wig club at UPenn. Every college brings unique opportunities for students, and UPenn has many distinguishing features that may resonate for you. Taking the time to research and brainstorm can help you find the right ones for you at UPenn, and put them on paper. As you can see in the graphic, the acceptance rate at UPenn has gradually gone down over the last seven years. So you might be wonderinghow to get into UPennwhen competing against such a tough applicant pool. In ED programs students start their senior year ready to choose the one college they would most like to attend, and having already taken their SATs.
An early applicant is allowed to make only one ED application, and it is due in the beginning or the middle of November. The college has about a month to deliberate and responds by mid-December. If the answer is no, the student has two weeks to send out regular applications to schools on his or her backup list. If the answer is yes, the process is over, because by virtue of applying early, the student has promised to attend the college if accepted.
Mainly through counselors, who know when a student has been admitted ED and agree not to send official transcripts to other schools. Your high school coursework is the biggest evidence of your academic abilities. The single most important document in your application is your high school transcript. Not only does it tell the admissions committee what kind of grades you received throughout the years, it also demonstrates your drive, dedication, and improvement over time. Impress the adcoms with a broad range of challenging courses, that you enjoy and find interesting.
Try to take courses in different disciplines, including sciences, arts, humanities, and languages. To increase your chances of success, take courses in disciplines you typically ace but do not forget to complete necessary requirements for graduation. If you're struggling with a discipline, try to get some help.
You can find a study partner, ask your teacher for help, get a tutor, or design a study plan that would increase your understanding of the content. Showcase ways that the features you appreciate about the institution - and particularly the college you are applying to - tie in to your interests and goals. If you're wondering how to get into UPenn, you're most likely interested in how difficult the process is. As mentioned before, although an 8% acceptance rate might seem low, it's relatively high when compared to other Ivy League schools.
While it's true that among state colleges, this admissions rate is low, you have to consider it within the context of UPenn's prestige and world-class offerings. Fortunately, the university's admissions process provides you with plenty of opportunities to stand out from the competition and demonstrate why you deserve to attend this school. Apply Early Decision if You're Sure about UPenn – Statistically speaking, applying ED can increase your chances of admission. 7,704 students applied Early Decision for the Class of 2023, which is significantly fewer number of students than the Regular Decision number. Although this rate is inflated by recruited athletes and legacies, applying ED can still provide an advantage. So, if you know that UPenn istheschool for you, and you are ready to go if accepted (remember, it's binding!), go ahead and apply Early Decision to UPenn.
You will be competing against a much smaller pool, and if your application checks all the right boxes, you may get accepted. College of Arts and Sciences – Like many other top national universities, UPenn offers a liberal arts curriculum in its College of Arts and Sciences. If you're debating between multiple majors, enjoy courses in both humanities and sciences, and are looking for a collaborative classroom experience, this college is the one for you.
Admissions officers are looking for students interested in the multiple disciplines, capable of juggling the rigorous academics, and those who are able to transfer their classroom knowledge into real world applications. The advantage of applying Early Decision is that acceptance rates for ED applications are sometimes two to three times higher than the Regular Decision admission rates at the same schools. For instance, Northwestern's overall acceptance rate is only 9%, but its early decision rate is closer to 25%.
Johns Hopkins University's jump is even bigger, from 9% to 31%. And the early decision rates at schools like Washington University in St. Louis, Emory University, and Tufts University are all multiple times the regular decision admission rate. Although this school does not officially report its students' average GPA, any applicant wishing to attend Brown must have outstanding secondary school transcripts. Brown has made standardized tests submission optional for its applicants. This means that you will no longer need to submit your SAT or ACT scores. According to Brown's admissions website, students who do not submit test scores will be at no disadvantage.
In the past, their matriculants' SAT scores ranged between 1405 and 1570. If you choose to submit, make sure your scores are in this range. All-Ivy League schools have a set of supplemental essays applicants are required to complete in tandem with the standard application. These prompts are designed to give admissions officers a better idea of who you are as an individual, what makes you unique, along other, more personal information about you.
While the standard application covers mostly boring admission data such as your GPA and test scores, these supplemental essays are more open-ended in nature. It's paramount that students pen their responses carefully as they play an important role in determining whether or not you end up attending UPenn. Simply having great grades and superb standardized test scores is not enough to earn admission to a highly selective school such as UPenn, since nearly every applicant is academically qualified.
Your personal statement is a huge part of your application, and should follow your application persona. This is a chance for you to tell the admissions officersyourstory – emphasizing what makes you unique and what you are passionate about. All other students can have excellent grades and scores, even be involved in similar activities, but the personal statement is the place where you show what makes you different and a must-have applicant. Think of topics to avoid, brainstorm multiple topics before finding the perfect one, and don't forget to throw in humor to highlight more of your personality. After you're done, be sure to edit as much as possible and have someone else proofread it and offer feedback.
The equivalent of a 100-point increase in SAT scores makes an enormous difference in an applicant's chances, especially for a mid-1400s candidate. Indeed, the difference is so important as to be a highly salable commodity. A gain of roughly 100 points is what The Princeton Review guarantees students who invest $500 and up in its test-prep courses. The Avery study's findings were the more striking because what admissions officers refer to as "hooked" applicants were excluded from the study. These are students given special consideration, and therefore likely to be admitted despite lower scores, because of "legacy" factors , specific athletic recruiting, or affirmative action.
The colleges take three months to consider the applications, and respond by early April. Students have until May 1—the single deadline in this cycle adhered to by most colleges—to send a deposit to the school they want to attend and a "No, thanks" to any other that has accepted them. The colleges tally the returns and adjust the size of their incoming classes by accepting students on their waiting lists. Although Cornell University has the highest acceptance rates of all Ivy League schools, this does not mean that it's an easy school to get into. To be a competitive applicant for any of these eight prestigious institutions, you cannot slack off when it comes to your applications.
Start planning your acceptance strategies early, which means studying hard at school and planning ahead for your standardized tests. If you have not been involved in an extracurricular activity since childhood, plan to seriously commit to an activity as early as you can. Choose something you love to do as this will be evident in your application components. Most importantly, do not choose to go to an Ivy League school for appearances.
Choose a program you actually want to attend and graduate from, rather than a program that will look good on your CV. Prestige and social status do not necessarily translate into better educational fit for you. Choose happiness and invest in your education in a school you truly want to attend. If you want to know how to get into UPenn, it's helpful to learn more about how admitted students perform on some key academic indicators such as GPA and standardized test scores. Since the UPenn acceptance rate is one of the most selective in the country – when compared to all colleges – it's no surprise that some of the most talented and brightest minds end up getting accepted. Down from its previous admission rate of 5.6% in 2020, Princeton is even more competitive to get into now with a 4.4% acceptance rate.
The Ivy aims to identify students who will positively contribute and bring a unique perspective to its community. Rather than looking for a specific set of academic criteria, Princeton prefers applicants who have challenged themselves with rigorous honors and AP courses. Stanford states that a student's academic record is the most important factor in determining admission, but it also looks at components beyond numerical data.
Through a holistic admissions process, the university gives weight to extracurricular activities and personal essays, both of which allow students to illustrate their individual backgrounds and experiences. As most know at this point the number of applications at highly selective colleges was way up and the acceptance rates consistently fell by approximately 20% or more. As an example, Harvard received over 57,000 applications, 42% more than last year. NYU received over 100,000 applications up 17% from last year. The admissions rate at Harvard went from 4.92% for the Class of 2024 to 3.4% for the Class of 2025. At NYU the admissions rate went from 15% for the Class of 2024 to 12.8% for the Class of 2025.
Keep in mind because of the timing of the pandemic last year most admit rates were up for the Class of 2024, but this years numbers are for the most part lower than ever before. There have been books written about the Early Admission Game and whether this is an advantage in the application process. Generally speaking, students have a better percentage, even if it may be 1-2%, of being accepted if they apply early decision. Early action often does not offer a higher acceptance rate but provides the benefit of learning early what the admission decision from the college is.
On the other hand, students often do benefit from getting their application in early. Now suppose that the college introduces an early-decision plan and admits 500 applicants, a quarter of the class, that way. It is very likely to receive at least as many total applications as before—say, 1,000 in the ED program and 11,000 regulars. But now it will have to send out only 5,000 acceptance letters—500 earlies plus 4,500 to bring in 1,500 regular students. Therefore its selectivity will improve to 42 percent from the previous 50, and its yield will be 40 percent rather than the original 33, because all those admitted early will be obliged to enroll. The catch is that early decision programs restrict your applications to other universities, i.e. you're allowed to apply through the early decision program to one school only.
Early decision applicants are contractually bound to attend the school if offered admission. This is to ensure that you make a commitment to a first-choice school and if admitted, you will definitely enroll and withdraw all your other applications that you submitted. The average SAT score of an admitted applicant at Brown, Columbia, and Duke is right around 1500. Further, it's important to remember that this includes special applicants such as those from disadvantaged backgrounds, athletes, or legacies who may have scores significantly below the mean. These schools simply have little incentive to snatch up applicants with a 1450 SAT who sit in the top 10% of their class; they barely have to compete for students who boast perfect credentials. A quick examination of various college's yield rates further illuminates this point.