When Penn and 22 other schools officially join the Common Application this July, they will leave behind a dwindling number of top schools that remain loyal to their tailored applications.
Penn will start to accept the Common App, a standard form that is accepted by nearly 300 colleges and universities, starting next year, accompanied by a Penn-specific supplement.
Penn's own individualized application will still be accepted if applicants prefer it.
Though the Common Application has been gaining in popularity -- it added more new members in each of the past two years than in any year since 1977 -- others have avoided the Common Application or even stopped accepting it.
Some elite schools, like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, maintain their individualized applications.
MIT admissions counselor Alia Burton said that the school uses an individualized application so that it can ask applicants questions such as what they do with their free time and why intended majors and careers interest them.
"Yes, it's probably a little bit less convenient," she said.
"But it's not terribly different from the Common Application," she added, describing the essay topic as "pretty general."
The University of Chicago dropped the Common Application in 1981 and now uses its own so-called "Uncommon Application."
Of the current Common Application members, 16 have withdrawn at some point and rejoined, including Princeton University and four of the other 15 original members.
Among the Ivy League, neither Brown nor Columbia universities accept the application.
But although MIT has held out on the Common Application, Burton said she understands its appeal.
Other schools likely adopt the Common Application to relieve pressure on applicants, who are now submitting more applications, she said.
But College sophomore Alicia Davidson said that the Common Application wouldn't have saved much time for her and that Penn's application wasn't very difficult.
Schools that have made the switch agree with Burton, noting that convenience motivated them, but they also say it wasn't their sole reason.
Penn Admissions Dean Lee Stetson's said the University's primary aim in making the switch was to attract minority applicants.
Common Application officials added that they have been making an effort to attract top schools.
The application has been targeting potential members such as Penn for the past two years, according to Common Application Executive Director Rob Killion. He attributes the increase in membership to these efforts.
Because socioeconomically underrepresented students may have less time and guidance in applying, the Common Application is a helpful alternative and requires less research into the application process, Boston College's Associate Director of Admissions Howard Singer said.
Still, Penn Engineering freshman Derek Dahmer that Penn's individualized essay questions add a distinctive flavor to the application and could help Penn attract a more diverse range of students.
He said that Penn's planned use of a supplement to the Common Application is a good idea because it could require applicants "to answer the really unique questions" that Penn might ask.
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