Admit rate rises to 17.1 percent | Interactive graph

This afternoon, 3,926 high-school seniors will receive exciting news as they read their Penn acceptance letters online.

Penn accepted the nearly 4,000 students out of a pool of 22,939 applicants -- an overall admit rate of 17.11 percent for the class of 2013.

By contrast, acceptances increased from last year, when the University took 3,902 students out of 22,935 last year, including 170 from the wait list in May and June - a rate of 17.01 percent.

This year, 2,411 students were accepted to the College of Arts and Sciences, 837 to the School of Engineering and Applied Science, 544 to Wharton and 134 to the School of Nursing, according to Dean of Admissions Eric Furda.

Although he declined to reveal acceptance rates for the individual schools, Furda explained that the level of competitiveness has been consistent in recent years.

"Traditionally, the dual-degree programs have been the most competitive, then Wharton, then the College, then Engineering and then Nursing," he said.

Overall, average SAT scores went up from 2,160 last year to 2,175 this year, revealing what Furda called "a marginal increase in quality" in this year's applicant pool.

The accepted group is even more diverse than last year's, as Penn has continued to reach out to students of various backgrounds.

Forty-seven percent of the accepted students are minorities, including 424 blacks, 373 Latinos, 1,017 Asian Americans and 23 Native Americans.

This is an overall increase of 3 percent, and the number of Asian-Americans increased dramatically, up from 851 last year.

Penn also took seven more international students, for a total of 478 acceptances from 77 countries around the world.

Furda emphasized that Penn is reaching out to students "from a wide variety of socioeconomic backgrounds," noting that 101 of the accepted students went through QuestBridge, a program linking top colleges with low-income youth, in some form.

He also noted that Penn diversified by accepting more students from the South Atlantic -- Texas, Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas - and the Midwest, a reflection of "where the demographic growth is in this country."

Furda said he looks forward to meeting many of the accepted students at Penn Previews in the next few weeks and emphasized "just how strong a class this is going to be."

Regular-decision admissions decisions will be available online at 5 p.m. via the MyPenn Admissions Portal.

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