U. accepts 52% early decision for Class of '99

Admission rate up by 2% Nearly 52 percent of early decision applicants will receive acceptance letters from the University this week, according to Admissions Dean Lee Stetson. Though nearly two percent more students were accepted early than last year, Stetson attributes the difference to an increase of more than 100 applications. "We were able to accept a larger class while still maintaining quality," he said. "We've seen an increasing number of students choosing Penn as their first choice." The 835 accepted students will make up 36 percent of the incoming class of 1999, with an additional four percent coming from deferred applicants. Women make up 49 percent of the accepted students, an all-time University high. The College of Arts and Sciences accepted 540 students from their 1,088 applications, with only one student admitted early to the International Studies Program. The School of Engineering and Applied Science admitted 85, nearly 48 percent of their applicants, with 24 accepted to the Management and Technology program. "We've been doing a lot to acquaint people to the fact that Penn Engineering is a pretty exciting place to be," said Engineering Dean Gregory Farrington. "And in general, our application pool has been rising over the last four or five years. "Since about five years ago, our applications have been up between 20 and 25 percent -- that's my rough estimate," he added. The School of Nursing accepted 27 students early out of 32 applications, and the Wharton School admitted 193 students out of 329 applicants. Of the total number of accepted students, 33 percent are international students, representing 20 countries from around the world including Australia, China, Egypt, Ireland, Malaysia and Singapore. Minorities make up 21 percent of the accepted pool with 184 students -- 21 more than last year. Of these minorities, Asians account for 131 students, blacks for 24 students and Hispanics for 28. Only one Native American student was accepted early. The number of black students is down five from last year, but Stetson said this total "tends to go back and forth." The pool of accepted students is also geographically diverse, with only 10 states still unrepresented. The South Atlantic and West both saw increases in applications, with the Middle Atlantic -- New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania -- accounting for 55 percent of accepted students. Stetson said that many states reached all-time high numbers of applications, including California, Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In Philadelphia, 31 students were admitted -- 11 more than last year -- with 28 from public schools. There was a 59 percent admit rate for children of alumni, since "a measure of preference is given to alumni kids in the early decision period," Stetson said. He added that the quality of SAT scores, achievement test scores and class rank is "approximately the same as last year." Accepted students on average ranked in the top five percent of their class, with SATs in the 60th percentile for the verbal section and 69th for math. Achievement scores averaged in the 63rd percentile. "Our applicant pool was just as strong as last year," Stetson said. "It has allowed us to be very selective. "There's been a rising tide of interest in Penn," he added. "It's a testament to how well Penn is perceived." Stetson said that the regular admissions applications are "running ahead of last year," with estimated total number of applications at nearly 14,000. "Early applications are significant in the sense that they represent people who have really made up their minds about Penn," Farrington said. "We have an increasing number of people who have excellent judgement."

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