U. gets much more selective

Admissions selectivity increased at Penn, with 71 percent of Class of 2002 applicants rejected. The largest number of Quaker wannabes ever received depressingly thin envelopes in the mail last week -- 71 percent, to be exact. Admission to the University was more selective this year than ever before. Of the 16,651 students who submitted applications, an all-time high, only 4,837 were offered spots in the Class of 2002, an acceptance rate of only 29 percent, according to Admissions Dean Lee Stetson. Last year, by contrast, 31 percent of applicants were admitted to the class of 2001. In 1996, the admission rate was 30 percent; in 1995, 33 percent. The Penn Admissions Office saw increased application numbers this year while applications to five other Ivy League schools declined or remained steady. Those accepted are very well-prepared academically, according to Stetson. He said the average SAT I score went up 18 points, from 1,383 last year to 1,401 this year. Broken down, the average verbal score increased to 689 from 680, and the average math score went up to 712 from 703. And the average student accepted to the Class of 2002 is in the top 2 percent of the student's graduating class, compared to the top 3 percent last year. Of those offered admission, 581 will graduate as valedictorians and 227 as salutatorians. Stetson also noted that of those whom Admissions rejected, 45 percent were in the top 10 percent of the respected class, 297 are expected to graduate with valedictorian status and 210 as salutatorians. "We are heartened by the excellent quality of the class," Stetson said. "The students bring a lot of diversity, and if our [matriculation rate] holds up, which I think it will, we will have an exceptional Class of 2002." The record-breaking number of applications this year was an 8 percent increase from last year. And the Admissions Office was also more selective in its early-admission process, accepting only 37 percent of early applicants, down from 44 percent in 1997. About one-third of the total applicants admitted were accepted early, Stetson said. In addition, the accepted pool of applicants is geographically diverse, according to Stetson, who said 486 students, or about 10 percent of those admitted, hail from foreign countries. This figure beats out the previous high of 472 international acceptances in 1996. Overall, students accepted to the Class of 2002 represent six continents and 75 countries. Domestically, Stetson also reported all-time highs of acceptances from at least seven different states. From Maryland, 212 applicants were accepted, breaking the previous record of 199 set in 1992; the 506 from California beat last year's mark of 467; 30 from Oregon, up from the high of 27 in 1995; 49 from Washington, up from 45 in 1995; 49 from Colorado, up from last year's high of 45; 11 from Idaho, up from eight last year; and five from Wyoming, beating 1996's record of four applicants. Overall, 19 percent of those accepted hail from western states; 10 percent from the Midwest; and 60 percent from the Atlantic coast. Of the 198 Philadelphia residents accepted, 51 students were named Mayor's Scholars. The 34 Mayor's Scholars in the Class of 2001 received an average of $20,633 in need-based financial aid, mainly in grants. In terms of ethnic diversity, the Class of 2002 should end up relatively similar to the Class of 2001. Forty percent of those accepted are students of color, same as last year. Of those students offered admission, 373 are black, as opposed to the 398 accepted last year; 292 Latino applicants were accepted, compared with 310 last year; 1,258 Asian Americans, 37 more than last year; and 13 Native Americans, four fewer than in 1997. Despite the small decreases in several minority groups, Stetson stressed that the numbers should be consistent with last year's after students are accepted off the waiting list. Women comprise about half of those admitted to the Class of 2002, as 2,412, or about 49.9 percent, are female. By contrast, Stetson noted that in 1983, only 44 percent of admitted students were women. And alumni influence has remained steady, as 8 percent of those accepted are legacies, about the same as last year.