Incoming frosh most selective class ever at U.

Penn accepted only 26.6 percent of applicants for next year's Class of 2003. The acceptance rate fell to its lowest in University history this year, with admissions officials announcing yesterday that they had accepted 26.6 percent of applicants into Penn's Class of 2003. Only 4,703 applicants received acceptance letters from a pool of more than 17,600, Admissions Dean Lee Stetson said. The admission rate is a continuation of the University's steep, decade-long decline, down from 29.2 percent last year and 47 percent in 1991. "It was a very selective year," Stetson said. "It was a deeper pool [of applicants] than we've seen." Earlier this year, admissions officials had predicted that the rate of admission would fall to 27 percent. Stetson said the decrease from last year's rate was a "further [fall] than we expected." The number of applicants for admission also reached a record level this year -- admissions officers considered 6.1 percent more applications than they did last year. Approximately 40 percent of the Class of 2003 will be comprised of students who applied early decision. In addition to the overall decrease in the rate of admission to the University, each of the four undergraduate schools saw decreases in their rates of admission. The College of Arts and Sciences accepted 27.4 percent -- or 3,050 out of 11,122 applicants -- down from 30.1 percent last year. The School of Engineering and Applied Science accepted 32.9 percent of its applicants, down from 37.5 percent; the Wharton School accepted 17 percent of its applicants, down slightly from 17.2 percent; and the Nursing School accepted 43.4 percent of its applicants, down from 60.4 percent. Admission offers were made to 2,326 women this year, representing 49.5 percent of all acceptances, down less than half a percent from last year. And minority applicants -- including African-American, Latino, Asian-American and Native American students -- make up 40.6 percent of admitted students, a slight increase from last year. But that number falls significantly, to 14.6 percent, when Asian Americans are not included. Fewer Asian-American and Native American students were offered admission this year than last year, while offers to African-American and Latino applicants increased slightly. The portion of admitted students from foreign countries increased to 10.5 percent this year, up from 9.8 percent last year. Within the United States, several states had record numbers of admitted students, including Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, North Carolina and Utah. Stetson said he expected Pennsylvania to have the largest number of students enroll, noting that 200 students from Philadelphia were offered admission to the University, a slight increase from last year. This year's group of admitted students also has higher average academic credentials than last year's, with the average student graduating in the top 2 percent of his or her class with an average combined SAT score of 1407, up from 1401 last year. The overall quality of applicants increased at each of the four undergraduate schools, Stetson said, though the improvements were "probably a shade stronger in Engineering, academically." The yield for admitted students is expected to remain at about 50 percent, Stetson said, with a target of 2,350 students for the next freshman class. The other seven schools in the Ivy League "will continue to be our heaviest challenge" in competing to get accepted students to enroll, Stetson said. The University is holding special Penn Preview programs in Logan Hall for accepted students during the next three weeks, he added. Students who visit the campus enroll at a rate of 65 to 70 percent, while those who do not visit enroll at a rate of about 30 percent, Stetson noted. And Stetson had positive predictions for the University's application numbers and selectivity in the future. Visits by high school juniors last month were 40 percent higher than during the same period last year, he said. "I think Penn's visibility is constantly rising," he said, noting that an "urban education is more attractive" than it had been in past years.