Students, parents get insider's look at admissions process

In front of about 40 attendees in College Hall, three Penn regional admissions directors discussed useful strategies applicants should use when choosing a college and revealed the criteria they think about when determining which students to admit. "A lot goes into this process," Admissions Dean Lee Stetson explained. "What we want to do [tonight] is to try to demystify that." And for schools like Penn -- where, according to Stetson, applications have soared from 7,500 to 18,000 annually over the past 20 years -- the process has become that much more complex. Among other pieces of advice, the speakers stressed to the applicants the importance of making a list of six to eight possible schools of varying levels of selectivity, visiting those campuses and polishing the admissions application. For their part, the admissions directors will begin the school year by traveling to roughly four high schools each day, five days a week. They meet with students, distribute information and get to know the particulars of each school in their region. When the University's total 15 regional directors return to campus, they must read more than 17,000 applications in their entirety. Afterward, the directors present every applicant in their region to a committee of faculty and alumni, which votes on whether or not to accept their applications. And as the speakers pointed out, that decision is not simply based on grades and SAT scores. "Our goal is to bring the most exciting group of students to school here each year," Stetson said. Thus, he explained, many competent candidates are rejected annually. Gwynne Lynch, a regional director who works closely with high schools and applicants from Washington, D.C., Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia, said that no fewer than 80 percent of the applicants to Penn's Class of 2003 were capable of handling Penn's academics. Since only about a quarter of those who apply are admitted to Penn, admissions committees must look to more subjective factors to make the cuts, choosing students who are most likely to exploit the opportunities available at Penn. Still, circumstances -- such as ethnicity, place of origin, legacy status and relationship to a Penn employee -- rather than just individual merit, often play a major role in the process, Lynch said. Athletes and those who have a talent that is in high demand typically gain admission more easily than other applicants, she added. Regional director Leslie Smith said most colleges are seeing a marked increase in early-decision applications because students are starting to look at colleges earlier. "I've seen an increase in the number of schools students are visiting," Smith said, adding she met one student from Hawaii who was on a six-month tour of colleges. Admissions directors downplayed the significance of SAT scores, saying there was no cut-off at Penn. But they did say that SATs provide a valuable way of comparing students from diverse backgrounds. All students -- except those from Iraq and China, where the SAT is not offered -- must take the test to be admitted to Penn. High school junior John Guinan, of the Haverford School, was pleasantly surprised by portions of the seminar, saying that he was unaware there was no minimum SAT requirement, nor did he realize admissions officers read students' entire applications. A similar seminar will be held today in College Hall.