Recruitment boosts foreign admissions

Students accepted to Penn are being congratulated in more languages than ever before.

The University's number of Early Decision acceptances for international students reached an all-time high this year, and admissions officials say it's a product of Penn's emerging popularity abroad.

Penn accepted 112 international students in the Early Decision part of the admissions season this year, up from 100 last year.

Students from abroad represented 9.5 percent of all students accepted, a new record, Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson said.

Admissions officials credit a conscious effort on the part of the University to recruit abroad for the increasing presence of international students on campus.

Stetson said that Penn often recruits alongside peer universities, citing instances where Penn and Harvard University officials traveled together in Africa, as well as joint sessions in Europe held by Penn and Georgetown, Duke and Stanford universities.

Recently, Penn and Brown University admissions staff traveled together to Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam.

Admissions officials travel to the Far East, Caribbean, India and Pakistan without other universities as well in order to mine "well-established areas" for prospective students, Director of International Transfer Admissions Elizabeth O'Connell said.

"The world is changing, and our applicant pool reflects that," she said.

And as more and more international students come to Penn, it will only spur more applicants to apply, O'Connell noted.

"The international presence feeds on itself," she said.

College admissions experts say that the school has always been in demand abroad and don't see this trend ending anytime soon.

"There's always been interest," said Jeannie Borin of College Connections in Los Angeles, citing the popularity of both the Wharton and Engineering schools abroad.

Nadine Warner, of Admissions Consultants Incorporated, Inc., pointed out that Penn's No. 7 U.S. News and World Report ranking is likely a significant factor for international students' decisions to apply to the University, especially for those who don't know a lot about the school.

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