Class of 2012: The face of the freshman class

About 2,430 new students from all 50 states and every continent except Antarctica will arrive at Penn in the next several days, bearing New Student Orientation wristbands and an anticipation of their next four years on campus.

Presenting the freshmen Class of 2012: bigger, brighter and the best at Penn - until next year, at least.

"Each class beats the previous one by all measures - SAT score, GPA, extracurriculars, diversity, legacy," said Penn President Amy Gutmann. "Not that we're competitive or anything."

They're smarter: Average SAT scores of incoming freshmen went up this year from 2137 to 2153 out of a possible 2400.

They're more diverse: The number of black students in the Class of 2012 increased from 202 last year to 231 this year, the number of Latino freshmen went up from 132 to 182 and the number of Asian Americans increased from 504 to 569.

"While this is typically true of every new class at Penn, this group is notable for its global reach," said former interim Dean of Admissions Eric Kaplan, who was responsible for admitting this year's class - the first class in 30 years not to be selected by former admissions dean Lee Stetson, who resigned last August.

They're also more international: The Class of 2012 is made up of 332 students from abroad, up from 311 students last year.

"In Europe, the American reputation is very low right now because of all the politics happening here, but what's interesting is that the education system is very highly valued," said College freshman Sarah Heinz, a native of Belgium.

"From an international standpoint, many more students are looking to move out of the countryside," said Federico Nusymowicz, who is originally from Buenos Aires and decided to matriculate into Wharton due to its high reputation in his home country.

But the incoming freshmen are more than just a set of statistics. There are musicians and scientists, entrepreneurs and Olympic hopefuls.

Nursing student Jaclyn Gage has performed bird-calling on "The Late Show With David Letterman." College freshman and aspiring neurosurgeon Steven Vaughn-Lewis was homeless before his science research landed him a spot at Penn.

And what many of this year's freshmen have in common is a strong enthusiasm in the political realm.

"We're a very cohesive group -very political and interested in the things that are going on and we want to make a difference," said Vaughn-Lewis. "We won't stand on the sidelines and watch the world go by."

That activism is largely due to this year's presidential election, which for many freshmen is their first opportunity to take part in the electoral process.

"We're really excited that the first chance we can vote, we can make history," said Vaughn-Lewis.

"We've all been following the elections from the very beginning," said College freshman Adam Ortega, who attended last year's John Legend concert at Penn in support of Barack Obama.

That political activism has had other consequences, too.

"I think we've become a lot more accepting with each class," said College freshman Doug Haefele. "A lot more students participated in the elections process this year so I think that has something to do with it," said Haefele.

That activity extends to a social level, where, more so than previous years, 2012 students took the initiative to meet classmates through Facebook and pre-orientation programs before classes ever start.

That trend is especially on the rise among the increasing number of international students hoping to connect with future classmates in the U.S.

"I met my current roommate at a Harvard summer program," said Nusymowicz.

Even the University caught on to the social networking hype when they decided to purchase the "Official UPenn Class of 2012 Group."

"We took out the domain name because we knew Facebook has become the central venue for student connections and discussions," said David Fox, director of NSO. "And it has certainly turned out to be as effective as we hoped."

Engineering freshman Christine Li agreed, saying she thought it made students more prepared than past freshmen to start life on campus.

"The proof will be in the pudding to see how the freshman class does," said Gutmann. "They have a whole year to exalt in their accomplishments."

What those accomplishments exactly are, though, can be vague.

Said Wharton freshman Faye Cheng, "I heard 2012 is the most attractive class ever."

That's for Penn students to find out this year.

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