Penn offers admission to 9.4 percent of applicants

Hear those cries and screams? It's that time again. Ivy League universities are announcing their admission decisions.

The University of Pennsylvania, which released its decisions at 5 p.m., admitted 9.4 percent or 3,661 of its applicants, not much different than last year. Among those admitted to the class of 2020 are 1,332 students who came in through early decision.

Students who applied regular decision had a tougher time than the overall group. Roughly six percent of that pool made the cut.

Nearly 39,000 students applied, the largest pool in the university's history.

It was even tougher at Princeton, another Ivy, which offered admission to 6.46 percent of students.

At Penn, accepted students come from all 50 states with the highest number from Pennsylvania, 542, followed by New York, 422, California, 393, and New Jersey, 306. Among those from Pennsylvania are 172 from Philadelphia.
Thirteen percent are the first in their family to attend college, and nearly half are minority students. Fourteen percent are legacies, meaning they had a parent or grandparent attend Penn.

Penn said it will look to enroll a freshman class of 2,445 students. Accepted students have until May 1 to reply.
Also this week, Swarthmore College, another elite school in the region, announced that it had admitted 12 percent or 963 of its applicants. The college expects to enroll a class of about 420.

The college said 59 percent of its admitted students come from public schools including charters and 23 percent are the first in their families to attend college. Admitted students come from six continents, 70 nations and 49 states, with California having the most, followed by New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. About 43 percent of the students come from schools that report class rank, and of those 34 percent are valedictorians or salutatorians, the college said.