<p>We didn’t accept more students overall (the rate only increased by .1%, recall), we simply evened out the playing field.</p>
<p>So, instead of accepting 20 students from Florida and 300 from NY, Penn accepts 40 from Florida and 280 from NY. Still accepting the same OVERALL number, but the distribution is different. This makes Penn appear even more selective in areas where it was already extremely popular - New York, Boston, Baltimore - and increases exposure at schools where it had been relatively unknown - i.e., the entire south and midwest.</p>
<p>Does this make sense to you? This is very similar to what Furda did at Columbia. Mind you, it can take a while for this sort of thing to pan out; I believe Columbia only saw the upswing after about 6 or 7 years. But things are different now. High School students are hyper-aware of things like US News (where Penn continues to kick butt) and “brand names.” Penn is definitely benefiting from both of these.</p>