Most Selective Undergrad School

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

I find it funny how everyone assumes Wharton must be the most selective school, but it’s actually the School of Nursing - their website even brags about it: https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/about/at-a-glance/

2

It is dubious. Engineering school also claimed that. Every school claims that it beats Wharton, except the college.

3

what about liberar arts college? My D wants to major in international relation.

4

@wingjuer That would be the College, which sounds like it is not the most selective of the four.

5

@CrisprCas9

I see that Nursing says it is the most selective on that link. I suppose it depends on how you define selective. Nursing is the smallest of the schools and doesn’t admit many students. I suppose if selective means admitting the fewest students, then it is the most selective.

Based on what I have seen, I think that Wharton and SEAS are the most selective in terms of admission rates. I think they are fairly similar, and I don’t know which is lower. They are both around 7% last time I heard about it. I think The College is around 10%. I don’t have any information about Nursing.

Historically, Wharton had the lowest admission rate, but SEAS has become very popular with the interest and demand for tech and engineering jobs.

6

It may be true.

Penn Nursing, 20% rate for class 2014 when Penn’s overall rate is 17.7%.(no latest figures). Nursing 's popularity also increases rapidly in the past few years. (application increased by 26% from class 2013)

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/869442-20-nursing-acceptance-rate-for-class-of-2014.html

7

@CrisprCas9 The dean of engineering has also sent emails to alumni in the past 3 years saying that SEAS has now the lowest acceptance rate. Many people think Wharton is a bit more selective than the rest because it is the best undergrad business school in the world and offers something unique that HYPSM doesn’t offer. Selectivity can be defined in many ways. So nobody really knows what is going on. And more importantly, why does it matter anyway? It doesn’t matter one bit. You will see if you get to Penn that students are similarly smart and driven across the different schools and socialize and interact with each other.