Penn switches to Common App

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>From Today’s DP. Little bit of a surprise.</p>

<p>Penn switches to Common App </p>

<p>Penn will still require a supplement to generic application, which is now used by 300 schools </p>

<p>Penn is exchanging its individualized application form for a more generic one.
The University plans to switch to the Common Application – a standard form accepted by 300 American colleges and universities – this July.</p>

<p>Penn denied the common application for years while its peer schools accepted it, but now the Admissions Department says that the Common Application will help Penn to attract a new demographic.</p>

<p>In February of 2005, Stetson told the Daily Pennsylvanian that Penn did not accept the Common Application because “the seriousness with which students use the common application is suspect.”</p>

<p>Until now, the University accepted only its own individualized application, which included two essays and several short answer questions.</p>

<p>The University will now require a supplement to the more bareboned Common Application. It will likely include previously used questions such as why applicants are applying to Penn and what the 217th page of their autobiography would say, according to Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Lee Stetson.</p>

<p>Stetson said that the switch was prompted by research and discussion with other schools that found that the application has been successful in reaching racial, ethnic, geographic and economic groups that are typically underrepresented. Reaching more students in those groups was the primary motivation for the change, he said.</p>

<p>Admissions officials also conducted a non-scientific survey of high school college counselors and found them comfortable with the Common Application.</p>

<p>Other schools have seen applications rise about 10 percent as a result of the application, Stetson said, adding that he expects a similar increase.</p>

<p>“I do plan to consult with other Ivy institutions to get their take on how it worked for them and what their challenges were,” said Stetson, who has already conferred with Princeton and Harvard universities.</p>

<p>Last year, Cornell and Princeton universities joined the Common Application, leaving Brown and Columbia as the only Ivies not accepting it.</p>

2

<p>Yup. It was announced on Feb 24th</p>

<p><a href="http://www.commonapp.org/index1.cfm?fuseaction=news&newsPgNm=NewsMain#News5%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.commonapp.org/index1.cfm?fuseaction=news&newsPgNm=NewsMain#News5&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>The fear has always been that you'd take too big of a yield hit if you went to the common app, since it was so "easy" to apply that the marginal new applicants would be of the less "committed" sort. This was the party line at Penn, Cornell, and even at Princeton and Yale.</p>

<p>And of course Penn's plan in recent years has been to increase yield by flogging ED to the max in order to obtain more "committed" applicants - even if the commitment was, at times, mainly strategic.</p>

<p>Now, when the ED fraction of the matriculant group has pushed up against the "magic" 50% barrier, the point of diminishing returns has been reached. If kids become aware that half thre seats are filled already, they lose heart about applying RD. </p>

<p>Penn is now in the position where a smaller fraction of its total apps come in the RD round than at any of the Ivies. These schools have endless needs for "diversity" of every kind - racial, ethnic, economic and geographic. This is where the RD pool comes in. To fill all the various diversity slots, you need numbers ... high numbers. </p>

<p>What has happened is that the desire for a high yield rate has bumped up against the need for "diversity."</p>

<p>The elites are trying to have it both ways via such devices as the "likely letter" - attempting to keep the RD yield rate from slipping by making your potential "ordinary" admits feel that they, too, are "special!" If you get positive feedback from the "likely" recipients, you can reduce the size of the RD admit group you'd otherwise need, and yield will be protected and even enhanced!</p>

<p>It has also been shown that a boom in RD applicants - committed or not - thanks to the common app, has the collateral effect of pushing the numbers up in the early pool - with its juicy 100% yield rate. The result is that the larger early pools provide greater options - diversity-wise, so that there aren't as many needs unmet when the time rolls around to fill in the roster from the RD pool.</p>

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<p>damn. only now they decide... their app was hell for me.</p>

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<p>yea i second that JimBob
arghhhhh</p>

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<p>I find this disappointing because I really like their individualized application. Now there will be a thousand more kids who will apply just to see if they can get in and they could be taking away spots from those of us who actually want to go to Penn.</p>

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<p>The change, of course, is not for YOUR benefit, but for PENN's!</p>

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<p>So, now there will be three essays (including the one from the common app) ? If that's the case, it doesn't really sound like an easier app to me!</p>

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<p>Everything is for Penn's benefit, even accepting us.</p>

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<p>i hate this idea in so many ways</p>

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<p>
[quote]

Now there will be a thousand more kids who will apply just to see if they can get in and they could be taking away spots from those of us who actually want to go to Penn.

[/quote]

What's wrong with a meritocracy?
If you deserve a spot at Penn you will get in.</p>

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<p>I wish..but that doesn't happen my friend. :)</p>

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<p>Will they hire more people to review? If the same number of staff is maintained yet applications increase dramatically, doesn't that calculate into less time spent scrutinizing each application?</p>

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<p>well, penn's acceptance rate might drop to like 15 percent</p>

<p>cornell's acceptance rate this year was 21 percent, accordng to Cornell's press release</p>

<p>2 years ago, it was 30 percent</p>

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<p>15% sounds lovely.</p>

<p>it sounds like the same app with another essay.
thats about it.</p>

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<p>They may make their second essay optional...thats what many schools do...theyd probably make the why penn required</p>