Here is a corresponding article from the Daily Pennsylvanian:
Agreed. @TannerM1: Did Penn provide alumni interviewers a breakdown of accepted/denied/deferred? If so, I would be very interested in that information.
Also, there is no data and there has been no announced policy change regarding Pennâs approach to legacy applicants. That narrative is driven by some Penn alumni who have posted about their students not getting admitted. Some of them have, in turn, assumed Dean Soule has de-prioritized legacy status in Pennâs process. At this point, however, itâs conjecture based on anecdotes.
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8000 students applied this year, the largest number in Penn ED history.
Test optional is messing up stats. All schools are seeing record applications over the past couple years. The absolute number of acceptances is the same. Perception however is that acceptance rates are lower. Itâs getting tough out there.
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Have to say as an interviewer and having spoken to others who do alumni interviews its hard to understand the role of the interview. ( only admissions committee knows)
Is is possible to be admitted without an interview - yes
Is it possible to have a poor interview or poor interview evaluation and be admitted - yes
Is it possible to have an amazing interview and interview evaluation and have amazing applications and not be admitted - yes
With respect to glaring flaws that may be uncovered in an interview. Even in that case you never know what admissions cares about. I have had students who were not prepared for the interview, knew little about the school, even didnât seem enthusiastic about the school (which was conveyed in a report) and were still admitted and visa versa. As an interviewer you are not privy to the rest of the application and the admission decision may be already set depending upon what the school is looking for (athletes, first gen percent, minority percent, national or global distributions, specific program needs etc.) A 30 minute interview with an alumnist who has little direct contact with the institution and is often times many years removed from the institution has little bearing. Some have even felt the interview serves little in the overall process other than making an alumnist feel connected to an institution possibly inducing contributions. Yes the student may learn a little more about a school but talking to an alumnist who graduated 20 years ago is of little value as it is not the same school they went to. You get more about talking to current students or staff.
Iâm often asked by students who are stretching for questions the corny question of âwhat traditions did you like the most aboutâŠâ (this is a packaged question coaches offer to students about interviews and is meant to make the alumnist feel at home and nostolgic - but is not important since many of those traditions do not exist any more).
I put weight in an interview on how the student is prepared for the interview, what they know about the school and good questions (not the generalized preprepared or coached questions like the above or how has x school influenced your career? - In my case undergrad had little impact on my career - after grad school, post grad school programs, work, changing jobs etc -). Even with that a glowing interview report will likely have little impact on admissions and a glaringly poor one is not an instant cause for rejection ( obviously if someone reveals they are an axe murderer that may make a difference - but only the admissions committee knows and unless you are an admissions officer its hard to speculate.
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Got Deferred
Sorry to hear you were deferred but the good news is you still have a chance of being admitted in the RD round. Approximately 16% of deferred applicants are eventually admitted. For now, (1) continue working hard in your classes because Penn will want to see your midyear grades; (2) consider writing a letter of continuing interest highlighting any additional awards or accomplishments and reinforcing your commitment to attend should you be admitted and (3) fall in love with the other schools on your list. Youâll want to meet all upcoming RD deadlines to ensure you have good choices next spring. Best of luck to you.
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Its a rumor that has been out since the new dean took over before the 2022 admission cycle. Legacy, double, triple, quadruple etc has less and less advantage at many places who are are trying to make it fairer to applicants. Penn has been very legacy weighted in the past and is becoming less so in the past few cycles (possibly new admissions dean). Its a balancing act between being âfairerâ and risking âalumni supportâ. With an applicant whose family is a casual alumni supporter/donor who is not active in alumni affairs it probably makes little difference to them if you are a legacy but with big donors it may be a different story. Many of the recent legacy admits from our area have been applicants who families were big financial supporters or very active in alumni relations (local alumni club presidents, etc).
Yes if you are/ were deferred in ED your RD chances are still 2-3x greater than a straight RD application in the RD round. But Penn does not disclose how many ED deferrals it makes so if there are roughly 8000 ED applicants and 15% are accepted (1200 or half the class) then 6800 were rejected or deferred. Without knowing the deferral rate number its hard to guess how many ED deferrals are actually accepted. There are roughly an additional 32k (last few years) straight RD applications + the ED deferrals to consider. Also compounding things are the athletes and other special programs who have already been accepted making up the additional 12-1300 spots available after ED. So if the ED deferral rate is small then an RD acceptance of 15% from the initial ED/deferral pool is encouraging (a thought in the Stamford application process), but if the ED/deferral rate is several thousand (Like the Michgan EA process) out of the 6800 who were deferred or rejected then a deferral even at 15% means only a small number of slots in the RD round⊠that is the mystery Penn does not disclose to avoid people having significantly high hopes or low hopes if deferred.
Donât sweat it. If deferred plan for plans B, C, D etc. Write your continued letter of interest next month and roll the dice if you are interested in RD round. If not try EDII if there is another school and you are willing to give Penn up if accepted. If you donât get in to another place ED2 then the Penn deferral is still there. Plan for an alternate school in RD round (remember there is still 85% chance you wont get in - which is much better than U CHicago EA deferrals who are basically asked to turn their EA referrals into an ED2 application and if you donât do that there is a less than 1% chance of an EA deferral being accepted in RD).
This all comes from personal experience in the 2022 process from my D (double legacy, top student 4.0, great ECs, etc) who was deferred ED and did not get in RD but is very happy where she landed recently telling me sheâs glad she didnât go to Penn for undergrad. Sour grapes? Maybe? But in the long run it doesnât matter and wasnât worth the angst she went through worrying about it last year.
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This is not true - if you look at the Admissions page regarding legacies, it just reads that legacies will be given full consideration - like every other candidate. Prior to 2021 and Whitney Soule, this same page noted that alums consider themselves part of the Penn âfamilyâ and their children would be given every consideration, esp if applying ED. Eric Furda was a Penn grad himself and very pro-legacy. Soule is not a Penn grad and doesnât care.
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Admissions still scores âalignmentâ with Penn as it reviews applications, which still allows legacy consideration. The change in website language is a nuance, but there is no data indicating any material decline in legacy admissions. None.
No one outside of Pennâs administration can say where it sits, and no one but Dean Soule can speak to her own biases or motivations, and to my knowledge, she has not voiced anything about de-emphasizing legacy connections. (I anticipate, however, that Penn and other schools will start to walk back from legacy admissions in a more public way after the Supreme Court rules on the Harvard and UNC cases.)
Although I am holding out for data before reaching a conclusion, I will say that there are many legacies amongst the Class of 2026 Quakers I have met, not that thatâs a representative sample.
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Are Penn RD decisions rolling or announced on a particular day?
Penn usually announces RD decisions in late March along with the rest of the Ivy League (colloquially known as Ivy Day).
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When should I be sending a LOCI?
Early February would be a good time to send a letter of continued interest. They should be nearly done reviewing RD apps and ready to circle back for a review of deferred applicants. You can send the letter directly to your regional AO.
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My son is a recruited athlete, academic pre-read thumbs up, legacy, 4.0 at top 100 high school and 1500 SAT. Deferred with full support to CAS. still in shock.
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17% deferred
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This is not correct. Penn has released no data on this whatsoever. Penn has not even stated how many students it admitted ED for the class of 2027.
Also, Penn Regional Reps have casually mentioned during visits to high schools that Penn no longer considers legacy.
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Regional rep estimated that 10% of the deferred applicants will be admitted RD this year.
A Penn Regional Rep said during high school visits that Penn no longer considers legacy under Dean Soule. Penn has released no data on the most recent ED cycle other than they got âover 8000 applicationsâ - no other data released whatsoever. Penn has also made no announcement regarding a change in legacy policy. Put two and two together - they quietly changed their legacy policy and didnât tell alumni, because once alumni know, donations will go decrease.
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