You asked if Penn is going to waitlist a student if they can’t meet their needs, the answer is Penn has the ability to meet the needs of every student that they want. So if you are what they are looking for, they will definitely meet your needs. But let’s say they are looking for someone that plays sports and wants to study law from the waitlist and there’s you and another applicant that fits this quality, and the other applicant appears to be full pay, they will prefer them offer you, that’s when the disadvantage comes in. So it’s really about how much they want you and if you are really that unique.
Here’s an update I got from Admissions today when I emailed them.
Penn Admissions (Undergraduate Admissions)
Jun 7, 2021, 9:55 AM EDT
This year was the most competitive in Penn’s history, receiving over 56,000 applications, bringing our admission rate to around 6%. Waitlist decisions reflected both a positive view of the applicant’s potential and our space constraints. Our matriculated class is 2,400 while there are tens of thousands of high schools in the United States alone, meaning we cannot offer admission to many incredibly talented students.
Our class is nearly complete, and any waitlist activity will be limited in size and scope. While we appreciate our waitlisted students’ continued interest, we urge students to prepare in the event they are not admitted to Penn. We plan to use the waitlist, on a limited and rolling basis, through June; however, we encourage all students to consider the options available to them and prepare in the event they are not admitted to Penn. We expect to provide updated information to all waitlisted applicants in mid-June regarding their waitlist status.
Based upon their numbers it looks like their acceptance rate was more like 4% Congratulations to those students that got in and to those that didn’t, good luck at your chosen schools. While it may not be UPenn, I’m sure your other school will be awesome and honestly, UPenn missed out!
I don’t want to be rude at all to @FLMom8 but whatever she has stated is way off than what my counselor was told. I will have to keep that confidential though. Either, Penn Admissions have changed their minds or maybe one of us is stating wrong facts. All that I want to say is that, it is very wierd to imagine the admissions office saying anything about tens of thousands of high schools in the United States because that is very unlikely, in my opinion atleast. Students from all over the world apply to Penn and no, the number of high schools has never been an issue. It has been like that for years.
First of all, if they are full, they are not allowed to inform anyone in the first place that how the class is filling up and secondly, the statement “Waitlist decisions reflected both a positive view of the applicant’s potential and our space constraints” is slightly awkward as well because all the waitlist decisions are not out so why will they talk of it as something that has been done already? And what’s the positive view in space constraints?
I am really apologetic though if I hurt @FLMom8 in any way. That is not the intention at all. I am just trying to reason it in a logical way such that the entire thread is able to understand what’s what. And if these are false rumours, then I sincerely would like to speak against this practice. Waitlists have already put so much stress on the applicants and false rumours are the last thing that we need right now.
Again, I could be wrong and I am sorry if that’s the case. But y’all, please don’t lose hope! There’s nothing like a “no” until they officially give us that “no” - and I hope that doesn’t happen for most of us!
FYI, what I posted was EXACTLY what was sent to me by UPenn Admissions. I didn’t make it up unfortunately. Not sending false info. I literally cut and paste exactly what they replied.
I think they’re just making sure you’re moving forward with other plans so they don’t have you waiting for naught. It’s realistic to think the possibility is slim and maybe there’s a glimmer of hope but they don’t want you giving up other opportunities elsewhere.
In our case, we are moving forward and IF by chance and luck and God willing my D is notified she made it, we’ll probably switch gears to go to UPenn but otherwise, we will go where she chose as her 2nd choice. And that by no way is a shabby choice either. As always hoping for the best for all.
To be honest, what you have posted is the same exact words that Penn admissions have been saying (I’ve called multiple times so I’m very familiar with their official sayings). The only thing that I’ve not heard before is the tens of thousands of high schools and I think that it shouldn’t really matter because it has always been this way (the number of applications are the only thing that matter), however the chance of this email being fake is very slim because it’s not like it’s giving us info that we’ve never heard before (it’s basically restating known facts) and I personally don’t see the intention for someone to post a fake email at this point on this thread.
It’s June already. Most schools have their classes done and are done/almost done with their WL. They may pick one or two off the WL, but not many. The freshman class are meeting their advisors and choosing their courses right now.
The point is that the US has thousands of high schools that produce amazing applicants…for example each of them has a valedictorian and salutatorian so 20,000+ kids that graduated at the top of their class and that doesn’t include the athletes, donor kids, legacies, Olympic contenders, computer geniuses etc….and Penn’s incoming class is 2500 students so there’s never enough room for all the highly qualified candidates.
International applicants have it even tougher because they make up a very small percentage of the class.
Bottom line, getting off the waitlist is like winning Powerball, everyone hopes it will be them but in the end it’s incredibly unlikely to happen.
That email is saying that…you’re all highly qualified but Penn doesn’t have room for all qualified applicants. They waitlisted you because there’s a chance you might be in the class if a space opens up. But that chance is small.
Being hopeful is fine, but don’t let it become an obsession. You’re all amazing, smart, gifted people who will have great achievements wherever you go to school!
Actually they accepted more students than 2,400, more like 3,300. Usually they know their yield and lots of admitted kids will have other options so they admitted way more than the matriculated class of 2,400. That’s why they didn’t have to pull a lot from WL, too.
I know it’s useless and won’t change anything now, but I want to send an update. Where should I email? I sent two emails previously to the international team mail address but didn’t receive confirmation for both. Where should I send this one?
Guys come on, it’s time to face this result directly and move on. Decide what you’re going to do in the next year and be excited for it! This college admissions process is not going to define who we are and who we will become. Life is not about what it is but what we make out of it. We have to admit that all of us either did not work to our fullest ability or it was just up to luck but no matter what it was, this should serve as a memorable experience and a motivating force for our future. The past mistakes and failures does not matter because it has passed, it’s only scary if we don’t get over the past. Again, everyone on this thread are amazing people and I’m sure we’ll all achieve something great in the future!
(I also think that there’s no point of discussing if someone is giving false information because at this point it doesn’t really matter and we all know the chances are basically none)
I feel like the only reason they’re still holding on to the waitlist is because of international students. Due to Covid-19 travel bans and visa restrictions, there might a number of international students who deferred their acceptance. Also, the deadline to defer your admission was last Friday. So, this week, they might be only working on filling the spots of missing international students. However, for us domestic students, I have no idea if we still have another chance
This is probably true. I am an international student and I can’t get my visa right now. My visa appointment is in December 2022 for the school that I will start in August 2021.
Congratulations to those students that got in and to those that didn’t, good luck at your chosen schools. While it may not be UPenn, I’m sure your other school will be awesome and honestly, UPenn missed out!