<p>Here’s a story from today’s DP about the rise in ED applications at Penn this year. What do you guys attribute the rise to? What’s the buzz about Penn at your high schools and is it different than in years past?</p>
<p>More students applied early decision to Penn this year than to any other Ivy League school.</p>
<p>But no one can say exactly why.</p>
<p>This year, 4,148 students applied early to Penn, a 21 percent increase over last year. Harvard and Yale had nearly 4,000, while Princeton and Columbia had fewer than 2,300.</p>
<p>While applications to Penn have been rising for some time, this sudden spike has left even members of the administration looking for answers.</p>
<p>“Why it happened in one year, I have no idea,” Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson said. “There’s no sudden thing this year.”</p>
<p>David Hawkins, director of public policy for the National Association for College Admission Counseling, agreed that it is hard to pinpoint a reason for the sudden increase, calling applications “fickle.”</p>
<p>“The standard increase seems to be in the single-digit range for the Ivies,” Hawkins said. “Generally, when you see a change that big, you look for something that came out of the admissions or financial-aid offices.”</p>
<p>Some have called attention to the fact that Penn fills almost half of each class from the early decision pool, suggesting that applicants are beginning to play the system to their maximum advantage.</p>
<p>Stetson said that “there is no indication of that whatsoever,” as the University has had the same early-decision policy for many years. He pointed out that Princeton, which “takes close to 50 percent” of each class early, has not seen a similar increase and still lags far behind in applicants.</p>
<p>Instead, Stetson believes that a number of developments are “converging in [Penn’s] favor” this year, citing recent recognition in major publications and the expansion of Penn’s focus on interdisciplinary programs.</p>
<p>For instance, the Kaplan College Guide said Penn was “hottest” for having students happy with their situation.</p>
<p>“It has to be a reflection of Penn’s rising visibility,” Stetson said. “It has to be by deduction that it’s a Penn image thing.”</p>
<p>Hawkins finds this explanation plausible.</p>
<p>“It could really be anything,” he said. “It certainly could have something to do with positive word-of-mouth.”</p>
<p>Canh Oxelson, a dean at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, said that while Penn has been popular with students at his school for some time, the University admissions staff has recently been very active in trying to improve Penn’s image beyond its traditional Northeast base, in areas such as California.</p>
<p>Early applications from students in California rose to 352 from 241 this year.</p>
<p>Several years of recruiting could be paying dividends now, though it’s impossible to say if the numbers will be the same next year, or if regular decision applications will be similarly high.</p>
<p>“I’ve definitely seen Penn and their profile rise here in southern California,” said Oxelson, who used to work for Penn admissions. Students “see Penn everywhere here.”</p>