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Upenn College of Arts and Sciences Acceptance Rate

CITY & STATEPhiladelphia, PAPUBLIC/PRIVATEPrivateUNDERGRADUATE POPULATION^*13,437STUDENT POPULATION^*25,367NET PRICE^*$24,242AVERAGE GRANT AID^*$44,801TOTAL ANNUAL COST^*$71,715ALUMNI SALARY^‡$133,900ACCEPTANCE RATE^*9%SAT COMPOSITE RANGE^*1420-1560ACT COMPOSITE RANGE^*32-35WEBSITEwww.upenn.edu

• ^* Per the 2017-2018 final release data in IPEDS
• ^‡ The median salary for workers with 10 or more years of experience per Payscale.

Nearly 280 years after Benjamin Franklin broke new ground in founding the University of Pennsylvania, this Ivy League college’s students, alumni and faculty continue to blaze trails in leadership and excellence. It is a top choice for students who want high-academics and a robust social life. The Wharton School was the first collegiate business school in the world and is one or the largest of Penn’s four undergraduate schools—the others are the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and… Read MoreON FORBES LISTS#6Top Colleges 2019#6In Private Colleges#6In Research Universities#5In The NortheastAmerica’s Best Employers By State 2019#83America’s Best Value Colleges 2019PHOTOS

Upenn College Of Arts And Sciences Overview

The University of Pennsylvania is a top contender for any ambitious high school student with a penchant for intersecting scholarship with practical knowledge. Here, your child will have every opportunity to access a first-rate education for their intellectual life and career paths. Penn’s identity is very specific, so as you think about how to get into UPenn, your child should get to know the school. It’ll help them articulate how they fit perfectly into Penn’s unique intellectual culture.

The University of Pennsylvania is an Ivy League research university with an acceptance rate of 7.7%. While the Penn has a slightly higher rate of acceptance than Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, it is a highly selective school. To apply, students can use the Common Application, Coalition Application, or Questbridge Application. Penn has an Early Decision program that can improve admission chances for students who are sure the university is their top choice school.

Founded by Benjamin Franklin, Penn should not be confused with Penn State, a public university. From the University of Pennsylavania’s location in West Philadelphia, Center City is an easy walk across the Schuylkill River. With 10,000 undergraduates and 12,000 graduate students, Penn has a diverse and bustling urban campus. For its strengths in the liberal arts and sciences, Penn was awarded a chapter of ​Phi Beta Kappa, and its strength in research has earned it membership in the Association of American Universities.

Considering applying to this highly selective school? Here are the University of Pennsylvania admissions statistics you should know.

Acceptance Rate

During the 2018-19 admissions cycle, University of Pennsylvania had an acceptance rate of 7.7% This means that for every 100 students who applied, 7 students were admitted, making Penn’s admissions process highly competitive.

Admissions Statistics (2018-19)
Number of Applicants	44,961
Percent Admitted	7.7%
Percent Admitted Who Enrolled (Yield)	70%

SAT Scores and Requirements

University of Pennsylvania requires that all applicants submit either SAT or ACT scores. During the 2018-19 admissions cycle, 62% of admitted students submitted SAT scores.

SAT Range (Admitted Students)
Section	25th Percentile	75th Percentile
ERW	700	760
Math	750	800

ERW=Evidence-Based Reading and Writing

This admissions data tells us that most of Penn’s admitted students fall within the top 7% nationally on the SAT. For the evidence-based reading and writing section, 50% of students admitted to Penn scored between 700 and 760, while 25% scored below 700 and 25% scored above 760. On the math section, 50% of admitted students scored between 750 and 800, while 25% scored below 750 and 25% scored a perfect 800. Applicants with a composite SAT score of 1560 or higher will have particularly competitive chances at Penn.

Requirements

The University of Pennsylvania does not require the SAT writing section. Note that Penn superscores the SAT, which means that the admissions office will consider your highest score from each individual section across all SAT test dates. At Penn, SAT Subject tests are recommended but not required. Review the recommendations for your individual major regarding SAT Subject tests.

ACT Scores and Requirements

University of Pennsylvania requires that all applicants submit either SAT or ACT scores. During the 2018-19 admissions cycle, 38% of admitted students submitted ACT scores.

ACT Range (Admitted Students)
Section	25th Percentile	75th Percentile
English	34	36
Math	31	35
Composite	33	35

This admissions data tells us that most of University of Pennsylvania’s admitted students fall within the top 2% nationally on the ACT. The middle 50% of students admitted to Penn received a composite ACT score between 33 and 35, while 25% scored above 35 and 25% scored below 33.

Requirements

The University of Pennsylvania does not require the ACT writing section. Note that Penn superscores the ACT, which means that the admissions office will consider your highest score from each individual section across all ACT test dates. Whether you submit the SAT or ACT, Penn recommends but does not require SAT Subject tests. Review the recommendations for your individual major regarding SAT Subject tests.

GPA

In 2019, University of Pennsylvania’s incoming freshman class had an average high school GPA of 3.9. These results suggest that most successful applicants to Penn have primarily A grades.

Self-Reported GPA/SAT/ACT Graph

The admissions data in the graph is self-reported by applicants to University of Pennsylvania. GPAs are unweighted. Find out how you compare to accepted students, see the real-time graph, and calculate your chances of getting in with a free Cappex account.

Admissions Chances

The University of Pennsylvania, which ranks among the 20 most selective universities in the country, has a highly competitive admissions pool with a low acceptance rate and high average SAT/ACT scores. However, Penn has a holistic admissions process involving other factors beyond your grades and test scores. A strong application essay, supplemental essay, and glowing letters of recommendation can strengthen your application, as can participation in meaningful extracurricular activities and a rigorous course schedule. Students with particularly compelling stories or achievements can still receive serious consideration even if their test scores are outside of Penn’s average range.

In the scattergram, the blue and green represent accepted students. You can see that the great majority of admitted students had a self-reported GPA of 3.7 or higher, a combined SAT score (ERW+M) of over 1200, and an ACT composite of 24 or higher. Hidden beneath the blue and green in the upper right corner of the graph is a lot of red, so keep in mind that even students who seem to be on target for admission get rejected from Penn. For any school with a single digit acceptance rate, it is best to consider the institution a reach school, even if your scores are on target for admission.

All admissions data has been sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics and University of Pennsylvania Undergraduate Admissions Office.

How to Get Into UPenn: Essays and Strategies that Worked

How hard is it to get into the University of Pennsylvania? Learn the UPenn acceptance rate, admissions requirements, and read UPenn essays that worked

Part 1: Introduction

If your child is a highly competitive student with a rigorous course load and a robust thirst for learning, chances are you’re looking into them attending one of the prestigious Ivy Leagues.

If they’re particularly interested in interdisciplinary thinking in a historic, thriving city, they should consider applying to the nation’s first university, the University of Pennsylvania.

Before you start asking how to get into UPenn, take a moment to learn as much as possible about the spirit of the school that calls itself “the Ivy League without the ivory tower.”

Penn was established in 1740 by founding father Benjamin Franklin, who envisioned an institution of higher education that pushed the boundaries of knowledge and contributed to furthering society. At Penn, that lofty mission manifests in integrated studies in the liberal arts and sciences and pre-professional training at both the undergrad and graduate levels, along with several extremely unique interdisciplinary undergrad programs like the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business.

Penn’s four undergraduate schools include a college of arts and sciences, a business school, an engineering school, and a school of nursing. No matter which school or major students are enrolled in, Penn emphasizes that all undergraduate students receive a thorough foundation in the liberal arts. Many students take courses across all four undergraduate schools and choose from countless interdisciplinary minors and dual-degrees.

Your child might spend their summer traveling with the Penn-in-Cannes abroad course to attend the Cannes International Film Festival and study international business, or hiking the Swiss and Italian Alps to gain direct field experience in their studies of geography. They might be invited by a top professor of physics to research supernovas in the Andes Mountains and aid in the discovery of a new planet by the start of the fall semester. Or they could spend their days training as an Oncology nurse at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and their nights reading their poems to an audience of literary giants at the Kelly Writers’ House.

Penn prides itself on a tradition of firsts: the nation’s first university founded by its first statesman, in the nation’s first capital of Philadelphia—it has a long tradition of producing the world’s foremost innovators and thinkers. Your child might follow in the footsteps of some of Penn’s greatest alumni—launch a private space exploration company like Elon Musk, become the chief NBC Nightly News correspondent like Andrea Mitchell, change the landscape of political thought like Noam Chomsky, or entertain the world through performance like John Legend.

Want to know exactly what it takes to get into schools like UPenn?

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UPenn Ranking

Penn sits firmly among the top 10 schools in the nation.

• Forbes: 6
• Niche: 9
• US News & World Report: 6
• Wall Street Journal: 4

Where is UPenn?

UPenn is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This walkable, unpretentious, historic Mid-Atlantic metropolis is nestled in the corridor between Washington D.C. and New York City.

Philadelphia was named a UNESCO World Heritage City in 2015, the first city in the United States given this distinction. It’s also the fifth largest metropolitan economy in the US, home to five Fortune 1000 companies, meaning your child might have a chance to intern or network with alumni and local Penn affiliates at the telecommunications giant Comcast or the food technology corporation FMC.  

Setting

Urban. Penn’s campus located in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia. While Penn is right in the heart of the city, the campus itself is abundantly green—so much so that it was officially declared an arboretum in 2017.

University City is a safe, affordable section of Philly easily accessible to the rest of the city and the greater Northeast corridor region through public transit. Your child might roll out of bed in their dorm room at Penn and be at their internship at JP Morgan Chase & Co or Facebook an hour later.

Undergrad population

11,851

Grad and professional school population

14,009

UPenn acceptance rate

Early Decision: 18%

Regular Decision: 5.7%

Total Acceptance Rate: 7.7%

(Suggested reading:Ivy League Acceptance Rates 2019)

Cost of attendance per year (i.e., tuition, room, board, and fees)

$57,770

Average financial aid award

$44,801

Who gets into UPenn?

According to UPenn’s admissions team, ninety-six percent of students admitted for Fall 2018 came from the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class.

Average GPA: UPenn does not publish its average GPA because grading and ranking policies are different around the globe and they do not believe there is one metric for student success. Like their colleagues in the Ivy League, Penn notes that competitive applicants have pursued a rigorous program of study and received top grades in the context of their school.

Test Scores:

• UPenn average ACT score
  • 25th percentile: 33
  • 75th percentile: 35
• UPenn average SAT score
  • 25th percentile: 1460
  • 75th percentile: 1550
• International students: 16%
• First generation college students: 15%
• Financial aid recipients: 58%

The largest racial demographic of UPenn undergrads is white (41%) undergraduates, followed by Asian-American/Pacific Islander (21%). 

Over 90% of our students get into one or more of their top 3 schools

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Part 2: UPenn requirements for admission

Similar to its Ivy League and Ivy+ counterparts, Penn seeks intellectually curious, well-rounded students who will continue that Franklinian philosophy of applying knowledge in service to society—the Penn community, the city of Philadelphia, and the world.

There are no specific course requirements to get into UPenn but the university expects your child to have taken challenging classes in the core academic areas (English, social studies, math, science, and foreign language) based on the courses available to them at their specific high school. They also want to see how your child challenges themselves with extracurricular activities.

It’s worth noting that Penn, unlike Harvard, Yale, or Stanford, but like Cornell, does ask students to apply to one of the four specific colleges within the university. Again, those undergraduate schools are: The College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Nursing, Penn Engineering, and the Wharton School of Business.

That means that to apply to Penn, your child may need a little more information about their future academic plan than they might at another school. However, while identifying an intended major gives the admissions committee an idea of what your child might pursue at Penn, it has no impact on their studies once they enroll in one the undergraduate colleges.

Over half of students who indicate an intended major end up majoring in a different subject once they are studying at Penn. If your child is undecided, they can check that box, like over half of students admitted to the College of Arts and Science.

One difference to consider: If your child is admitted to one school and decides they’d rather study in another (for example—they are admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences but decide after their first year they’d rather study business at Wharton), theirinternal transfer is not normally considered until after their sophomore year. 

Here’s the lowdown on what your child will need. Penn accepts both the Common Application and the Coalition Application.

• Common App essay
• Two Penn-specific essays and possibly several more essays tailored to the undergraduate school to which your child intends to apply
• ACT or SAT test scores
• Recommended: 2 SAT subject tests
• Optional: IB, AP, or AICE test results
• 2 teacher letters of recommendation
• 1 counselor letter of recommendation
• School report, transcript, and midyear senior report (plus a final report required in June for matriculating students)
• Optional: Additional letters of recommendation, art or music samples, or an expanded resume or research abstract in addition to the activities section of the application
• Coursework: Admission suggestions for each of the four undergraduate colleges is slightly different: The College of Arts and Sciences expects your child to have had a balanced and advanced college prep curriculum, while both Penn Engineering and the Wharton School expect particularly strong preparation in mathematics, with coursework in calculus of possible. The School of Nursing likes to see strong science prep, particularly in chemistry. 

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Part 3: Applying to UPenn early decision vs. regular decision

Your child can apply to Penn via a binding early decision agreement by November 1st. They’ll receive an answer of accepted, deferred to the regular decision pool, or denied by mid-December. Penn admits roughly half of their incoming class through early decision, but the UPenn early decision acceptance rate is still low—that number is, again,about 18 percent.

Your child can also apply regular decision to Penn, by January 5th. 

How do you know if your child should apply to UPenn early decision?

If Penn is absolutely your child’s first choice (i.e. they will 100% attend UPenn if admitted and your family can pay regardless of the financial aid package offered), and their application is ready by November 1st, then applying early is right for them.

If your child needs the fall semester of their senior year to improve their test scores, GPA, or activities profile, then they should wait for regular decision

Since Penn has different undergraduate schools, you might be asking yourself, are your child’s admissions odds affected by which school they apply to? The answer: Not particularly. Admissions rates to the College of Arts and Sciences, Wharton, and Penn Engineering are all under 10%. Only the School of Nursing is slightly higher— about 25%.

Recommended reading: Early Action vs. Early Decision: Pros and Cons and What Your Child Should Do

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Part 4: 2019-2020 UPenn supplemental essays (examples included)

Penn will evaluate your child based on their Common App personal statement, but it is equally important that they have exceptional Penn-specificsupplemental essays.

Some individual undergraduate schools and specialty programs require additional written supplements, so make sure your child is aware of all Penn-specific prompts for their chosen program. 

For all undergraduate admissions, Penn requires two supplements, both of which are shorter than the Common App essay: a 350-400-word essay that focuses on academic pursuits and a 150-200-word mini-essay that focuses on life outside of school.

Like otherIvy League essays, these supplements help the admissions team get a more holistic picture of your child’s drive, leadership, passions, intellect, and background. These essays allow the admissions committee to imagine how your child might contribute to Penn’s culture.

First, let’s meet a few students closely based on Penn applicants we’ve worked with previously:

• Jean is a first-generation college student interested in the Science, Technology, and Society major at Penn as a foundation for law school. She has been captain of the debate team since her sophomore year, and she’s a self-declared history buff. Jean writes a history of technology column for her school newspaper and serves as its web developer— last year, she even created an app for the paper.
• Aashish is applying to the Nursing and Health Care Management Dual Degree Program. He loves statistics, chemistry, and working with kids, and spent his summer volunteering at the children’s cancer ward at his local hospital. Since his freshman year in high school, Aashish has held a part-time job as a dishwasher at a restaurant owned by his uncle.
• Alice grew up between Minneapolis and Mexico City. She volunteered at a women’s prison in Mexico City during her last two years of high school and made a documentary with her IB Film class that profiled some of the prisoners and their lives there. She doesn’t know exactly what she wants to major in but feels strongly about the intersection of art and public policy. She also writes poetry but doesn’t have any coursework or achievements that show her talent.

Learn how to write outstanding Ivy League essays

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UPenn Supplemental Essay #1

How did you discover your intellectual and academic interests, and how will you explore them at the University of Pennsylvania? Please respond considering the specific undergraduate school you have selected. For students applying to the coordinated dual-degree and specialized programs, please answer these questions in regard to your single-degree school choice; your interest in the coordinated dual-degree or specialized program may be addressed through the program-specific essay. (300-450 words)

Penn is asking your child to discuss their intellectual curiosity— not only their academic interests or accomplishments, but also (more importantly) their process of discovering what makes them tick and how that might inform their academic approach at the university.

Strong applicants will have done their research into Penn programs they are interested in and specific professors they would like to take classes with; they’ll mention possible career fields or avenues of research they would like to explore.

But top-notch candidates won’t treat this essay as a report on their own talents. Rather, they’ll tell a story that showcases their intellectual vitality and demonstrates that their love of learning is infectious—and will make them a superb fit for Penn.

Here’s how Jean answered this one: 

Before visiting Penn last spring, I read Wharton professor Adam Grant’s book The Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World. Reading Professor Grant’s book showed me the importance of risk takers being thoughtful, meticulous, and always slightly suspicious of the status-quo. Growing up the daughter of two Korean immigrants, I found that switching between American and Korean cultures naturally cultivated these traits in me from a young age—with Professor Grant’s help, I now applied those traits more intentionally in my own life. I listen carefully to the ideas of others, am open to collaboration, and end up finding surprising and innovative solutions to problems.

As founder Benjamin Franklin saw Penn as an institution that should combine practical and traditional education, I see the intersection of studies in political theory, practical experience in technology firms, and research in climate science as the foundation of my Penn education. I believe that the intersection of these disciplines— and at the core of that, a comprehensive liberal arts education— can truly open my mind to tackling the world’s problems with innovative solutions. I want to design an education for myself that helps me to consider problems like global warming holistically. Rather than a gain singular perspective from the hard sciences, business practices, or public policy, I can truly contribute to challenging the status-quo from the intersection of these subjects. An inside view of science and technology will also aid in my eventual plan to go into either environmental or intellectual property law. 

In my high school experience, I’ve always tried to live a life of intellectual openness. Leading my fellow debaters to state and nation-wide competitions and collaboratively designing an app for my school newspaper have taught me the importance of considering different intellectual perspectives and skillsets to create the most innovative and surprising solutions possible.

Equally important to me are the perspectives of my parents, who both work as mail carriers for the US Postal Service. Their livelihoods rely on the sway of public policy and their ability to do manual, outdoor labor in a world with increasingly severe weather. I am always considering the material intersections of policy, technology, and climate science in their jobs, and know I would thrive in an atmosphere that allowed me to explore this intersection from a theoretical and research perspective.

Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences, with its emphasis on small class sizes and undergraduate research opportunities, would allow me to reach my full potential and contribute to the intellectual community in a place I feel engaged, inspired, and where I belong.

What makes Jean’s essay so successful?

An intellectual connection to Penn. Jean talks specifically about reading a book by a Penn professor that articulated her own intellectual process. She goes on to talk about her specific educational path and how she thinks her Penn education will uphold Professor Grant’s ideas of original thinking that challenge the status quo.

An emphasis on interdisciplinary thinking. Jean highlights her alignment with Benjamin Franklin’s philosophy of learning, which is central to Penn’s identity. She concisely communicates the specific intersection of studies she’s interested in, and why she thinks a holistic education in multiple fields is important. She then mentions how this will serve her current career goal of attending law school in particular law concentrations. Most importantly, Jean talks about how she already applies this mode of thinking in her current life, both through her extracurricular activities and reflections on her family life. 

UPenn Supplemental Essay #2

At Penn, learning and growth happen outside of the classrooms, too. How will you explore the community at Penn? Consider how this community will help shape your perspective and identity, and how your identity and perspective will help shape this community. (150-200 words)

The second supplement is the complete opposite of the first—Penn wants your child to communicate their aptitude outside of the classroom as people who engage with the society in which they currently live.

Remember that Penn is proud of providing an education that intersects the theoretical and the practical— the Ivy League without the ivory tower. They want students who will contribute to the betterment of society in the Penn community, the city of Philadelphia, and the wider world. Your child should consider the parts of their lives outside of the classroom that made them grow as individuals or become leaders, and how they might continue to do so at Penn.

Note that while it’s not explicitly stated in the question, this prompt is an opportunity for your child to talk about the community from which they come. It’s a great way to set them up to talk about the community they will soon belong to, as a Penn student, and to ensure that the essay comes from a deep well of personal experience and feeling rather than a shallow, reactive impulse.

Here’s how Aashish answered:

I grew up in a restaurant. Some of my very first memories consist of watching my uncle dart in and out of the swinging door to the industrial kitchen and watching the room fill up with plates of delicious Sarson ka saag and Makki ki roti. As I grew older, I worked there as a dishwasher after school to save money for college. Sometimes the work felt thankless, my hands always raw with soap. But then I would witness my uncle setting a steaming plate of food in front of a homeless man and treat him with respect like any paying customer, and I would feel a profound gratitude for washing dishes in my uncle’s business.

The restaurant is where I first learned how to take care of the community around me, it’s what fueled my passion for public health. At Penn, I also want to take care of the community around me through food by volunteering with the Good Food Bag Program through the Agaston Urban Nutrition Initiative, as well as hosting family dinners for my dorm to introduce my peers to the Punjabi food of my childhood.

What made Aashish’s essay successful?

• He goes beyond his resumé. In his first essay, Aashish already mentioned his hospital experience and how he would continue and deepen his intellectual practices in nursing through his duel degree. This gave Aashish the opportunity to talk about a complex experience of work and family that wouldn’t necessarily translate on a resumé of activities.
• He demonstrates personal growth. Aashish tells a story of how he came to value community involvement through his upbringing and details specific ways he would like to continue to contribute at Penn. While this essay focuses on extracurricular involvement, it also mentions his path of study in public health.

Here’s what Alice wrote:

I never thought that my affinity for Netflix would lead me to the great passion of my life. As a freshman in high school, I binged the first season of Orange is the New Black on a snow day in Minnesota. The show moved me, and I began to read everything I could get my hands on about incarceration in the US. When my family returned to Mexico City, I realized I didn’t know the landscape of incarceration there and I needed to find out. So I picked up a camera and taught myself how to shoot and edit film. I interviewed the women in Spanish and translated their stories into English so their stories would be accessible to a broad audience.

As a writer of poetry, I was immediately drawn to the opportunity of Freewrite Prison Writing Group through the Kelly Writers’ House, working with incarcerated women and trans people. I’d like to continue my documentary filmmaking work with those I meet in this program, to be able to both help them tell their stories and help the world to know them.

What Alice did right:

• She starts from a surprising angle. An anecdote about binge-watching Netflix isn’t generally a strong way to start an essay, but Alice uses it as the spark that activated her intellectual rigor and commitment to social justice. By beginning with something as banal as watching television, that most people would simply consume and move on, Alice the extent of her passion and drive.
• She sets specific goals for community involvement. Alice uses this chance to mention her interest in poetry, which doesn’t appear anywhere else in her application, to show her interest in contributing to a specific institution at the school. She takes it a step further by making plans to continue her current extracurricular project in this new environment.

Recommended reading: Successful College Essay Examples From Top-25 Universities