University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Admissions Phone: 215-898-7507
E-mail: info@admissions.upenn.edu | Website: www.upenn.edu
ADMISSION
Admission Rate: 8%
Admission Rate - Men: 8%
Admission Rate - Women: 9%
EA Admission Rate: Not Offered
ED Admission Rate: 19%
Admission Rate (5-Year Trend): -4%
ED Admission Rate (5-Year Trend): -6%
% of Admits Attending (Yield): 67%
Transfer Admission Rate: 8%
# Offered Wait List: 3,535
# Accepted Wait List: 2,561
# Admitted Wait List: 9
SAT Reading/Writing (Middle 50%): 700-760
SAT Math (Middle 50%): 740-800
ACT Composite (Middle 50%): 32-35
Testing Policy: ACT/SAT Required
SAT Superscore: Yes
ACT Superscore: Yes
% Graduated in Top 10% of HS Class: 96%
% Graduated in Top 25% of HS Class: 99%
% Graduated in Top 50% of HS Class: 100%
ENROLLMENT
Total Undergraduate Enrollment: 10,183
% Part-Time: 2%
% Male: 48%
% Female: 52%
% Out-of-State: 81%
% Fraternity: 30%
% Sorority: 28%
% On-Campus (Freshman): 100%
% On-Campus (All Undergraduate): 51%
% African-American: 9%
% Asian: 23%
% Hispanic: 11%
% White: 48%
% Other: 5%
% Race or Ethnicity Unknown: 4%
% International: 16%
% Low-Income: 15%
ACADEMICS
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 6:1
% of Classes Under 20: 71%
% of Classes Under 40: 90%
% Full-Time Faculty: 77%
% Full-Time Faculty w/ Terminal Degree: 100%
Top Programs
Business
Cognitive Science
Communication
Computer Science
Engineering
English
Philosophy
Political Science
Retention Rate: 98%
4-Year Graduation Rate: 85%
6-Year Graduation Rate: 95%
Curricular Flexibility: Somewhat Flexible
Academic Rating: 
FINANCIAL
Institutional Type: Private
In-State Tuition: $51,156
Out-of-State Tuition: $51,156
Room & Board: $16,190
Required Fees: $6,614
Books & Supplies: $1,358
Avg. Need-Based Aid: $48,798
Avg. % of Need Met: 100%
Avg. Merit-Based Aid: $0
% Receiving Merit-Based Aid: 0%
Avg. Cumulative Debt: $22,103
% of Students Borrowing: 24%
CAREER
Who Recruits
1. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2. Teach for America
3. Facebook
4. Boston Consulting Group
5. JPMorgan Chase
Notable Internships
1. Pfizer
2. Gensler
3. HBO
Top Industries
1. Business
2. Education
3. Research
4. Operations
5. Social Services
Top Employers
1. Google
2. Amazon
3. Microsoft
4. Goldman Sachs
5. Facebook
Where Alumni Work
1. Philadelphia
2. New York City
3. San Francisco
4. Washington, DC
5. Boston
Median Earnings
College Scorecard (Early Career): $85,900
EOP (Early Career): $91,800
PayScale (Mid-Career): $133,900
RANKINGS
Forbes: 6
Money: 32
U.S. News: 6 (T), National Universities
Wall Street Journal/THE: 4
Washington Monthly: 6, National Universities
Inside the Classroom
Once known for its insecurity over being frequently confused with Penn State and having a reputation in snooty circles as a “second-tier Ivy,” the University of Pennsylvania in 2020 has long since brushed that dirt off its shoulders. Today, Penn boasts twice as many applicants as a decade ago and, with an 8.4 percent acceptance rate that is lower than Dartmouth’s, it is now a dream destination for many of the brightest students around the world—and we mean world. Penn admits the highest percentage of international students of any Ivy by a wide margin. The 10,100+ Quaker undergrads on campus in 2018-19 are pursuing ninety distinct degrees across four schools: the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Applied Science and Engineering, the College of Nursing and, of course, arguably the top business school anywhere—Wharton.
The Core Curriculum at UPenn is based on seven Sectors of Knowledge: society, history and tradition, arts and letters, humanities and social sciences, the living world, the physical world, and natural sciences and mathematics. In fulfilling those requirements students take mandatory courses in foreign language, writing (seminar), quantitative data analysis, formal reasoning, cross-cultural analysis, and diversity in the United States. The greatest number of students pursue degrees in business (20 percent), social sciences (15 percent), biology (11 percent), engineering (10 percent), and computer science (5 percent).
Penn has a 6:1 student-to-faculty ratio, but with a focus on research and 15,626 graduate students, not every undergraduate section is a tiny seminar. However, the university does boast an exceptional 30 percent of courses with an enrollment under ten and 71 percent with an enrollment under twenty—quite an achievement for a school of Penn’s massive size. It also offers multiple ways for undergrads to conduct research, whether through independent studies or working side-by-side with faculty members. It is a testament to its focus in this area that the university publishes eleven distinct journals featuring original undergraduate research. Penn ranks first among Ivies and fourteenth among doctoral-granting institutions in study abroad participation rate; each year over 2,300 students head off to earn a semester’s credit in one of eighty-five countries.
While Wharton is the ultimate name-drop, the Penn engineering program garners a more quiet respect. Outstanding programs abound throughout the university, in fields ranging from computer science to philosophy. Graduates of UPenn are, in general, met with high-paying jobs at desirable companies and entry into the best graduate and professional schools in existence. Prestigious national scholarship and fellowship programs adore Penn grads just the same. In 2017, two Penn grads won Rhodes Scholarships and another captured the distinguished award in 2019. Last year, the school produced thirty-four Fulbright Scholars, three Schwarzman Scholars, two Truman Scholars, and forty-one National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.
Outside the Classroom
Only 52 percent of students live in university-owned housing at Penn as 71 percent of juniors and 78 percent of seniors elect to live off campus. One reason for the lack of upperclassman interest in dorms is the popular Greek system that attracts over one-quarter of undergrads into one of fifty frat and sorority houses. The Quakers compete in thirty-three NCAA Division I sports in the Ivy League; over 1,000 members of the student body are varsity athletes. Many more participate in club and intramural athletics. There are multiple fitness centers including a 120,000-square-foot facility that includes an Olympic-size swimming pool, rock climbing wall, and sauna. The school also hosts the Penn Relays, the longest-running collegiate track meet in the country that draws 100,000 spectators annually. With 450+ student organizations active at Penn, there is a group that caters to wherever your talents and interests lie, whether that is in the performance, community service, or cultural identity realms. The school’s newspaper, the Daily Pennsylvanian, has a staff of 250 students and has garnered many awards. Penn’s West Philly campus is comprised of 215 buildings on 299 attached acres and contains plenty of green space. The urban setting affords students the benefits of walkability and easy trips to any part of the fifth-largest city in the United States.
Career Services
The University of Pennsylvania’s Career Services Office has thirty professional staff members who are dedicated to undergraduate counseling, on-campus recruiting, and maintaining digital resources like Handshake. The 354:1 student-to-advisor ratio is average compared to other schools featured in this guide but strong for a school of Penn’s size. Close to twenty annual career fairs are held, some of which are industry specific (engineering, finance, nursing) while others are themed such as the Common Good Career Fair; the Creative Career Fair; or the Startup, VC, and Data Analytics Fair.
Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors find themselves in paid internships at some the world’s top employers in droves. To quantify that, Class of 2018 members, between their junior and senior year, found positions at a 90 percent clip, including twenty-two at Goldman Sachs, twenty-one at Morgan Stanley, and nine at Google. Penn also excels at facilitating on-campus interviews; more than 300 companies conduct interviews on campus each year. Individualized attention is always available in the form of thirty-minute counseling appointments.
The office recommends a progression of exploration/involvement/experience/transition as undergraduates rise through their four years, and the university puts loads of resources into supporting all four phases. Ample support is also provided for those applying to medical, law, or graduate school. An equal emphasis on large-scale events such as industry-specific job fairs and one-on-one counseling leads to phenomenal graduate outcomes (more ahead).
Professional Outcomes
Seventy-two percent of Class of 2018 Quaker grads were employed six months following degree completion, another 18 percent were in graduate school, and 5 percent were still planning their next educational/career move. Finance was the sector attracting the highest percentage of grads (27 percent) followed by consulting (19 percent), technology (14 percent), and health care (7 percent). Employers hiring the greatest number of 2018 graduates included Goldman Sachs (27), Deloitte (26), JPMorgan (25), McKinsey & Company (23), Google (22), IBM (21), Capital One (20), Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (18), and Bain & Company (12). The median starting salary for all graduates is just shy of $75,000 plus an average sign-on bonus of $13,000. Among elite colleges, Penn alumni enjoy the highest midcareer salaries of any school except MIT. Unsurprisingly, the Philadelphia Metro area has the strongest concentration of alumni, but New York is a close second. San Francisco and DC also have a strong Quaker presence.
For those continuing their educational journeys, the most popular move is to remain at Penn—107 members of the Class of 2018 made that decision. The next most attended graduate schools were Columbia (15), Harvard (10), University of California (10), Oxford (8), and Yale (7). Students gain acceptance to medical school at a terrific rate—78 percent versus the national average of 43 percent. Medical schools that have taken more than five Penn grads since 2016-17 include Emory University, Temple University, Harvard Medical School, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, and Penn’s own uber-elite Perelman School of Medicine that sports a 4 percent acceptance rate. The acceptance rate into law school is 84 percent, which is made lower by the fact that the vast majority are aiming for top-tier schools. The most attended law schools is recent years are NYU School of Law, Penn Law School, Fordham University School of Law, Columbia University School of Law, and Harvard Law School.
Admission
Penn received close to 45,000 applications for a place in the Class of 2022, the second highest figure of any Ivy League university behind Cornell. In admitting only 3,731 prospective students (8.4 percent), 2018 was the most selective year in Penn history. The middle-50 percent SAT range for enrolled freshmen was 1420-1570, and the middle-50 percent ACT range was 32-35; similar numbers of students submitted results from each test. A nearly unanimous 96 percent of admitted Quakers earned a place in the top decile of their graduating high school class, and 85 percent possessed a GPA of 3.75 or higher on a 4.0 scale. In the past decade, the average admitted applicant’s SAT scores have increased by around fifty points, and the grades/class rank have stayed the same. Back then, the school received half as many applications, and the acceptance rate was a far more forgiving 18 percent.
According to the admissions committee, rigor of secondary school record, GPA, standardized test scores, essays, recommendations, and character/personal qualities are deemed “very important” to the evaluative process. Factors classified as “important” are class rank, the interview, extracurricular activities, and talent/ability. One in seven 2018-19 freshmen were the first in their families to attend college. More than 1,300 students were admitted via early decision; the ED round saw an 18.5 percent acceptance rate, and more than half of the Class of 2022 was filled by those welcomed through a binding early acceptance. As is the case with so many top-shelf elite institutions, Penn rejects more students than ever, including thousands of teens who would have waltzed into the university a generation ago. Applying ED is a no-brainer if you want to gain a slight edge.
Worth Your Money?
Penn’s total cost of attendance is $77,000+ per year and, unless you qualify for need-based financial aid, that is the price you will pay because the university does not award merit aid. It does, however, meet 100 percent of demonstrated need for all eligible students (46 percent of undergrads), awarding annual grants averaging $49k. Even if you are required to pay the full sticker price, Penn’s starting salaries are such that even substantial loans will not be crippling to the vast majority of grads.