Penn gets even more selective, accepts only 7.4 percent of applicants

The University of Pennsylvania has logged its most selective admissions year in history, accepting only 7.4 percent of applicants, the school announced late Thursday afternoon.

Student applicants were to find out at 7 Thursday night whether they made the cut.

Other Ivies also are announcing decisions this week. They may get even more attention coming on the heels of the college admissions bribery scandal announced by federal authorities earlier this month that accused wealthy parents of trying to buy their children’s way into top colleges.

Only one Ivy, Yale, was named in the case. But Penn had its own enrollment scandal last summer when its former basketball coach was accused of accepting bribes to get the son of a wealthy Miami businessman admitted.

Princeton actually became a little less selective this year, accepting nearly 5.8 percent, or 1,895 applicants, compared with 5.5 percent last year.

That dip is likely connected to a drop in applications after a spike the prior year.

Applicants to Princeton were to find out their fate Thursday evening as well.

At Penn, applications rose this year, and the school offered admission to 3,345 students out of a field of 44,960. Last year, the school admitted 8.39 percent of applicants.

Both Penn and Princeton boasted a diverse admit pool. Just over half the students in Penn’s pool identify as students of color, the school said. Princeton noted that more than a quarter of its admit pool come from low-income families and 56 percent identify as students of color.

The largest numbers in Penn’s acceptance pool come from Pennsylvania, New York, California, New Jersey, Florida, and Texas. The school said 169 students live in Philadelphia. Thirteen percent have a parent or grandparent who attended Penn.

Penn ultimately will enroll a freshman class of 2,400 and Princeton a class of 1,296.

Students have until May 1 to accept the offer.