Penn sees highest yield rate since 2007

Admissions from the waitlist for the class of 2017 will be more “modest” than in years past.

Yield this year increased about one percentage point to 64.3 percent, Penn’s highest yield since 2007.

Of the 3,785 applicants admitted this admissions cycle, 2,432 have already indicated their intention to enroll, surpassing the school’s target class of 2,420, Dean of Admissions Eric Furda said.

“After doing this for a very long time and realizing sometimes you come near the mark and sometimes we’re off the mark, it’s remarkable that we’re so near the target class size,” Furda said.

Students who choose to rescind their acceptances over the coming weeks — in what is called summer melt — will determine the number of students admitted from the waitlist. In years past, some schools that were under-enrolled made up the vast majority of waitlist acceptances. This year, no school or program is under-enrolled, meaning that waitlist applicants to no single school or program will have an advantage over any other.

Over the past five years, the number admitted from the waitlist has ranged from 55 to 175, but Furda expects an even lower number in 2013.

Next week, admissions officers will begin reviewing applications of those who chose to remain on the waitlist. Shortly thereafter, most of those waitlisted will be notified that the University has chosen to release them from the list, leaving a group of about 100 applicants who will be given their decision before the end of their school year.

Of the 2,800 applicants waitlisted, about 60 percent chose to remain on the list, Furda added.

He partly attributed the rise in yield to an improved effort to attract the students sent “likely letters” in early March. Yield among likely students rose to 34 percent, from 30 percent last year, Furda said.

While many students were given the opportunity to interact with alumni as part of the new Penn Alumni Interview Program, accepted students who were not given the opportunity to have an interview were all contacted by alumni after their acceptances. That, along with new opportunities for admitted students at Penn Preview Days, including a student activities fair, contributed to what Furda called “energy” among admitted students.

“I think it’s a nice point of contact,” Furda said. “It’s something that can help with the transition for a student who is already committed to us, and I think it says something about the overall experience.”

While he expects waitlist admissions to be low this year, Furda added that the number can vary depending on how active Penn’s peer schools are on their waitlists, since a higher number of waitlist admissions from those schools could contribute to summer melt at Penn.

“I don’t think it’ll swing it that much, but you never know,” he said. “This is a process where you can’t predict everything.”

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.