Admission rate rises slightly for Class of '08

The University recently released the final admissions numbers for the Class of 2008, with a total of 3,846 students being admitted to next year's freshman class.

The admissions rate for the Class of '08 was 21 percent for total admission and 17 percent for regular decision applicants, which was a small increase from 2003 when the admit rate for regular applicants was 20.4 percent.

Penn admitted 2,541 students regular decision while 1,120 applicants were admitted early decision. The difference between this total and the total admitted is made up of students who were deferred and then admitted regular decision and holdover applicants who were admitted in 2003.

"This was another very selective year," Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson said. "The quality of this class academically is unbelievable."

Students who have been accepted regular decision have until May to decide whether they will attend Penn or any other school to which they were admitted.

Average SAT scores were higher for the newly admitted freshman class than in years prior, with an average score of 705 in verbal and 726 in math.

This is an increase from the Class of 2007, which averaged 702 in verbal and 722 in math. The total average SAT score for this year's class was 1431 compared to an average of 1424 in 2003.

SAT II scores also went up to an average of 719, an increase of two points over last year's average of 717.

Despite the slightly higher acceptance rate, officials believe that each class admitted to the University is stronger than its predecessors.

"The class this year is stronger than last year's and previous years," Stetson said. "We are very pleased with this class."

With the admission of the Class of 2008, Penn has also continued to increase the diversity of its classes.

The total number of students of color admitted also increased. This year, 1,588 students of color were admitted compared to last year's 1,513 -- an increase that the University finds encouraging, according to Stetson.

"The freshman class will probably have students of color make up 37 percent of the students," he said.

The Class of 2008 represents all 50 states in the union, and while the exact countries from which students will hail is yet unknown, it will represent six continents and will likely have members from close to 100 countries.

"It's a terrific group," Stetson said.

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