It's beyond pointing out that gone is the day when high-school seniors would wait impatiently by the mailbox to discover whether they had been accepted to the college of their dreams. Last week, over 20,000 students logged on to MyPenn Admission Portal to discover whether they can come to Philadelphia in the fall. Few, if any, will need to see the size of the Penn envelope to discover their decision.
In light of this, the Admissions Office has smartly decided to cease mailing letters to rejected students (accepted students will still receive a congratulatory letter packaged with forms and information about Philadelphia and Penn). The thousands of pieces of paper and thousands of envelopes simply aren't worth it, especially when they will likely only put the student through the pangs of rejection a second time. The Admissions Office has made several steps in the past few years to be more environmentally friendly - including going paperless during the admissions process - and it's nice to see a further step.
Editorial Follow Up
Last week, we asked you to vote in student elections. And while the numbers were still underwhelming - really, Penn, less than 50 percent? Where's the spirit you had in November?- it's a vast improvement over last year's voter turnout.
One of the most important reasons to vote in a student-govenment election is increasing the visibility of student government, as well as strengthening the connection between students' desires and student government's actions. By following through and making your voices heard, hopefully we can bring the amount of dialogue between students and their government to an unprecedented level.
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