Ryan Benjamin | When numbers really don't matter

This year, Penn sent congratulatory letters to 3,926 students out of the 22,939 that applied - an acceptance rate of 17.11 percent. But last year, the acceptance rate was (gasp!) 0.10 percent lower. A minute fraction of a percent, but unfortunately many students - and this newspaper - seem to think such an increase in acceptance is a "situation."

Really? Let's take a step back here.

Thinking back to high school, we all considered the numbers - the rankings, average SAT scores and acceptance rates. And if the much-hyped US News rankings aren't enough to remind us of the importance of selectivity, the New York Times recently created a blog called "The Choice," exclusively devoted to "demystifying" admissions.

OK, so maybe high-schoolers and their parents have a right to care about admissions rates (worthless in retrospect, maybe, but understandable). But once we're here, we still seem to care. Why don't we just simmer down? A couple theories:

There's the NOT Penn State one - you know, the inferiority complex of not being well known outside Philly. There's the Wharton one - we're obsessed with numbers. (I like that one.) There's the idea that selectivity correlates to better academics, or that low numbers make us feel good, like we got what we paid for. Some people think it "validates" our position as students here and maintains our prestige.

"What concerns me is that I think students are more concerned with the number of students who are rejected than the quality of students who are accepted," College senior Dan Ross said.

It's a shame this clouds Penn's uniqueness, exemplified by its unmatched interdisciplinary programs, commitment to service and vibrant community.

At Princeton the reaction was even worse, where the 0.5 percent acceptance-rate increase hit especially hard. On the Daily Princetonian Web site, some of the 290 (and counting) commenters called for the dean of admission's head, using choice words unsuitable for print.

Sometimes the obsession just gets out of hand. In the posh suburbs of Philadelphia, a dispute between the residents of Merion and St. Joseph's University over the construction of new athletic fields brought the selectivity debate to new heights. Irene Glickman, a resident opposed to the plans, has said, "I don't want to be a snob - but I am one - but we're not exactly talking about Haverford College here. This is a school that accepts 80 percent of its applicants. They're big on sports." As if that explains it.

Former George Washington University President Stephen Trachtenberg called the admissions fixation "silly." "People need to get real, get hold of themselves, get a life," he said.

Newsflash: A few years ago, the acceptance rate at Penn was over 20 percent. And if you go by the rule that numbers are important, the stats from the class of 2012 tell a slightly more scandalous story. Of early applicants, 39.3 percent were admitted. Of the legacies, 33.5 percent got in (and for ED legacy applicants it's much higher than that). And for those who scored between a 600 and 640 on the math portion of the SAT, Penn accepted 14 percent. Gasp!

If the admissions officers wanted to keep last year's rate steady, they could've just accepted 23 fewer students. However, the number of applicants to begin with was level; this, some say, is the problem. Admissions Dean Eric Furda considers himself responsible for the steady number of applicants this year, but in his defense he's working hard where it counts.

"We are reaching out to prospective students in ways that Penn has not in the past, not to simply increase our application numbers for the purposes of selectivity, but to make sure we are pursuing the goals of broadening access and increasing the overall strength of the enrolled class," he said.

But the DP and much of the student body just won't leave it alone. I suggested to Dean Furda that we not publish the numbers at all. Naturally, Furda disagrees, even though it's not a stretch. For instance, we don't publish the numbers for the four schools or for ethnic and racial groups. But just as he is expanding opportunities for students who normally wouldn't consider Penn, he can lessen the craze.

Ryan Benjamin is a College senior from New Haven, Conn. A Connecticut Yankee appears on Fridays. His email address is benjamin@dailypennsylvanian.com.

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