The early decision applicant pool for Penn's Class of 2023 has stagnated since last year's record-breaking 15 percent increase.
This fall, 6,746 students applied to be considered for early admission, which is a 0.22 percent increase from the 6,731 students who applied ED last year. Penn Admissions Vice Dean and Director of Marketing and Communications Kathryn Bezella said the plateau comes as no surprise following last year’s drastic increase.
“Being level this year was expected after we grew 15 percent in a single year last year,” Bezella wrote in an email to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
These numbers do not include applications received through QuestBridge, a nonprofit organization that connects low-income students with top colleges; early decision data including QuestBridge applicants will be finalized at the end of next week. Penn received 7,073 ED applications last year including QuestBridge applicants. Out of this pool, 1,312 students were admitted during the 2017 ED round.
Penn's early decision applicant pool has been steadily growing every year since 2011.
In 2012, 4,780 students applied ED, a five percent increase from the 4,527 students who applied in 2011. In the years following, 5,149 applied in 2013, 5,489 applied in 2014, 5,629 applied in 2015, and 6,147 applied in 2016.
This year, early decision hopefuls will receive a decision on Thursday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m. EST.
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