Penn's early decision acceptance rate drops to 18 percent for Class of 2023

Penn admitted 1,279 students this year through early decision to the Class of 2023, just 18 percent of the applicant pool — the lowest acceptance rate to date. 

For the Class of 2022, Penn admitted 1,312 students, 18.5 percent, of its early decision applicants, a significant decrease from the two prior years, whose ED rates were 22 percent and 23.2 percent, respectively. 

Each year, the University admits approximately half of the incoming class through early decision. This year, the 1,279 students admitted account for about 53 percent of the expected enrolling class. 

Thirteen percent of students are international, hailing from 48 different countries, compared to last year's 54 countries. The number of states with admitted students dropped from 45 last year to 42 this year. Students from Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico were also admitted.

 Of students admitted to the Class of 2023, 23 percent had a parent or grandparent who attended Penn. Last year, 25 percent of applicants were legacies admitted in last year’s ED period. Eleven percent of the accepted students are first-generation college students, the same representation as each of the last two early decision rounds. 

Forty-eight percent identify as students of a minority group, which is the same as last year. Similarly, 51 percent identified as women, decreasing from 52 percent last cycle. 

Admitted students to the Class of 2023 saw high test scores, the middle 50 percent scoring between 1440 and 1550 on the SAT and between 33 and 35 on the ACT.

This year, early decision applicants to the Class of 2023 plateaued. After steady growth among ED applicants since 2011, the applicant pool grew by 15 percent last year. This year’s ED pool saw a 0.52 percent increase including QuestBridge applicants – growing marginally from 7,073 applicants to 7,110 applicants.