Thursday Morning: Penn waitlist acceptance rate down 72%

Thursday, July 18

Good morning, Penn.

It's Thursday, and amid a tumultuous week in our country, let this edition of DP Daybreak shed light on the news around Penn.

Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine and Penn Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases will receive $33 million of previously withheld funding in the new Pennsylvania budget, and Penn Libraries United has reached an agreement with the University and set a date for a unionization election in August.

But first, The Daily Pennsylvanian analyzed Penn’s most recent Common Data Sets, which provide insight into practices in higher education and, specifically, the University’s admissions criteria.

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Penn waitlist acceptance rate drops 72%, admissions criteria undergo reevaluation

A DP analysis of Penn’s two most recent Common Data Sets — which provide insight into admissions criteria and statistics — revealed that the University admitted 72% fewer students off the waitlist and adjusted the importance of several key criteria when making admissions decisions.

The number of waitlist acceptances for the Class of 2027 is the lowest across the past five admissions cycles — excluding the COVID-19 pandemic-affected 2020-21 cycle. In addition, the 2023-24 Common Data Set adjusted the amount of consideration that factors like alumni interviews and standardized test scores receive when admissions decisions are being made.

Penn admitted 419 international students to the Class of 2027 — the same number as were admitted from Pennsylvania alone.

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Penn’s Vice President for University Communications Anna Cowenhoven will step down from her position effective Aug. 1, and her predecessor, Stephen MacCarthy — who was appointed by former Penn President Amy Gutmann — will return on an interim basis.

The 2024-25 Pennsylvania budget will allot $33 million in combined funding to Penn Vet and Penn Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases. The funding from the 2023-24 fiscal year budget was previously withheld by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives amid concerns about antisemitism on Penn’s campus.

Following a hearing with the National Labor Relations Board, Penn Libraries United has negotiated an agreement with the University and set an election date for August.

Ala Stanford, a pediatric surgeon and the founder of the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, has joined Penn's faculty.

Two local businesses, Lil Pop Shop and Schmear It, will each sell their products at 44th and Spruce streets this fall as Schmear It takes over Lil Pop Shop’s old storefront.

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COLUMNIST ELIZA CARROLL examines LinkedIn’s role as a platform for social and professional comparison.

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Big 5 basketball legend Joe Bryant has passed away at the age of 69. Bryant played two seasons for the La Salle Explorers and later returned to the program as an assistant coach.

Men’s basketball transfer Michael Zanoni sat down with the DP to discuss his time at Mercer University, his transfer to Penn, and what he brings to the table for the Red and Blue.

Penn football’s Jared Richardson was rewarded with an FCS Preseason All-American nod after racking up 87.6 receiving yards per game last season.

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In 2023, the DP spoke with several Penn community members about the Supreme Court's ruling against affirmative action, which overturned decades of legal precedent. A recent analysis of Penn's latest Common Data Sets showed that in accordance with the new ruling, the “racial/ethnic status” category was removed from the list of factors that are considered in admissions decisions.

Today's newsletter was copy edited by Garv Mehdiratta.

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