Admissions Factors
What Penn Looks For
Penn rates 5 factors as very important: rigor of high school courses, academic GPA, application essay, recommendations and character and personal qualities.
How Penn rates each factor
Each college sorts 18 factors into four levels on its Common Data Set.
Very important
Considered
The numbers behind the class
Overall admit rate
4.9%
3,570 of 72,544 applicants
Early decision admit rate
13.3%
Early decision admits equal 52% of the class
Admitted from the waitlist
2.3%
60 of 2,566 who stayed on it
Enrolled first-years had an average high school GPA of 3.90. 92% of those who reported a class rank were in the top tenth of their class.
Frequently asked questions
What does Penn look for in applicants?
Penn rates 5 factors as very important: rigor of high school courses, academic GPA, application essay, recommendations and character and personal qualities.
Does Penn consider legacy status?
Penn rates alumni relation as "considered" in its 2025-26 Common Data Set.
Does Penn track demonstrated interest?
Penn rates the level of an applicant's interest as "not considered".
What is Penn's waitlist acceptance rate?
2,566 students stayed on the waitlist and 60 were admitted, a rate of 2.3%. The number changes a lot from year to year because it depends on how many admitted students enroll.
What is Penn's early decision acceptance rate?
Early decision: 1,266 of 9,503 applicants were admitted (13.3%), against 4.9% overall. Early pools include recruited athletes and other students with a strong tie to the college, so the gap overstates the boost for an ordinary applicant.
Source: Penn’s own Common Data Set 2025-26, Section C. Last checked 2026-10-08. The ratings are the college’s own description of its process. Counts are for one entering class.
