Penn’s Early Decision Deadline

Penn has a history of extending its application deadlines to students affected by natural disasters (photo credit: Bryan Y.W. Shin).

The University of Pennsylvania extended its Early Decision deadline for students affected by hurricanes. A few weeks back, the university’s admissions office announced that students applying from Alabama, the Florida panhandle, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina could apply as late as November 12th for Early Decision admission to Penn. And while we are all for extending deadlines for applicants affected by natural disasters, we can’t help but notice that Penn seems to extend their deadlines more than most of their peer institutions. Is this purely out of the goodness of their hearts? Maybe. But allow us to propose an alternative viewpoint.

Deadline Extensions Help Attract More Applicants

As we expressed in the latest issue of “The Daily Pennsylvanian” in a piece by Seth Schuster entitled “Penn’s early decision deadline was Thursday – except for students affected by recent hurricanes” “Penn Admissions claims the extension is designed to help students who are at a disadvantage because of the natural disasters, but some question this motivation. Admissions consultant Brian Taylor, managing director at Ivy Coach, said the extension is nothing more than a ploy to boost application numbers so that Penn can appear more selective. ‘The more applicants that apply to a school like Penn, invariably the lower the admission rate will be and the higher the school will be ranked in U.S. News and World Report,’ Taylor said.”

In the end, that which is a nice gesture for folks affected by natural disasters can also happen to serve a school’s interests or, more specifically, its all-important “US News & World Report” ranking. It’s a ranking Penn happens to place very well in annually. But maybe you disagree with our thoughts on this deadline extension? Or do you agree? Let us know what’s going on inside your head by posting a Comment below. We look forward to hearing from you!