The March announcement of Penn’s admissions decisions for the Class of 2023 had a familiar ring. Of some 44,960 applicants, the University invited 3,345 to join a freshman class expected to ultimately number 2,400 students. It was yet another record-low admissions rate for the University—producing a record-high wave of disappointment, dejection, and outright anger among those not offered a seat.
Since becoming dean of admissions in 2008, Eric Furda has fielded his fair share of calls from parents unhappy with his office’s decisions. These conversations have long tended to follow a certain pattern.
“People would try to make their case for why their child should be admitted,” he says. Their tone would start out polite and respectful, in the manner of a parent who simply wanted to understand why their child’s application fell short, and perhaps draw attention to some qualities and qualifications that may not have come through. “And then, maybe at the end of the call, some ugliness would come out: ‘By the way, you took a less talented student who was an athlete, or a minority student,’ or whatever,” Furda says, noting that these allegedly underqualified students would sometimes be singled out by name.
Lately, he adds, more and more calls play out differently. “What happened after the [presidential] election,” he says, “is people led with that [ugliness].
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