Admissions

A parent and high school student sit at a desk across from a school faculty member.

College admissions in crisis

Admissions Dean Eric Furda on the Varsity Blues scandal, civil litigation, and rising disgruntlement over the way elite universities select their students.

Penn Today Staff ・

Warrior 3

Academic ‘boot camp’

A group of 13 active-duty service members and veterans took part in the Warrior-Scholar Project, which introduces enlisted personnel toward an undergraduate program at a top-tier institution with a weeklong academic program.

Jill DiSanto ・



Media Contact


Ron Ozio

Ron Ozio Director, Media Relations
ozio@upenn.edu

In the News


Los Angeles Times

High school revisited: Students reflect on their year away from campus

Kaitlyn Nguyen, a high school senior in Pomona, California, spoke about being accepted to Penn as an early decision applicant. “I came to the realization that this was the school for me,” she said. “I came to this conclusion primarily because of Penn’s commitment to community service and community advocacy work, which has been something that I have been passionate about growing up.”

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Philadelphia Inquirer

A byproduct of the pandemic? Colleges see soaring interest in health fields

Neha Vapiwala of the Perelman School of Medicine commented on the uptick in applications to medical programs. “There is a sense of respect and in some cases newfound respect for health-care workers, for scientists, for this idea that during a pandemic, when so many other aspects of life were unavailable or deemed nonessential, that the one source of inspiration was the role of health-care workers, of doctors and nurses on the front lines helping people get through this frightening time,” she said.

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Business Insider

4 big questions you may have about college admissions during the pandemic, answered by an Ivy League dean and a former NYT education writer

Dean of Admissions Eric Furda and Jacques Steinberg, co-authors of “The College Conversation,” shared an excerpt from their guide to navigating college admissions and freshman year amid the pandemic.

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The Wall Street Journal

U.S. medical school applications soar in COVID-19 era

Admissions Dean Neha Vapiwala of the Perelman School of Medicine said some medical schools are waving prerequisites to accommodate students who may have been unable to participate in extracurricular activities earlier this year.

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The Wall Street Journal

College admissions in a COVID year: SATs are out, personal stories are in

Dean of Admissions Eric Furda offered advice about writing college admissions essays amid the pandemic. “Students should explain as well as they can the context of their lives during COVID,” he said. “That means hunting deep for insight about how COVID affected them, how they were able to derive meaning from it, how it will impact them moving forward.”

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The Washington Post

College applicants will make the pandemic a focus of their admissions essays. Should they?

Dean of Admissions Eric Furda and Jacques Steinberg, authors of “The College Conversation,” wrote about how students should address the pandemic and other current events when writing college-application essays.

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