Whether you call it Penn, UPenn, or the official name, The University of Pennsylvania, this school is regularly ranked as one of the best in the world. Penn (cause that’s our preferred name for this prestigious Ivy League) is known for attracting students who are driven, focused, and who have big dreams and even bigger plans for their futures. The Philadelphia university was founded by Benjamin Franklin and has been rooted in independent thought and bold ideas since day one. It’s “a place for people who want to do something big.”
Penn attracts students who are entrepreneurial, even if they don’t want to go into business. They have internal motivation, and want to be part of a community full of similarly-minded students, faculty, and leadership. There are about 10,000 undergraduate students, and just under 30,000 students overall, so Penn offers a big school experience for students who want to feel like part of a powerful community. The school is also first among the Ivy League in the number of students who study abroad, and is known to be very diverse across a variety of metrics.
Undergraduate students at Penn have over 4,200 course to choose from, but also have access to the type of close mentorship and instruction that can only come from a low student-faculty ratio (8:1). Penn prides itself on being on the cutting edge, and invites new students to join them there, pushing fields forward.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that all this makes Penn quite difficult to gain admission to. They received nearly 60,000 applications for the Class of 2027 alone, and the acceptance rate was only 6%. 94% of accepted students were in the top 10% of their high school class. The Class of 2028 was even more competitive — they received more than 65,000 applications, the largest number ever.
If you are considering putting Penn at the top of your college list, becoming part of that tiny percentage of accepted students requires planning and strategy all year ‘round, not just during the school year. Yes, we’re including summers. Every competitive applicant to Penn will have great grades in the hardest classes they have access to, and leadership credentials in athletics and in clubs or student government — so those are really the bare minimum. What you do during the summer, though, can be what sets you apart from all the other impressive applicants.
In this post, we outline how to spend your summer if you have Penn in your sights.
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What does the University of Pennsylvania want to see from your summer?
They tell us what they want to see in applicants, so let’s use that to guide what comes next:
“We look for students who aspire to develop and refine their talents and abilities within Penn’s liberal arts-based, practical, and interdisciplinary learning environment. Our ideal candidates are inspired to emulate our founder Benjamin Franklin by applying their knowledge in ‘service to society’ to our community, the city of Philadelphia, and the wider world. To best understand prospective students’ paths through Penn, we approach applications holistically and with great care.”
Obviously, that’s a lot to chew on, but if we approach it in chunks, and pair it with actions you can take over the summer, it becomes a lot more manageable.
Augment Your Academics
First, let’s start at the beginning. When Penn says, “We look for students who aspire to develop and refine their talents and abilities within Penn’s liberal arts-based, practical, and interdisciplinary learning environment,” there are three things that really jump out at us.
Develop and Refine
Practical
Interdisciplinary
During the summer, we want you to hit on each of these three points at least once — and they can overlap.
To address Develop and Refine, we want to see you exploring something you care about more deeply than you are able to do in the school year. For example, if you’re passionate about engineering it would make sense to dig deeper into a specific area of engineering through an online course or engineering camp. If you are passionate about history, the same process holds true. Your school may mostly offer survey courses, so the summer is a great time to zoom in. While you could do this on your own through personal exploration and learning, we find that having a program, like a course at a local college, has the dual benefit of structure and giving you something to name on your college apps.
To address Practical, we love when students get hands on learning opportunities through internships, summer jobs, or research positions. This may mean being a little creative. If you’re really into business, for example, you may work in the office of a local landscaping company learning how they do the books. It’s ok if landscaping is not your passion. The point is learning the practical side, not being able to identify a Rhododendron. Internships, summer jobs, and research positions are best found through connections. Talk to friend, parents of your friends, and friends of your parents to find opportunities. You teachers or school administration may be able to help, too!
And to address Interdisciplinary, we challenge students to go outside of their comfort zone by trying something that is related to their interests through a non-traditional or non-obvious connection. This could be a job, internship, course, or other pursuit, but shouldn’t take up too much time unless you’re really into it.
Since we’re on the subject of academics, we should also talk a little about the SAT and ACT. Penn expects exemplary standardized test scores that back up your outstanding grades. On the SAT front, you should aim for:
SAT Reading and Writing: 760+
SAT Math: 770+
These are very high scores, and don’t be disheartened if you can’t achieve them on your first try. Plan to spend some of the summer preparing for whichever test you choose to take, ideally with the help of a test prep program, book, or tutor.
Give Back to Your Community
The next section of the core statement from Penn on what they are looking for from students hits on service. “Our ideal candidates,” they say, “are inspired to emulate our founder Benjamin Franklin by applying their knowledge in ‘service to society’ to our community, the city of Philadelphia, and the wider world.” Elsewhere, they emphasize that, “Penn weaves civic awareness and action into campus life.” There are more than 300 Penn volunteer and community service programs, and more than 70 courses with community service components.
All of this adds together to communicate that they really want to see long-term and local volunteering on your list of activities. If you aren’t already working with a non-profit or community organization during the year, the summer is a great time to start (and then, ideally, continue into the school year).
Summer Programs
We’d be remiss if we didn’t at least hit on the Penn summer programs, because they are very proud of them. Penn offers an array of summer programs including the Summer Academics, Pre-College Programs, and the Penn Summer Prep Program. Programs range from two to six weeks.
Some are for college credit, and some are not for college credit. None will get you into Penn, and all are expensive. We don’t typically recommend the summer programs unless one of two things is true. First, if cost is not a concern for you then a summer program may be a great way to learn more about Penn and to explore if it is a strong fit. The second exception is if you are “a Philadelphia resident and attend a School District of Philadelphia public or charter high school.” If that description applies to you, you could be eligible for a scholarship.
If you are an international student considering Penn, you need to know that international students have a harder time getting into Penn than students from within the US. The acceptance rate for international students for the class of 2027 was only 3.1%. So, if you are applying to Penn as an international student you need to put in some extra effort over the summer.
If you have Penn in your sights, let us know. We can help.