If you recently received a rejection from the University of Pennsylvania Early Decision, you are not alone. Penn has experienced a historic uptick in Early Decision applications in recent years, with over students applying ED in the winter of 2024. This has coincided with a dramatic decrease in acceptance rate, which has been experienced across the Ivy League and other top-tier universities.
Penn admits a large percentage of their incoming first-year class in the Early Decision round. Over half, , of the Class of 2029 was admitted ED. That DZ’t mean it is easy to get in, though, as you have experienced. While Penn did not publish an ED acceptance rate for the Class of 2029, Penn has historically accepted a significantly higher percentage of applicants in the ED round than in the RD cycle. The overall acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 was only
In this post, we’re going to help you move past the ED disappointment and towards an exceptional college or university. You can still get into a dream school, but you need to move forward carefully.
We help strong students bounce back from unexpected early decisions. Learn more.
Step One: Take a Break
The first thing that you need to do after receiving an ED rejection from Penn is to step back and breathe. Give yourself a day or two to be sad and to process the decision. Watch a favorite movie, have an hours long conversation with your favorite aunt, and spend some time dreaming about how stellar your future will be. You will do astounding things from this point forward; you just need to launch into the next step.
Step Two: Strategize
It’s impossible to know exactly why you were rejected by Penn ED instead of receiving an acceptance, or at least a deferral. There are, however, a few likely components. Identifying these is critical to attaining your best possible outcomes in the Regular Decision application round.
First, come grades. If you applied to Penn with a bunch of Bs on your transcript, or even just one or two, that can be a massive problem for Penn — especially if they were in junior or senior year.
Next are scores. Standing out to Penn requires . If you SAT was under 1530 or your ACT was under a 34, that would have given Penn a strong reason to sideline your application.
If you have a great transcript and strong scores, there’s really only one reason you didn’t get in, though. They simply didn’t like you enough to keep your application in the mix. If your reaction is to groan, that’s understandable. It’s pretty upsetting to hear that you weren’t likeable enough for a stranger in a far-off place who DZ’t even know you to, at minimum, keep your application around for RD. But this is also fixable.
In the next application round, you need a college list that is aspirational yet realistic, and a fresh perspective on who you are and how you want to engage with each college or university. You can still get into an Ivy-caliber school, but it’s not going to happen without a fresh approach. You also need to seriously consider an EDII option, as that can be your most powerful tool between now and the finish line.
Now, to fixing the written portions.
Step Three: Essays
Strong college writing isn’t found by searching for “Great college essays” on Google or ChatGPT. It isn’t found in YouTube videos, or on social media. In fact, those are all ways to creating writing that DZ’t work. Strong college writing comes from inside of you, not by going along with outside noise.
When we work with students, they often assume — at first — that we have templates or standard approaches. That’s what lots of college consultants do, but we don’t like that approach. That’s also why so few of our long-term clients ever get rejected.
Instead, we work with students to communicate who they truly are in ways that amplify their strongest (and most winning) characteristics. That can include structures and storytelling tools that aren’t what people are used to seeing in a college essay, and that’s sort of the point. We want application readers to be excited to return to your application and share it with others, not relieved to move on to the next one.
In the main college essay, you probably need to start from scratch. Get a blank document on your computer, and list three characteristics that you hold dear and want to make sure that application readers see. Then, brainstorm stories from your life that spotlight those characteristics. From there, you’ll develop one essay, most often focuses on one story, that shows who you are. Sometimes a winning essay is about an academic passion, and sometimes it’s about cooking eggs — seriously.
In the supplements, you’ll need to focus more closely on your academic passions and recent successes. Don’t just make a case for yourself as an applicant, though. Make a case for yourself at the individual school. If they can’t envision you on campus, your writing isn’t working in the school-specific sections.
Remember, most top colleges only guarantee that your application will get one read. One person, reading it one time. If that first reader likes it, more admissions officials will take a look. This DZ’t mean you’ll get in, but it does mean that your application will be talked about. Throughout this process, you want to be giving them reasons to say an enthusiastic yes.
Step Four: Ask For Help
Finally, you need to ask for help. An Early Decision rejection is a strong reminder that you’re an expert in yourself, but not an expert on college admissions. Asking for help from someone who truly understands this process can be a gamechanger in bouncing back from your Early Decision rejection.
Getting into a top school is possible after a rejection from Penn in the ED cycle, but it DZ’t happen by simply continuing along as if that rejection didn’t happen. If you take the same writing and submit it to more schools, you shouldn’t be surprised if you get the same result. Big outcomes require big actions, and now is the moment to start.
Getting into a top school RD requires strong strategy. Get yours.