The University of Pennsylvania has released Regular Decision notifications to the Class of 2029. Over 72,000 students applied to the Ivy League institution this year, a record. It marked the second straight year that UPenn set a new application benchmark. Applications increased by about 11% from last year’s historic tally of over 65,000 applicants.

UPenn Keeps Its Admissions Statistics Close to the Vest

UPenn has been withholding its acceptance rates for the Early Decision and Regular Decision rounds in recent years, failing to disclose the number of admits. Without the number of admits, deducing the school’s acceptance rates for the Class of 2029 would be impossible.

That said, UPenn, like all of America’s elite universities, annually releases figures to The Common Data Set. Last year, for the Class of 2028, 3,508 students earned admission between the two rounds of admission — for an overall acceptance rate of 5.4%. This was the lowest acceptance rate on record for the Philadelphia-based institution.

Nonetheless, we still have over twenty years of admissions data to unpack:

University of Pennsylvania Admissions Statistics (Class of 2029 – Class of 2007)

University of Pennsylvania Class Year	Overall Acceptance Rate	Regular Decision Acceptance Rate	Regular Decision Applications Accepted	Regular Decision Applications Received	Early Decision / Action Acceptance Rate	Percent of Class Filled by Early Applications	Early Decision / Action Applications Received	Early Decision / Action Applications Accepted	Expected Number of Students to Enroll	Total Applications Received	Total Applications Accepted
Class of 2029	NYP	NYP	NYP	NYP	NYP	NYP	NYP	NYP	NYP	72,000+	NYP
Class of 2028	5.38%	NYP	NYP	NYP	NYP	NYP	NYP	NYP	2,400	65,235	3,508
Class of 2027	5.87%	4.45%	2,285	51.356	34.51%	49.83%	8,109	1,204	2,416	59,465	3,489
Class of 2026	6.50%	4.99%	2,339	46,794	15.52%	50.42%	7,794	1,210	2,400	54,588	3,549
Class of 2025	5.70%	4.20%	2,008	48,371	14.90%	49.80%	7,962	1,194	2,400	56,333	3,202
Class of 2024	8.10%	6.00%	2,135	35,752	19.70%	52.90%	6,453	1,269	2,400	42,205	3,404
Class of 2023	7.40%	5.50%	2,066	37,850	18.00%	53.00%	7,110	1,279	2,413	44,960	3,345
Class of 2022	8.40%	6.50%	2,419	37,408	18.50%	53.70%	7,074	1,312	2,445	44,482	3,731
Class of 2021	9.20%	6.80%	2,345	34,266	22.00%	55.40%	6,147	1,354	2,445	40,413	3,699
Class of 2020	9.40%	7.00%	2,329	33,156	23.20%	54.60%	5,762	1,335	2,445	38,918	3,661
Class of 2019	9.90%	7.50%	2,381	31,778	23.90%	54.40%	5,489	1,316	2,420	37,267	3,697
Class of 2018	9.90%	7.30%	2,252	30,719	25.20%	53.70%	5,149	1,299	2,420	35,868	3,551
Class of 2017	12.10%	9.80%	2,589	26,468	24.90%	49.40%	4,812	1,196	2,420	31,280	3,785
Class of 2016	12.30%	10.10%	2,698	26,690	25.40%	47.40%	4,526	1,148	2,420	31,216	3,846
Class of 2015	12.30%	9.90%	2,685	27,102	26.20%	49.40%	4,557	1,195	2,420	31,659	3,880
Class of 2014	14.20%	11.40%	2,630	23,096	31.20%	50%	3,842	1,200	2,400	26,938	3,830
Class of 2013	17.10%	14.40%	2,770	19,273	31.50%	48.20%	3,666	1,156	2,400	22,939	3,926
Class of 2012	16.40%	13.80%	2,622	18,993	29.20%	47.80%	3,929	1,147	2,400	22,922	3,769
Class of 2011	15.90%	13.10%	2,450	18,633	29%	48.30%	4,001	1,160	2,400	22,634	3,610
Class of 2010	17.70%	15%	2,442	16,331	28.40%	49.20%	4,148	1,180	2,400	20,479	3,622
Class of 2009	20.90%	17.90%	2,743	15,329	34.20%	48.30%	3,420	1,169	2,420	18,749	3,912
Class of 2008	21%	18.30%	2,726	14,891	33.10%	45%	3,387	1,120	2,490	18,278	3,846
Class of 2007	20.50%	17.20%	2,736	15,945	38.90%	47%	2,882	1,122	2,385	18,827	3,858

Ivy Coach is eagerly awaiting the release of the number of admitted students and the respective acceptance rates for the UPenn Class of 2029. We will be sure to share this information as soon as it becomes available.

Profile of UPenn Admits to the Class of 2029

Of the admitted students to UPenn’s Class of 2029, they hail from all 50 states in addition to Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Marshall Islands, and the military APO. International admits hail from over 100 countries worldwide.

We’d love to share more intel on the UPenn Class of 2029’s percentage of first-generation college students, the percentage of legacies, and more, but the school is, as of now, keeping these cards close to the vest, too.

Ivy Coach’s Crystal Ball Takes On the Penn Class of 2029

While we at Ivy Coach like to joke about our famously accurate crystal ball, all jokes aside, we do have a wealth of experience and expertise in predicting Ivy League admissions statistics. Drawing on this knowledge, here’s what we predict for the Penn Class of 2029:

When the acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 is finally released, it will show a slight decrease in acceptance that sets yet another record for the Ivy League school — but not by any wide margin. After all, Penn is one of the few Ivies to have conducted the 2024-2025 admissions cycle with a test-optional policy, which surely flooded the applicant pool with all the “squeakers” (Ivy Coach’s term for those students who apply to highly selective schools in the hopes they will get admitted without submitting any test scores). These squeakers likely found themselves with fewer and fewer places to turn after most other Ivy League schools phased out test-optional policies in recent years. And next year, they’ll be plum out of luck, with Penn’s decision to return to mandatory standardized testing for the 2025-2026 admissions cycle.

However, it’s worth noting that acceptance rates have been up across every other Ivy League school that has reported this elusive data. But yet another state of affairs has likely contributed to the expected decline in Penn’s acceptance rate: Trump administration cuts to federal funding, forcing Penn to cut back on spending in a huge way. Time will only tell whether they responded to this austere situation by cutting back on acceptances in order to enroll a smaller cohort for the Class of 2029, but in any event, it just goes to show that a lower acceptance rate is not always evidence of institutional strength. Sometimes, it’s just the opposite!

Ivy Coach’s Assistance with UPenn Waitlist to the Class of 2029

If you’re interested in optimizing your chances of admission off the University of Pennsylvania’s waitlist with Ivy Coach’s Jayson Weingarten, a former UPenn and Wharton admissions officer, fill out our complimentary consultation form. We’ll then be in touch to outline our go-forward service for waitlisted candidates.