Was your child waitlisted to the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 2029? If so, turn that frown upside down. After all, UPenn has a long history of admitting students off its waitlist. Your child, thus, still has a fighting chance — if they play their cards right. So, what are their chances of earning admission to UPenn’s waitlist to the Class of 2029, and how can they optimize their odds of getting in?

UPenn Waitlist Acceptance Rates and Statistics

The below is UPenn’s waitlist data for the Class of 2028 through 2014. UPenn reliably reported the number of students waitlisted, the chunk who opted-in, and the number of accepted students off the waitlist each year during this span, except for the UPenn Class of 2021.

University of Pennsylvania Class Year	Number of Students Waitlisted to UPenn	Number of Students Who Chose to Join UPenn Waitlist	Number of Students Accepted Off UPenn Waitlist	UPenn Waitlist Acceptance Rate
UPenn Class of 2029	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
UPenn Class of 2028	3,010	2,288	40	1.75%
UPenn Class of 2027	3,351	2,508	147	5.86%
UPenn Class of 2026	3,933	2,753	121	4.39%
UPenn Class of 2025	3,205	2,350	391	16.64%
UPenn Class of 2024	2,932	2,051	101	4.92%
UPenn Class of 2023	3,535	2,561	9	0.35%
UPenn Class of 2022	3,458	2,327	58	2.49%
UPenn Class of 2021	Not Published	Not Published	Not Published	Not Published
UPenn Class of 2020	2,474	1,438	90	6.26%
UPenn Class of 2019	2,651	1,600	36	2.25%
UPenn Class of 2018	2,816	1,737	44	2.53%
UPenn Class of 2017	2,017	1,249	87	6.97%
UPenn Class of 2016	2,417	1,385	56	4.04%
UPenn Class of 2015	3,056	1,760	55	3.13%
UPenn Class of 2014	2,938	2,606	96	3.68%

Your Chances of Admission to The University of Pennsylvania After Being Waitlisted

So your chances of admission off the UPenn waitlist depend on the year, but it typically ranges between 1-6%. For the Class of 2025, an admissions cycle significantly impacted by the pandemic, nearly 17% of students who opted-in to UPenn’s waitlist earned admission, whereas for the Class of 2023, only 0.35% of students who opted-in to UPenn’s waitlisted got in.

For the most recent class, the Class of 2028, 1.75% of waitlisted candidates earned admission to UPenn. How far UPenn’s admissions offices reaches down its waitlist all depends on a single figure: UPenn’s yield (or the percentage of admitted students who choose to enroll). The higher UPenn’s yield, the less dent they’ll make in their waitlist.

Your Chances of Admission to UPenn After Being Waitlisted with Ivy Coach’s Help

Over the last 10 years, around 45% of students who first come to Ivy Coach after being placed on the UPenn waitlist earn admission. It’s a figure we’re incredibly proud of.

So why do we have such success with UPenn’s waitlist? It boils down to Ivy Coach’s tried and true method of optimizing a student’s chances for admission after being placed in limbo. That two-step process is as follows:

1. Complete Ivy Coach’s PostMortem application review. We need to see what a student did right and what they did wrong. The narrative we help craft can’t be out of left field. It needs to be consistent with the story conveyed in the application — just told more compellingly.
2.  Submit a compelling Letter of Continued Interest. Most students know they should submit a letter after being placed in limbo. And most know they should do so promptly. But most students submit the wrong kind of letter. Ivy Coach’s letters contain no brags or updates. It’s a big reason why they’re so successful. We inspire admissions officers to root for our students!

Getting Started with Ivy Coach on the University of Pennsylvania Waitlist

If you’re interested in optimizing your case for admission off the University of Pennsylvania waitlist to the Class of 2029 with former University of Pennsylvania and Wharton admissions officer Jayson Weingarten of Ivy Coach, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form and indicate that you’ve been waitlisted. We’ll contact you in short order. We understand that time is of the essence and that your letter needs to go into UPenn stat.