ED Penn (CAS) / Dartmouth - Difficulty?

Cue7
Thu, 17 Apr 2014 13:12:59 +0000

^ This past year, Penn accepted 54% of the class early - Early decision admission rate increases by less than one percent | The Daily Pennsylvanian.

This past year, Dartmouth accepted 40% of its class early: http://thedartmouth.com/2013/12/12/news/early-acceptance-rate-drops-nearly-two-percent

At least for the past few years, where Penn has taken very close to 50% (or now over 50%) of the class early, and Dartmouth typically takes about 40%, the messaging seems to be that Penn will take a significantly higher percentage of the class early, and this squeezes RD applicants a little more.

Put another way, if you really like Penn, applying ED easily seems to be the best decision. It’s very possible that next year, like this year, 50%+ of the class will be filled early.

In terms of which school is more selective - as the OP seems to be having difficulty with this - I’ll simplify: they are exactly the same in terms of selectivity. One is not easier than the other, and one is not harder than the other.