Why Is Apple Doing So Well In Stocks

So what are the key trends that are likely to drive Apple's results? While Apple launched its latest iPhone 13 handsets in September, we don't expect the device to be a major driver of Apple's sales, as it was available for sale for just about a week in Q3. However, it's possible that Apple could be seeing some pressure on device supply, due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage.

Apple's margins are also likely to trend higher on a year-over-year basis, driven by a growing mix of services revenues, higher average prices on iPhones, and other devices. See our interactive dashboard analysis onApple Pre-Earningsfor more details. The new iPhone 12 handsets saw their first full quarter of sales over Q2 FY'21, helping iPhone revenue rise 65% compared to last year. The iPhone is Apple's most profitable hardware product and the new handset is also priced at a premium compared to its predecessors, helping margins. For example, Apple says that it has about 660 million paid subscriptions on its platform now, marking an increase of 145 million compared to last year.

Separately, Apple said that it also benefited from a favorable foreign exchange environment. Apple's financial performance, including its share price, relies heavily on the sales of its products. A high flier through much of its recent history, Apple stock hit new all-time highs toward the end of 2021, with a market capitalization approaching a record $3 trillion. Apple also appears to be getting more Android customers to migrate to its ecosystem, noting that it saw strong double-digit growth in the number of people who switched in Q3. This is significantly positive, as Apple has done a good job locking in users and better monetizing them with pricier upgrades, new products, and services. While continued revenue growth and solid margin expansion should drive Apple's profits, shareholder returns could be magnified by Apple's massive stock buyback program.

For perspective, the company has bought back an average of 5% of its stock each year over the last five years. A pandemic-era surge in tech stocks has driven the major US tech companies to new highs, pulling US stock markets with them. In between, several start-ups tapped the stock markets to raise funds on the back of promising EV technology claims.

Electric vehicles currently account for only a fraction of total global vehicle sales, and most research firms expect the industry to grow at compound annual rates in the high 20s through 2030. Apple is clearly in a much better position to navigate the ongoing headwinds compared to other smartphone players. Apple is the most profitable company in the smartphone space by far, with gross margins standing at a solid 42% in Q4 FY'21.

This means the company should be in a better position to pay more to secure supply, compared to smaller players, without really impacting its profits. This could mean that Apple will see reasonable supply growth despite shortages. Demand should also hold up, as carrier promos for the new devices also appear attractive, as wireless carriers look to sign on customers for their recently built out 5G networks. Stronger momentum in the iPhone business is always a big catalyst for Apple stock, and this could be validated as Apple publishes Q1 FY'22 earnings. Large companies beat collective market expectations of their earnings to positively influence their market capitalization. It's no accident that they often manipulate their earnings reports to match or beat estimates to artificially enhance their stock prices.

As a result, earnings management is highly scrutinized by the Securities and Exchange Commission . However, will reducing commissions by half impact the performance of Apple's highly lucrative and fast-growing Services business? After all, the AppStore is estimated to account for roughly a third of Apple's Services Revenue. Apple earns a bulk of its AppStore revenue from the largest developers, with Sensor Tower indicating that developers who benefit from this program accounted for under 5% of App Store revenues last year. Moreover, the discounted fee will only apply until developers cross the $1 million threshold, after which Apple will bill them at the higher 30% commission rate.

Apple appears well on its way to being the first company to hit a $3 trillion market cap. As of the opening bell on Thursday, the company's stock was sitting at $174.91 per share, and it only needs to hit $182.86 before crossing the historic point. Apple's stock has split several times since it first went public in December 1980. The first split came on June 16, 1987, on a two-for-one basis at a pre-split price of $79. The next split came on June 21, 2000, when share prices reached $111.

On Feb. 28, 2005, Apple split its stock again when it hit $90. The company split its stock again on a seven-to-one basis on June 9, 2014, when share prices reached $656. The final stock split came on Aug. 28, 2020, when it split on a four-to-one basis at a pre-split price of $499.23. The release of an innovative, revenue-driving product or service is one of the few options a company has to influence its stock valuation. When Wall Street valuations are right or wrong, the reward or loss can be astronomical for investors.

This is because accurately estimating the impact of an internationally distributed product on a company's earnings and the company's stock is a herculean challenge. Martin said there are indications that Apple's current products, especially its iPhone Pro models, are selling well, potentially leading to a big December quarter for the company. Apple said in October it expected record revenue in its fiscal first quarter, over last year's $111.4 billion in sales, despite supply constraints. Europe's record start to the new year set the stage for US markets to continue their late 2021 recovery. The opening of the S&P 500 index, which climbed by 26.9% last year, was bolstered by a 9% jump in Tesla shares after the company's quarterly deliveries exceeded expectations.

Think Apple stock is pricey at current levels, but still want to play the upside in iPhone sales? Check out our theme onApple Component Supplier Stocks– which includes a diverse set of companies that supply components for iPhones, iPads, and other Apple devices. In addition, Apple continues to rake in revenue through services like AppleCare, the App Store, Apple Music+, and Apple TV+.

Apple shares pulled back following a rocky week for markets as the Federal Reserve hinted at an earlier liftoff on interest rates for the year, but not before it became the first company to reach a $3 trillion market cap. According to Independent Solutions Wealth Management portfolio manager Paul Meeks, however, Apple stock is nowhere near a good deal right now. While myriad investing strategies have been effective in making long-term investors richer, perhaps none has a greater track record than buying into dividend stocks. Apple's range of Mac products is another example of wildly successful Apple products.

The iMac was released in May 1998, with Apple trading in penny stock territory at $7.58. While it didn't have an immediate impact on Apple stock, Apple traded at $9.22—a mere three months later. The stock market reflects all known information as stated by the efficient market hypothesis, processing and assimilating new data rapidly through the mechanism of buying and selling.

The stock market is also forward-looking, which explains why a company's stock may fall, even when reported earnings improve from the previous quarter. Apple's stock history is a stellar example of how this works. Apple uses its cash flow not only to invest in new products but to return capital to shareholders through dividends and buybacks, the latter of which can help keep the stock price stable.

And Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi said in a note to investors earlier this month that he expects Apple to continue repurchasing shares over the next five years. The London Stock Exchange , which has lagged behind its European and US rivals by climbing 14.3% last year, was closed on Monday for the new year bank holiday. The FTSE 100 has been criticised as "old-fashioned" due to its dearth of tech companies and a glut of oil and bank stocks. It remained 6.5% below its May 2018 peak last year while the US, German and French markets all hit record highs. The oil price helped shares in US oil majors Chevron and ExxonMobil climb by 1% each. A few months ago, I ran an analysis on AAPL's performance before and after earnings day.

A bit of a surprise to me, the stock tends to underperform its own two-week average ahead of the earnings release; but then the price tends to spike shortly after the results are published. Apple's 2021 Revenues are projected to jump by a solid 21%, per consensus estimates, likely growing faster than Apple's cost base. Moreover, the full impact of the new iPhone 12 is only likely to be seen in the coming quarters, as production picks up and the devices see full quarters of availability. For perspective, the device went on sale only about 3 to 4 weeks into Q1'FY21, with popular models remaining short-supplied. AlthoughApple stockhas rallied by almost 50% over the last 12 months, it has underperformed year-to-date, rising by just about 13% versus the S&P 500 which was up by almost 17%. The underperformance comes as investors rotated out of pandemic winners such as tech stocks, to more cyclical and value stocks to play the re-opening.

What Will Apple Stock Do Tomorrow Apple, which trades at almost 30x forward earnings, which is above historical levels, has been impacted to a certain extent. That said, if Apple manages to post a solid earnings beat in Q3, we could see the stock gain further. Before we delve into the product lines, it's important to remember a few key points about Apple's stock history. The company's stock trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAPL.

As of January 20, 2022, Apple had a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, closing the trading day at $164.51. Apple earlier this month became the first company to reach a market capitalization of $3 trillion. But with a pullback in Apple stock after hitting that milestone, many investors are wondering if AAPL stock is a buy right now. Alpha Spread's user-friendly platform allows you to estimate a stock's fair value –through valuation multiples, discounted cash flow, and more. I believe that the service is a must for anyone looking to own the right stock at the right price. Check out alphaspread.com and get started with a 7-day free trial.

Looking at a company's business fundamentals is only half the work needed to find a good stock. How much one pays to own the shares is a key factor in the success of any investment. So what could be the financial impact of Apple reducing commissions across the board?

Apple takes a 30% cut on App sales and subscriptions (15% from the second year of subscriptions) and we estimate that total commission revenues stood at almost $20 billion in FY'19 (out of a total of about $46 billion in Services Revenue). If Apple reduced commissions to say 20% from 30%, it would reduced total commissions by about $7 billion to roughly $13 billion. Although the revenue impact would be limited for Apple (under 3% of Apple's Total Revenue) the impact on profits would be more pronounced given that commissions are likely to be almost entirely profit. We estimate that Apple's Operating Income would be about 10% lower if commissions were reduced, considering Apple posted about $64 billion in Operating Income in FY'19. Firstly, Apple's Service business is quite dependent on fees Google pays Apple for being the default search engine on its iDevices (an estimated 20% of Services Revenue, and a larger percentage of profits). Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against Google could jeopardize these payments, hurting Apple's services growth.

Secondly, Apple is increasingly investing in content production with services such as AppleTV+ and these offerings could also have lower margins. Apple's Services business also saw Gross Margins soar to around 68.4%, an increase of around 400 basis points versus last year. Services Revenue grew by a strong 24% year-over-year, likely enabling better-fixed cost absorption. Apple also likely saw a large percentage of commission-driven revenues such as App sales and subscriptions, which are much more profitable. Apple's operating expenses rose by just about 12% year-over-year compared to total Revenues which expanded by 21% and this was also a factor that drove its Operating Margin gains, in addition to the Gross Profit gains. Microsoft is another company that is positioned to reach the $3 trillion market cap milestone after hitting the $2 trillion mark in mid-2021.

And as for his outlook on Google/Alphabet, Meeks said the opportunity for growth in the digital advertising space in 2022 is what makes Google and tech companies like it more attractive than the likes of Apple. Due to an editor's error, this article previously stated Apple shares need to be at $185 for the company's market cap to hit $3 trillion. The Cupertino-based company has a looming presence in each market—a reputation that can be attributed to the monopoly that the company seemingly has on innovation. The iPhone is, by far, its most profitable product line, raking in $137.8 billion in sales for the 2020 fiscal year.

Apple's services category is the second-highest-grossing segment ($53.8 billion), followed by its wearables, home, and accessories segment ($30.6 billion). Mac products and the iPad category rounded out the group with $28.6 billion and $23.7 billion in sales for 2020. Lufthansa shares rose by almost 8.9% to €6.73 a share, and Air France KLM rose by 4.9% to €4.06.

The Stoxx 600 recorded a 22.4% jump last year, its second-best yearly performance in over a decade, after the global rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and government stimulus spending encouraged investors to pour money back into the markets. Apple became the first US company to be valued at over $3tn on Monday as the tech company continued its phenomenal share price growth, tripling in value in under four years. Here is how Apple stock tends to perform around earnings day, and what potential investors should think about before pushing the "buy" button. Stocks makes it easy to follow your stocks and the market. View quotes and daily performance in a customizable watchlist, and tap any ticker to see an interactive chart and key details. Stocks also includes business news from top publications around the world.

Apple's Product Gross Margins, or the profits it makes after accounting for direct costs related to making its iDevices, computers, and accessories, rose by around 90 basis points year over year to 35.1%. Although we actually expected margins to face pressure on account of higher costs relating to 5G components on the new iPhones, Apple significantly beat our margin expectations, driven by a couple of factors. Firstly, Apple has a certain level of fixed costs in its product cost structures and with the product Revenue soaring by about 21%, it benefited from some leverage gains. Secondly, Apple's product mix has been more favorable than previous quarters, with Apple nudging customers towards "Pro" versions of its devices, which likely have thicker margins. In fact, Apple raised the price of its iPhone 12 versus last year's iPhone 11, making its iPhone 12 Pro models (priced at $1,000 and up) look like better value compared to last year.

Tesla is one of dozens of hot stocks set to announce earnings results over the next few trading days. Let's look at Apple's 2021 to get some context about its recent performance. In its last four quarters, the company has seen its net sales increase by 21%, 54%, 36%, and 29%.

And while much of that was driven by iPhone sales thanks to the release of the 5G-capable iPhone 12 in September 2020, growth across Apple's iPad, Mac, Services, and Wearables businesses has been just as robust. On the other hand, each product had a noticeably positive effect on the stock over a longer period of time. The overarching, long-term view is the one to properly frame your investment decisions on, not day-to-day volatility. Over time, the market mechanism will identify true value in the marketplace. Rely on the wisdom of the masses over the long term, not on the speculators that routinely come and go, thereby letting companies like Apple work for you.

Apple has a looming presence in each of its five markets, which include the iPhone, Mac products, the iPad, services, and its wearables, home, and accessories segment. Emma Wall, head of investment analysis and research at Hargreaves Lansdown, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Tuesday that now probably isn't the time for investors to buying Apple or Tesla shares. "Apple is an incredibly positive company in terms of cash flow generation, earnings, market share, profit margins. It's almost ideal when you look at all of those metrics," Armstrong said. Apple's market cap will continue to rise beyond the $3 trillion milestone it hit briefly Monday, according to one chief investment officer, who argued that the stock's valuation is justified. Meanwhile, Apple is facing antitrust scrutiny in the U.S. and Europe for its App Store policies, including its 30% commission fee. In November 2020, Apple cut its commission rate to 15% for small developers, possibly to appease regulators.

But Apple stock trended down in the days after that news. The company released its last quarterly earnings in October and made a profit of $20.6bn over the previous three months despite suffering from Covid-related supply chain issues. Apple alone is now more valuable than the combined values of Boeing, Coca-Cola, Disney, Exxon-Mobil, McDonald's, Netflix and Walmart. Its shares have risen 38% since the beginning of 2021, one of the largest gains on the Dow Jones industrial average stock market index.

Apple stockhas rallied by almost 90% over the last 12 months, driven by growing demand for consumer electronics through Covid-19, anticipation surrounding the 5G iPhones, and Apple's position as a "safe haven" stock. The stock now trades at roughly 30x forward EPS, which is higher compared to historical levels. It's very likely that Apple's Q2 results will determine the near-term trajectory for Apple's stock. Meeks joined Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the latest developments in Apple's valuation, NVIDIA's merger with Arm, and other tech stocks.

Upenn 2020 Acceptance Rate

Undergraduate admissions to the University of Pennsylvania is considered by US News to be "most selective". Admissions officials consider a student's GPA to be a very important academic factor, with emphasis on an applicant's high school class rank and letters of recommendation. For the class of 2024, entering in the fall of 2020, the university received 42,205 applications and admitted 8.07 percent of the applicants.

The Atlantic also ranked Penn among the 10 most selective schools in the country. News & World Report, Penn's most selective programs include its law school, the health care schools , and Wharton business school. Penn's transfer acceptance rate has hovered around 8% for the past few years. Especially when attempting to transfer into top tier schools, it's important to keep in mind that 1) they're only replacing the small percentage of students who left and 2) acceptance rates are low across the board.

And if you were out of range to apply right out of high school, one year of good grades in college won't do much to help because the evaluation process includes high school performance. If you're serious about transferring and think Penn is the place for you, keep reading. We'll detail the three required writing supplements, but be sure to check for additional requirements for special programs. It is easy to say "plan ahead", but there is a lot of advantage in knowing what school and program you would like to attend in the future. If you are certain about which school you want to enroll in, it might be wise to apply through the Early Action/Early Decision program.

This way, your deadline for application is earlier, but so is your response date. To utilize this opportunity, you must research your school of choice and determine whether you are a good fit for the program to which you're applying. Early Action programs give you an early answer as to where you stand in the admissions process. According to most recent data, Cornell's acceptance rates for their early decision program is 22.7%!

The advantage of applying Early Decision is that acceptance rates for ED applications are sometimes two to three times higher than the Regular Decision admission rates at the same schools. For instance, Northwestern's overall acceptance rate is only 9%, but its early decision rate is closer to 25%. And the early decision rates at schools like Washington University in St. Louis, Emory University, and Tufts University are all multiple times the regular decision admission rate.

The University of Pennsylvania, which ranks among the20 most selective universities in the country, has a highly competitive admissions pool with a low acceptance rate and high average SAT/ACT scores. However, Penn has a holistic admissions process involving other factors beyond your grades and test scores. A strong application essay, supplemental essay, and glowing letters of recommendation can strengthen your application, as can participation in meaningful extracurricular activities and a rigorous course schedule. Students with particularly compelling stories or achievements can still receive serious consideration even if their test scores are outside of Penn's average range. This would effectively mean that the early boost, and Tulane's actual selectivity, is not what it seems. Now that admissions results are in for the Class of 2025, it's clear that applications to Ivy League schools surged in the most recent application cycle, with nearly 100,000 more students applying than the year before.

Unsurprisingly, acceptance rates for the Class of 2025 are historically low. A whopping 56,333 applications were received by Penn for the Class of 2025, the largest applicant pool to date; only 3,202 individuals were accepted. Working out to 5.68% acceptance rate, this was the most selective year in the university's lengthy history. Applicants for the Classes of 2016 and 2017 saw admit rates in excess of 12%; the Class of 2018 is when the school's admit rate first dipped below 10%. The two years prior to the Class of 2025 cycle, 8.07% and 7.4% were accepted.

University Of Pennsylvania Acceptance Rate 2020 Of the 56,333 students who applied to Penn's Class of 2025 in the early and regular rounds, 3,202 were admitted, leading to an overall acceptance rate of 5.68 percent. The 3,202 admitted students to the Class of 2025 included 1,194 students who were admitted through the early decision round. The admission rate for the ED round was 15 percent out of 7,962 applicants. Last year, 42,205 students applied to Penn's Class of 2024 in the early and regular rounds and 3,404 were admitted, leading to an overall acceptance rate of 8.07 percent. Out of the total 3,404 admitted to the Class of 2024, 1,269 students were admitted through the early decision round. The admission rate for the ED round was 19.67 percent out of 6,453 applicants.

For the Class of 2023, 44,960 students applied to in the early and regular rounds and 3,345 were admitted, leading to an overall acceptance rate of 7.44 percent. The home of the Blue Devils accepted the lowest percentage of ED applicants in its history—admitting 840 out of 5,036 students, resulting in a 16.7% acceptance rate. University of Pennsylvania received 44,961 undergraduate applications in 2019, which represents a 1.06% annual growth. Out of those 44,961 applicants, 3,446 students were accepted for enrollment, representing a 7.66% acceptance rate.

Although Cornell University has the highest acceptance rates of all Ivy League schools, this does not mean that it's an easy school to get into. To be a competitive applicant for any of these eight prestigious institutions, you cannot slack off when it comes to your applications. Start planning your acceptance strategies early, which means studying hard at school and planning ahead for your standardized tests. If you have not been involved in an extracurricular activity since childhood, plan to seriously commit to an activity as early as you can. Choose something you love to do as this will be evident in your application components.

Most importantly, do not choose to go to an Ivy League school for appearances. Choose a program you actually want to attend and graduate from, rather than a program that will look good on your CV. Prestige and social status do not necessarily translate into better educational fit for you. Choose happiness and invest in your education in a school you truly want to attend. Ivy League undergraduate admissions are difficult to assess because each school claims to take a holistic approach to reviewing students' applications. A holistic application review considers a broad range of student's accomplishments and circumstances.

This allows admissions committees to consider your candidacy as a whole, rather than focusing on only one component of your application. A good example of this theory is the elimination of GPA stats for Brown's applicants. The college announced that it does not calculate its students' GPA and relies on other criteria for evaluation, such as students' coursework, course performance reports and letters of recommendation.

As you might have noticed, the majority of the Ivy League schools do not have specific GPA or standardized test score requirements – all of this is meant to demonstrate that no ONE application component outweighs the other. While Dartmouth does not have a GPA cut-off for matriculating students, the average undergraduate GPA of current Dartmouth students is 3.52. As a reference, most admitted transfer students have a GPA of 3.7 or higher. This gives you an idea of how important your grades will be for the admissions committee.

Cornell does not announce decisions until Dec. 17 but has previously said it would not announce acceptance rates while admissions are ongoing. Cornell does, however, report detailed undergraduate admissions data including the number of students who applied, were admitted, and matriculated through each admissions cycle. The 311,948 Ivy League applications for the Class of 2023 were a record high.

Unfortunately, the 6.78% acceptance rate across all eight schools was, at the time, a record low. Your high school coursework is the biggest evidence of your academic abilities. The single most important document in your application is your high school transcript. Not only does it tell the admissions committee what kind of grades you received throughout the years, it also demonstrates your drive, dedication, and improvement over time. Impress the adcoms with a broad range of challenging courses, that you enjoy and find interesting.

Try to take courses in different disciplines, including sciences, arts, humanities, and languages. To increase your chances of success, take courses in disciplines you typically ace but do not forget to complete necessary requirements for graduation. You can find a study partner, ask your teacher for help, get a tutor, or design a study plan that would increase your understanding of the content.

Penn has four undergraduate schools as well as twelve graduate and professional schools. Schools enrolling undergraduates include the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Wharton School, and the School of Nursing. Penn's "One University Policy" allows students to enroll in classes in any of Penn's twelve schools.

Among its highly ranked graduate and professional schools are a law school whose first professor wrote the first draft of the United States Constitution, the first school of medicine in North America , and the first collegiate business school . Penn is also home to the first "student union" building and organization , the first Catholic student club in North America , the first double-decker college football stadium , and Morris Arboretum, the official arboretum of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Down from its previous admission rate of 5.6% in 2020, Princeton is even more competitive to get into now with a 4.4% acceptance rate. The Ivy aims to identify students who will positively contribute and bring a unique perspective to its community.

Rather than looking for a specific set of academic criteria, Princeton prefers applicants who have challenged themselves with rigorous honors and AP courses. Given its renowned reputation as one of the best medical schools in both the U.S. and the world, Penn Med's admissions process is extremely rigorous. It's also highly selective, with one of the lowest acceptance rates in the country. However, the difference between the two types of acceptance rates fell at Harvard, where only 7.4% of early action applicants received an offer of admission.

While that number is more encouraging than the mere 3.3% of regular decision applicants who got in, the difference is far less pronounced than in previous years (in 2020, Harvard's early action and regular decision rates were 13.9% and 3.3%, respectively). The overall acceptance at UPenn is just 5.68%, which is substantially lower than the 15% acceptance rate for students applying through the school's early decision program. Simply applying early decision at UPenn provides a big boost to your odds of admission.

As of fall 2017, there were 21,599 students studying at Penn, split equally between undergraduate and graduate students. Penn has a strong focus on interdisciplinary learning and research, offering double degree programs, unique majors and academic flexibility. This means competition to study at Penn is fierce, particularly at undergraduate level. The admission rate for the class of 2021 was 9.3 percent, of which 46 percent were either black, Hispanic Asian, or Native American.

Unusually for an Ivy League school, women comprise over half of all students enrolled. According to the latest statistics, the college-wide GPA is 3.46, while the average grade is A-. Princeton requires SAT or ACT scores as part of students' applications.

SAT scores for accepted students range between 1460 to 1570, while the composite ACT score is from 33 to 35. A rolling admissions process is an entirely different kind of early admissions process. Because applications are reviewed and decided as they are received, applying early will always boost your chances. In rolling admissions, a college opens itself to receiving applications over a large time frame and promptly notify applicants of their decisions within weeks of your application's submission.

Because your chances of securing a spot in rolling admissions are higher when the spots are plentiful, the sooner you apply the better. Indiana University—Bloomington and Penn State University are two popular colleges that have rolling admissions. The myth busting reasons below will explain why applying to most Ivy League and top 15 ranked colleges early does not give your application the significant boost that most people believe it will.

Scrutinizing official university data reveals that the massive, double-digit differences that people perceive between the early and regular acceptance rates actually stem from misconstrued data points. In last year's regular admissions cycle, Princeton admitted a record-low 1,498 students out of 37,601 applicants for an acceptance rate of 3.98 percent — a steep drop from the 5.6 percent acceptance rate for the Class of 2024. An additional 149 students had deferred admission or were admitted off the waitlist for a total acceptance rate of 4.38 percent.

Fifty-four students were admitted through the QuestBridge program for low-income and first-generation students, a jump from 45 students last year. The Program in Liberal Medical Education early decision accepted 23 students, a 3% acceptance rate, according to Powell. The University accepted 896 students to the class of 2026 from a pool of 6,146 early decision applicants, according to Dean of Admission Logan Powell. The early acceptance rate, number of applicants and number of accepted students were all records in the history of the University's early decision program. Note that because many schools have temporarily gone test-optional in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer are reporting middle 50% SAT/ACT scores. This change in policy has led to a surge in applications at many selective institutions, resulting in unprecedented application numbers and some of the lowest acceptance rates in U.S. history.

University of Pennsylvania admissions are extremely selective with a low acceptance rate. Applicants even with above-average scores have very little chance of getting admitted. Essay and LOR should be emphasized while making the application as a good essay and strong recommendation can set you apart in this tough competition.

The admission decision are announced by Mid December for Early Decision applicants and by April 1 for Regular Decision applicants. In the scattergram, the blue and green represent accepted students. You can see that the great majority of admitted students had a self-reported GPA of 3.7 or higher, a combined SAT score (ERW+M) of over 1200, and an ACT composite of 24 or higher. Hidden beneath the blue and green in the upper right corner of the graph is a lot of red, so keep in mind that even students who seem to be on target for admission get rejected from Penn.

For any school with a single digit acceptance rate, it is best to consider the institution a reach school, even if your scores are on target for admission. It's widely known that students who apply early action or early decision typically get accepted to Ivy League schools at significantly higher rates than regular decision applicants. Harvard, Princeton, and Yale—known as the "Big Three"—are historically the three toughest Ivy League schools to get into.

In recent years, they have been joined by Columbia in the top half of the most selective Ivy League schools. In 2021, Columbia edged past Princeton and Harvard to become the most competitive Ivy. While all four schools reported overall acceptance rates below 5%, with a 3.9% acceptance rate, Columbia is now the hardest Ivy League school to get into. While all the different undergraduate schools are competitive, some are more so than others.