UPenn Transfer Acceptance Rate and Requirements — 2024
December 12, 2023
Having a legitimate shot at becoming a Penn Quaker out of high school means that you will need near-perfect grades and test scores. Even then, single-digit acceptance rates ensure that even many high school superstars will meet rejection. Fortunately, if UPenn remains your dream school, there is always the option of trying to enter this Philly-based Ivy as a transfer student. The following blog will reveal the UPenn transfer acceptance rate as well as other essential pieces of information like the UPenn transfer deadline, the UPenn transfer requirements, the UPenn transfer decision date, and much more.
UPenn Transfer Acceptance Rate
Below we present the most current available UPenn transfer acceptance rate as well as historical data.
For entry in the fall of 2022, 3,513 students applied for transfer admission, and 185 were accepted. This means that the UPenn transfer acceptance rate is 5.2%. If we break this down by gender, the acceptance rates are as follows:
- Male transfer applicants: 4.6%
- Female transfer applicants: 5.9%
For entry in the fall of 2021, there were 3,516 transfer applicants and 161 individuals were accepted. This means that the UPenn transfer acceptance rate was 4.6%.
When trying to get the complete picture of how difficult it is to transfer into a given school, it is important to look at historical data. Many schools have wild fluctuations in transfer acceptance rates from year to year. As you can see, the UPenn transfer acceptance rate has indeed been somewhat variable in recent years, ranging from 4.6% to 8%.
Historical transfer rates are as follows:
| Year | Acceptance Rate |
| 2020 | 8% |
| 2019 | 6% |
| 2018 | 8% |
| 2017 | 8% |
UPenn Transfer Deadline
The university offers only a fall transfer option. The UPenn transfer deadline for fall applicants is March 15.
UPenn Transfer Acceptance Rate (Continued)
UPenn Transfer Requirements
The UPenn transfer requirements are as follows:
- A Common App for Transfer
- Final high school transcripts
- College transcripts
- SAT or ACT scores (currently optional)
- College Report
- Mid-Term Report (required for students who will enter as sophomores)
- Two letters of recommendation
- Portfolios, if applying to Architecture or Digital Design Media programs
Students who have the best chance to gain admission to UPenn have done the following:
- Completed a full year of college coursework (8+ courses).
- Earned exceptional grades in their first year at a community college or 4-year university.
- Have completed the UPenn recommended coursework for their intended college. For example, students interested in economics should have completed college-level calculus and prospective engineering students should have completed at least one course each in chemistry, physics, and computer programming as well as two calculus courses and two social sciences/humanities courses. Wharton applicants must have taken at least one semester-long course in each of the following: calculus, microeconomics, and macroeconomics. Further, they should have satisfied Wharton’s foreign language requirement.
UPenn Transfer GPA
There is no minimum GPA required to be considered as a transfer applicant at this institution. However, in our experience, you will need a GPA of 3.75 or above to be a truly competitive applicant to UPenn.
UPenn Transfer Acceptance Rate (Continued)
UPenn Transfer Writing Supplement
All transfer applicants must respond to the following three essay prompts:
- Please explain your reasons for transferring from your current institution and what you hope to gain by transferring into another institution. (4,150 character max).
- How will you explore community at Penn? Consider how Penn will help shape your perspective and identity, and how your identity and perspective will help shape Penn. (1,020 character max).
- Considering the specific undergraduate school you have selected, describe how you intend to explore your academic and intellectual interests at the University of Pennsylvania. For students applying to specialized programs, please answer this question in regard to your single-degree school choice; your interest in the specialized program may be addressed through the program-specific essay. (2,295 character max).
In addition, Digital Media Design program applicants must complete the following prompt:
- Why are you interested in the Digital Media Design (DMD) program at the University of Pennsylvania? (3,575 character max)
UPenn Transfer Decision Date
The UPenn transfer decision date is in May, typically mid-month.
Final Thoughts – UPenn University Transfer Acceptance Rate
Among the Ivies, UPenn draws the second most transfer applicants behind only Cornell University. Prospective transfer applicants should check out the Penn Transfer Student Organization (PTSO). This group offers advice on which classes to take, how to become involved on campus, and housing options.
All applicants should apply to the school/college they wish to study in. Subsequent internal transfers into other programs are not allowed. It is important to note that The Wharton School and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences only accept second-year students (current freshmen). On the other hand, the College of Arts & Sciences and School of Nursing accept students as beginning sophomores or juniors. Furthermore, the only coordinated dual-degree or specialized program that accepts transfer students is Digital Design Media.
If you are looking for information on how to apply to UPenn as a first-year student, you may find the following blogs to be of interest:
Those searching for application info on other institutions may wish to visit our Dataverse pages:
