I'm a junior looking at potentially applying to UPenn next year. I heard that looking at their Common Data Set could provide me with insightful and useful info, but I'm struggling to find it. Can anyone direct me to this? I'm particularly interested in their demographics and graduation rates.
Hey there! University of Pennsylvania, like many universities, doesn't prominently display their Common Data Set on their website, and finding it can sometimes be a bit challenging. However, you can usually access some pieces of the Common Data Set indirectly.
For instance, UPenn's Institutional Research and Analysis website provides plenty of data on student demographics and graduation rates. Visit the 'Facts and Figures' section of their site. Here you can find information on student enrollment, degree recipients, faculty numbers, and much more.
In terms of graduation rates, specifically, you might want to take a look at the page titled 'Graduating Classes' which provides information about graduation rates for each incoming class since 2001, broken down by gender and ethnicity.
Remember that while the Common Data Set is extremely helpful for understanding broad trends at universities, thinking critically about what these numbers mean and how they relate to your own ambition can be equally if not more important. Reading between the lines to determine what these data mean in practical terms for your own experience can be quite useful.
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