Philly high schoolers get special treatment at this fall’s PennApps: Apply by July 5

PennApps, the hackathon organized by students for students, is getting as selective as the Ivy League school that birthed it.

The hackathon has always required applications but as PennApps has grown, it has also gotten more competitive. The last PennApps had a 30 percent acceptance rate, said Victor Lourng, high school coordinator for PennApps (and tech-scene teen about town).

But the PennApps team has set up a special deal for local high schoolers: they get in automatically. If you go to a school within 45 minutes of Penn, you’re guaranteed admission, according to a PennApps blog post.

Here’s a list of eligible schools, but if you’re not listed there and should be, email contact@pennapps.com.

More and more high schoolers are attending PennApps. This is a way to get more into the fold.