Hi, I’m planning on applying regular decision to Upenn, and was wondering what my chances of acceptance would be. Here’s a breakdown of my application:
2180 SAT (720 CR, 750 writing, 710 math)
class rank: 2/200
4.74 GPA (unweighted 4.0)
taken 13 AP classes
extracurriculars: president of math club, on NHS board, lead coordinator for homeless shelter (paired homeless shelter with my school) two varsity sports all 4 years
My father also went to UPenn
Judging from that, how do my chances look? Also, does anybody know how heavily Upenn considers legacies? I know that at some schools it is a large advantage while at others it is insignificant. Also, I am very indecisive as to what I want to study. I was planning on studying engineering, but my math score (710) is not to par with an ivy league engineering program. I know this sounds dumb but what is generally the easiest major to apply to (that I could apply to with my stats)?
@mw2016your math score is a bit low, and your overall SAT is a bit below average, but I think your GPA and class rank and course load can easily make up for it (given that your school is not super easy, does not have crazy grade inflation). if you have taken AP calc and have done very well that also essentially mitigates the negative effects of the mediocre SAT score. also what is your subject test math score? i don’t think you should rule out applying to SEAS, but you could also apply to CAS and then either transfer to SEAS or do a double major with SEAS. Since you are applying RD, the fact that you are a legacy applicant won’t help you as much as it would have, had you applied ED, but it will ensure the admissions officers give you a little bit more attention than the non-legacy applicants.
okay thank you! I haven’t taken math subject tests yet but I am taking math II and chemistry in january. I don’t know if the scores will be in in time for them to review my application, which is another reason why I’m hesitant to apply to SEAS.
In general it will be harder without Subject tests. While Penn has them as optional almost all applicants take them and the admissions office has actually said that they are very important for them because they have proved to be an important indicator of students’ performance during at Penn. The optional part is essentially just for very underprivileged kids who literally cannot afford to take the tests. Maybe you could schedule in advance to have the tears sent to Penn as soon as the scores become available. I think this is the only way the admissions office will receive them in time for consideration.