<p>Currently a junior with a question. Do I have a chance with a 3.9 UW GPA? I’m an asian, so I guess 3.9 is pretty low. On the bright side, I have a high rank within my class of 600. Within top 15, maybe top 10. So, will it kill me? SAT is 2310, in case that makes a difference. Thanks.</p>
<p>i doubt that you will get in. after being on cc for over a year, i have noticed that kids who make stupid posts like, "Help! I only have a 3.9 and a 2300 SAT. Will I get in?" usually don't. these people only study their butts off to get into college but have no passion. passion shown in your essays is actually what gets you in...granted you also need a decent GPA and SAT score.</p>
<p>To the OP: Are you serious? 3.9 is "pretty low"? Wow... I don't know what the poor kids with 3.5s are going to do with themselves.</p>
<p>ditto shristi</p>
<p>Ouch...u'm I guess I seem obnoxious and arrogant in what I wrote? Lemme back up a bit. I went through the Penn ED/RD threads and noticed a general trend of 3.95+ GPAs getting into Penn. And, for asians, GPAs almost always stacked up at 4.00 or very close to it. I don't know, maybe my concern is misplaced, I just don't want to be caught off guard come admissions time. If my GPA is lower than what's average, then I need to know that. Anyway, sorry if I offended anyone...</p>
<p>same here 10 char</p>
<p>To paint a better picture of my stats, especially in light of sristi's disparaging remarks, here's my profile:</p>
<p>Location: NJ
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Asian
School: Competitive Public</p>
<p>GPA: W - 4.23, UW - 3.90</p>
<p>SAT I : M - 800, CR - 760, W - 750, Total - 2310</p>
<p>SAT II: Math IIc - 800, Bio - 740 (self-studied w/ H Bio knowledge), taking Chem and Latin soon</p>
<p>APs: 4 on Phys B, taking 4 more soon</p>
<p>Classes In Case They're Needed:</p>
<p>9th: AP Phys B (A-), Alg II H (B+), Eng I H (A-), Govt + Ec H (A-),
Latin I (A), Intro to Computers (A), PE (A)</p>
<p>10th: Pre-AP Calc (A-), Eng II H (A-), US Hist H (A), Chem H (A), Bio H (A), Comp Prog (A), Latin II (A), PE (A)</p>
<p>11th: AP Calc BC (A), AP Eng III (A-), AP Chem (A), AP Comp Sci (A), Latin III H (A), Global Studies H (A), PE (A)</p>
<p>Senior Courseload: Toughest Possible</p>
<p>Recs: I already have the two teachers pegged. I have had the first teacher for Honors and AP Chem and have competed in various competitions with her help. The other teacher is also quite fond of me. </p>
<p>Essays: I'm a strong and confident writer and have had some powerful experiences that reveal a lot about my character that I plan to write about.</p>
<p>ECs (broke this down by category):</p>
<p>Clubs:
-Medical Careers Club (10-12, officer 11, pres for 12)
-NJ Science League
-Junior Statesmen of America (9-12, officer 11, vp 12)
-Science Competitor’s Club (10-12, officer 11, pres 12)
-Latin Club (9, 11-12, officer 12, couldn’t attend enough meetings 10th)
-Chemistry Olympiad (11)
-Math League (11, need calc to qualify)</p>
<p>Research:</p>
<ul>
<li>Research for two summers with a professor in microbiology. The first summer was a volunteer position (10th grade). 8 to 5 every weekday. Racked in hundreds of hours. The second summer is coming up (obviously) and may become a paid internship (I had to beg lol ).<br>
<ul>
<li>Received Finalist recognition at ISEF junior year. </li>
<li>Planning on competing in Siemens and Intel. </li>
<li>Regardless of competition results, I’m submitting an abstract and a prof supplemental rec. </li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<p>Science:
-NJ Science League 10th and 11th Grade for H Chem and AP Chem. I may have a chance at top 10% standing based on test scores.
-Expecting USNCO semifinalist standing.
-Chemistry Olympiad.
-Various other competitions w/ unfortunate results .</p>
<p>Math:</p>
<p>-Qualified to take AIME 11th Grade.
-Many math competitions (placed on a few) plus Central Jersey Math League 11th Grade. Math and Science are my biggest passions and I’ve dedicated a lot of time to both. </p>
<p>JSA:</p>
<p>-Political oratory is also a big passion and I have various Best Speaker Awards from JSA conferences and conventions. Might get a supplementary rec from advisor (she thinks I’m an excellent speaker). </p>
<p>Latin:</p>
<p>-National Latin Exam Scores: Latin 1 – Silver, Latin 2 – Gold, Latin 3 – Gold
-Competed at Princeton U in Latin for three years.</p>
<p>Recreation (Yeah, Believe It Or Not):</p>
<p>-Played tennis for recreation for seven years. Was on the team in middle school, couldn’t make it in HS.
-Piano for 4 years. I suck though. </p>
<p>Community Service:</p>
<p>-Volunteered @ local library 9th grade. Hospital and senior center 10-11 grade.
-Part of the March of Dimes since 10th grade. Have raised money/awareness/etc. May have leadership position next year.
-Volunteered with American Cancer Society as well.
-Have upwards of 250 hrs with all these, not including the about 300 hrs from research. </p>
<p>Other:</p>
<p>-228 PSAT. Hoping for NMSQT Finalist.
-NHS 11th Grade.
-We’ll see about AP Scholar stuff…</p>
<p>This got way too long. My bad. I'm considering applying ED coming up as well, if that helps slightly. Does this change anything (sristi)? Thanks.</p>
<p>Chances for ED: accepted: ~29%. If deferred from ED: ~10%. If rejected from ED: ~0%. Penn publishes these numbers you know.</p>
<p>Lol, best reply to a chances thread I've seen in a while. Hehe. No seriously...I mean MY chances.</p>
<p>uh, it kind of looks to me as if you are going to try to "stack" your application, in other words, you are going to try to cram every little insignificant thing into it, like that recreation section, which, btw, completely sucks, no offense intended. but stuff like that might hurt you with the adcom, because they see through such simple shielding of what the applicant really is. you seem to have a nice math science focus, so god help you if you apply to the college as an english major. your numbers are fine. being from NJ, just really focus on making your application jump out at them. hell, if you can learn calligraphy and do it really well, maybe you should consider writing your essays in it (type them also of course, because no one can actually read real calligraphy..). i was considering doing that, but i suck so bad at calligraphy, oh well :( be unique, and dont try o fool the adcom. good luck :)</p>
<p>If you apply to Columbia ED: if you get in, 0% at Penn. If you don't get in ED, 11% at Penn.</p>
<p>Overall, about 15-16% at Penn</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>i love statistics, venkat is right on the dot most of the time ;) he just can't lie :(</p>
<p>at your level (3.95+ UW and 2300+, good ECs with a distinctive focus on math/science) you have no reason to worry about your stats. furthermore, there will be NOBODY on this forum who can give you a definitive answer about your chances based on your stats. Why? You have done everything you can, and the only factor now is how you present yourself on the application. you have the stats to get the consideration, now you need amazing essays and a positive interview. nobody on this forum will be able to predict how good your essay will be, and therefore nobody on this forum will be able to predict if you can get in or not. in other words, don't bother asking us, you will just get varying viewpoints that probably won't help ;)</p>
<p>well, overall it looks good, but you do need to do something to make yourself stand out (and not seem striving and neurotic)</p>
<p>A couple of suggestions:</p>
<p>1) Definately get the supplemental reqs where you can if they're important, especially from the PI of your lab (labwork as a high schooler, even though it was most likely slave labor, is still a lot more than most people have in that area)</p>
<p>2) work like all hell on your essays so as not to seem like a hack who is worried about their 3.9 and with genuine interests (incidently, I hate how high schoolers applying to college fling around the word 'passionate' so often, it strikes me as very childish, the goal is to demonstrate it, not ram it down an adcom's throat)</p>
<p>Beyond that I think you're actually in good shape. Sorry if the comments were a bit harsh, but your first post kinda made it so you had them coming and I'm tired as hell.</p>
<p>o yeah, i forgot to mention that a 3.9 is def NOT low dude. unless 20 kids with 3.9 UW GPAs apply from your school, you don't need a higher GPA to distinguish yourself.</p>
<p>prospectiveMD: I also think, like a person replied above, that you're trying to stack everything in your application. I don't know... maybe UofP is not like like Harvard or Stanford that harsh. It's really hard to tell whether your extra curricular will impede with your overall application (your extra curricular activities are great but... too much: they don't show who you are at all). I however, do spot some sciences but do not reflect your personalities enough...</p>
<p>Wow, thx for all the comments guys, really appreciate it. Venkat with another hilarious reply lol. Impboy, great suggestion; if I have A LOT of time on my hands, maybe I'll write an essay in Latin or something. Good luck w/ your effort to get into Penn btw! I'm getting some good vibes from the replies and from what you're all saying, the way an applicant presents himself is critical. What I listed was something more like a laundry list than a resume. And, of course, I plan on consolidating everything. We'll see about the essays and I'll keep my fingers crossed come decision day. Probably going to end up applying ED to Penn. IMHO Penn is far better than Columbia for premeds and it's much closer to home for me. Going to have to visit campus soon.</p>