<p>"RBase, I'm in agreement with thinkjose. You need to retake the SATs & get your GPA up before you apply. Aim for at least a 1300 (or whatever the equivalent is on the new SAT). Write REALLY good essays, because that's what will most likely make or break you. Apply Early Decision, you'll have a better shot that way."</p>
<p>For the last time, this is not a CHANCES thread!!!</p>
<p>if you don't want people to look at your stats & evaluate your chances, don't post them. instead, just skip right to whatever you had to say. you could have just left them out, and saved a lot of time. </p>
<p>ant BTW, there's no need to be rude about it. have a little tact. i could see if people weren't trying to HELP you. christ. you're clearly not winning any fans with this thread.</p>
<p>RBase07, if you didn't want your stats evaluated, I'm pretty confused as to why you posted them.</p>
<p>Collegekid1988, please stop trolling. </p>
<p>The atmosphere of Penn is very diverse, crazy fun, and interesting. Tons to do, explore, experience, and learn. There is plenty of self-segregation on campus, mostly for the sake of convenience and familiarity, but there is also plenty of interracial intermingling on campus. It just depends on what kind of dude you personally are and whom you hang out with. There's something for everyone though, and you'll feel pretty comfortable fairly quickly.</p>
<p>RBase, if u r from philly i believe u can make it to a campus visit. so u should better go see for yourself than asking ppl here. u r better luck than me since i've never actually been there be4 when i sent the enrollment deposit and the intl student orientation will be my first chance to actually touch the place.</p>
<p>Also, you have great chance for an interview (and that really helps, i believe). You could ask an adcom or call them to make an appointment. Penn does not offer on-campus interview for non-legacy applicants. I wrote, emailed, tried to call an alumnus in my country and never got any reply. [That's the only thing I've been annoyed about Penn so far.]</p>
<p>lol, what does 'trolling' mean?</p>
<p>this sort of goes with the OP's question, but what about other ethnic groups? Do Asians and hispanics ever self segregate as well?</p>
<p>Trolling is when you keep arguing (often wrongly) the same point over and over again.</p>
<p>jmarsh, i would say yes. i mean, of course, if you are/end up going, you can choose whom you wish to associate with, but for the most part, minorities tend to stick together, but everyone's pretty friendly. (keep in mind i don't have actual experience yet, just a few visits and what other people have told me)</p>
<p>and collegekid is just upset that he didn't get into penn; he believed his stats and GPA could get him in, unfortunately. seriously don't be so bitter about it. a LOT of kids with stats better than yours are also rejected. getting rid of AA would not account for all of these rejections. if you weren't able to distinguish yourself from other applicants in your essays/recs/interview(if you had one), please don't complain about other people getting in, possibly having "taken your spot" somehow. i can guarantee you that many people "of color" that i've talked to through some medium who are attending penn next year are definitely smarter than i am, and i certainly did not benefit from AA myself. </p>
<p>i really don't want to start an AA debate, but AA is just a slight leeway sometimes, accounting for the known bias in SAT testing, among other things. there ARE limits.</p>