Accepted: Minnesota (honors program), Delaware (honors program), Penn (ED)
Withdrew: Columbia, Harvard, Northwestern, Wellesley, Tufts, Wisconsin, UToronto, Trinity College Dublin
SAT I: 2250 (780 R, 670 M, 800 W)
ACT: 35 (forget the breakdown, I know math was 34, one was 36, and the other two were 35), 33 writing
SAT II: Biology E (750), Literature (700), Math 2 (730)
GPA: 3.95 at application, graduated with 3.93
School did not rank or weight
AP: European History (5), United States History (5), did not take exams for Chemistry, Environmental Science, or Calculus AB because at that point I knew I was going to Penn and wouldn’t get credit for the exam
Awards: National Merit Finalist, Presidential Scholars Program candidate, two of my 4-H projects made it to the state fair
9: (transferred from a trimester based system to a semester one before second semester): English Survey Honors, Theology 9, Geometry Honors, Physical Education 9, Biology Embedded Honors, Study Hall Band, Italian 1 / English 9 Honors, freshman band, health, Biology Honors, Geometry Honors, US History 9 Honors
10: English 10 Honors, Algebra 2 Honors, French 1, Chemistry, Theater 1, social dance, concert band, AP European History
11: American Literature Honors, European Literature Honors, AP US History, Math Physics, Pre-Calculus, honor band, French 3, Theater 2
12: Gender studies, AP Chemistry, English Literature Honors, AP Environmental Studies, honor band, French 4, AP Calculus AB, Theater 3, 20th Century Literature Honors, philharmonic orchestra
First clarinetist in all 4 years of band and in philharmonic orchestra
Clarinetist in jazz band
Played softball sophomore and junior year, ended up managing senior year due to work and a shoulder injury
MUN secretary my senior year, always a crisis committee member, won an award my senior year
4H: held a board position 3/4 years of high school, sent projects to the state fair
Theater odd jobs: ran the social media for a while, built sets, went to local businesses to poster, played in the pit orchestra, wrote and directed a short play
Participated in a science research internship at UW-Madison and had a paper pending publication by the time of my application
Worked 15 hours/week at a bookstore
Common App essay: wrote about how comics, and specifically superhero comics, have shaped my identity and made me more comfortable with myself
“Why Penn?” essay: I don’t remember a lot of the details, but I do remember a Swarthmore admissions officer saying it’s what they would want to see
Supplement: The aforementioned research paper
American/European lit teacher: I wrote the best essays of my pre-college career for his classes
APUSH teacher: we would share book recommendations and eat lunch together; she is one of my favorite people
Research professor: told me I basically have a master’s degree already from the work I did
Counselor: It’s a big school but she always looked forward to meeting with me
Interview: She was future me; all her mannerisms and speech habits and interests were like mine
White
Female
Madison, WI
Large public high school; graduating class of 478
Lower-middle class
Idk if Penn still actively recruits LGBT kids, but if so that was my hook
Biological Basis of Behavior and English
My objective stats were middle to lower end of what Penn expected, and I’ve found that my profile looks a lot less impressive than some of my classmates. My course load was weak compared to several of my classmates attending less-elite schools, as I took 1.5 credits of fine arts every year instead of doubling up/maxing out on STEM. However, like Wolverine, I’m the best there is at what I do. I said I wanted to do science, so I showed that I put together an entire research project. I said I wanted to write, so by graduation I had three published short stories and a produced play. My essays, recommendations, and interview all showed that I have an infectious energy for learning and doing. I was a safe gamble: my scores showed I would almost certainly do okay, but the writing and research meant there was a chance I could be exceptional.
You don’t have to be “perfectly average” to get in, where you check off all the right ECs, course loads, GPA, and test scores. You still have to be good at all those things, but sometimes it’s better to master something to its fullest extent.
The one thing I"m still ambivalent about is applying to as many schools as I did. I could have saved money by waiting for Penn to make its decision, but I’m a fairly superstitious person and didn’t want it to even LOOK like I was putting all my eggs in one basket.
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