Chance an eager (nervous) junior for UPenn!!!!

Will apply ED in the fall. If you have any suggestions as to where else I should apply–let me know! Thanks in advance!!

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown):1520; CR: 750 M: 770
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t Take
SAT II: US History: 750 | Math II: 750
Unweighted GPA: 96.55
Weighted GPA: 99.6
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Exact N/A; Top 5-10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (4); US History (5); Seminar (5); Psychology (5);
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP US Gov; AP French Language (Self-study, might not take); AP English Language; AP Calculus AB; AP Micro; AP Macro; Honors Orchestra; misc. electives.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
N/A
Minor Awards: 1st place National History Day competition (local), advanced to regional competition (made runoffs).

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

School Newspaper (Editor-in-Chief)
Hundreds of hours put in. Singlehandedly edited all submissions, ran meetings, laid-out paper using Adobe Indesign.

Mock Trial (President/Captain)
Hundreds of hours put in. Led team meetings, often on weekends, recruited members, helped all members with their roles.

French Honor Society (President)
Although President, little done. Minor extracurricular, raised money for schools in Haiti, created scholarships, ran meetings, recruited members.

National History Day Club (Co-President)
Assisted freshman and sophomores with NHD projects, aided and presented at local and regional competitions.

Student Government (Various Positions throughout the years: President, Secretary, Administrative Assistant)
National Honor Society
Math, English, and Social Studies Honor Societies
Member of out of school conversational French club
Temple youth group

Job/Work Experience: Worked for father’s small law firm, unpaid. General assistance.
Volunteer/Community service: Occasional volunteering at temple to help feed homeless
Summer Activities: Summer of (going into) junior year: four-week immersive french language program in Quebec through Middlebury College
Essays: 9.5/10; wrote about my love and passion for cycling
Teacher Recommendation: 10/10–teacher loves me, stellar student, etc.
Counselor Rec: She had to write many, but solid. Not incredible boost, but not bad.
Additional Rec: 8.5/10

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes (AID IS VERY IMPORTANT)
Intended Major: PPE program (Philosophy, politics, economics). Otherwise interested in political science.
State (if domestic applicant): New York
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 35-70K (one parent is unemployed–was laid off during recession–other has his own small law firm)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

bump!

You have a shot. typical applicant. The result can go either way.

Do you have any recommendations on what I can do to improve my chances? @f2000sa

The main thing I’m seeing is that there’s nothing that really POPS to me- it’a all fairly strong, but as f2000sa says there’s nothing wowing on there that’ll guarantee your place in their class

Penn values the application of your work to the betterment of society above all; what could you do to expand economics and political science to help your own community? If you can answer that you’d have a better shot.

You have a decent chance since you are applying ED, however like the previous posters said, nothing pops. Given that the essays you write will be very important, spend some time on them starting now, get a book on how to write them and you will have a really good chance.