@BurntKnight Based on my observation with my students, UPenn ED is workable for kids with high stats (really high stats) and not a whole lot more special stuff on the resume. Make sure you are really interested 1st then decide. As for stuff to do from here to beat the crowd… the answer is don’t do anything you wouldn’t do normally. Winning another science award will do little… getting another research internship will pretty much a big so what given you have already. More “forced” volunteer activities won’t help. The answer is probably on - what makes you “YOU”. Show that in the essay. I am not sure it is a good idea to mention about the “systems” of your ethnicity, unless YOU have an unique experience, a real life story to tell. AOs don’t care one wit on whatever unjust or just stuff that doesn’t demonstrate YOU as the central of the story. Look for mundane stuff, things that seem uninteresting to other people, but things that demonstrate YOU as the individual. I had an Asian student some yrs ago wrote about her collection of pink shoes and colorful dresses, seriously… She is now an alum of Brown. So, be original with the essays. If there is something that makes you tick, something that your friends could immediately ID - yup, that;s him - then go for it. Seriously, all those winning science fair, research experience essays are pure eye-rollers for AOs. So don’t go there. . JMHO.