<p>I feel like I'm in a very tricky situation here. I've been told that my SAT and extracurriculars are solid, but even I can admit that my GPA definitely isn't where it could be, especially for a competitive school like Penn. </p>
<p>Just like trying to flirt with the girl way out of your league, I've basically fallen in love with Wharton - I spend more time than I probably should watching Wharton lectures, reading about the professors, etc. I know it's an extremely competitive program, but it's incredible. </p>
<p>I'm completely aware that these are four very competitive schools in terms of undergraduate admissions, especially UPenn (I would be applying Wharton since I want to do business). Nevertheless, what would my chances be? What would be good points to focus on in my application essays? </p>
<p>GPA: 3.7 UW, 4.2 W
SAT: 2300 (740 math, 760 reading, 800 writing)
ACT :34 (planning to retake, fairly certain I can manage a 35 or possibly even a 36 this time around)
SAT II's (720 Bio-E, 720 US History, planning to take Math II and Lit)
AP Scores: AP European History (4), AP Calculus AB (5), AP English Language (5), AP US History (5), AP Psychology (5)
PSAT: 237 so I understand I'll get some kind of recognition from the National Merit, hopefully it can help?
California resident</p>
<p>5 AP's, 7 Honors (freshman-junior year, pretty close to the maximum possible)
Senior Year Courseload: AP Statistics, AP Chemistry, AP Macroeconomics, AP Government, AP English Literature</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Speech (Captain, biggest club on campus): My true love from sophomore year, finalist at several big tournaments on the national circuit, placed top 3 in my district which qualified me to NCFL Grand Nationals and NFL Nationals, both of which I made it to elimination rounds at, chanced upon a speech company online and saw myself ranked in the top 20 in the country if that counts for something?
Tae Kwon Do/MMA: 2nd degree black belt, teach classes for younger students around age 5
Classical Guitar: Been playing for 7 years
Interact Club (Board Member): Nominated for Rotary Youth Leadership Award, was recognized by the local Rotary and invited to attend Rotary meetings
Radio Club (Board Member): Managing the school's radio station and training DJ's
Stock Market Club
International Club
Teen Awareness Program
Science and Engineering Club
Ran cross country and track for two years </p>
<p>Essays: I've started and I think they're pretty solid, I'd call myself a good writer and I'd like to think of myself as a pretty quirky person
Recs: From my AP English teacher who I was very close with, my speech and debate coach who has travelled with me a lot and knows me very well (possibly better than I know myself), and my fantastic counselor, should all be pretty strong</p>
<p>Summer/Work Experience:
Stanford EPGY
Summer camp counselor at a camp for autistic children
-Currently interning with the city council for a very well known city (paranoid about this government stuff so I won't give the name away haha), working on some big projects including rewriting the city's banking policy. I've given speeches to city council, drafted my own council items, set up meetings with various organizations, been in local news with our projects, and directly worked with residents that call the city council & mayor's office seeking help. It's daunting to realize that people's lives depend on even what the interns in the office do. It's been a very intense "real world" experience that will hopefully show as one. </p>
<p>Any kind of feedback would be appreciated so much!</p>