<p>I want to apply Regular Decision to UPenn (Wharton), its definitely my number one school, but my unweighted GPA is quite low. Please chance me! These are my stats:
Female
African-American (Parents are immigrants from West Africa)
GPA Unweighted: 3.5 Weighted: 5.0
Ranking: 28 out of 419 top 7%
Test Scores: ACT 30
SAT Subject tests Chemistry 600 US History 700 Spanish 700 Math II 700
AP World History 4 AP US History and AP Chemistry (waiting on scores but predicting 3s)
Course Load from Grades 9-11: 4 APs and 12 Honors
3 years of Spanish and now I'm fluent
Extracurriculars: Student Government Association Historian
Student Government Association Sophomore Senator
Homecoming Game Committe Chair
Helped Coordinate numerous School events as SGA officer
Black History Club 3 years
Step Team Member 2 years
National Honor Society
Advanced Drama Program Student 2 years
December Showcase performance 2008
December Showcase performance 2009
Supporting Role in School Production 2011
Understudy to main role in District 13 One Acts Festival
Black History Performance 2010
Black History Performance 2011
House Manager Talent Show 2010
Backstage Manager Talent show 2011
House Manager School Production 2010
District 13 Individual Events Excellent Award 2009
District 13 Individual Events Excellent Award 2010
Alot of my extracurriculars are based in Performances and theatre due to my involvement with the Drama program at my school.
Community Service: 250 hours
213 hours from volunteering every Friday for 3 years in a Middle School
Volunteer project at an orphanage in Ghana, West Africa (where my parents are from) that was under investigation due to claims of children being molested. I plan to teach kids English, bring them American schoolbooks that were being thrown away from the Middle School I volunteered at for 3 years. I also plan on using my skills as a drama student to put on a play within the orphanage where I'll be the director and of course the children will be the actors. Then when I come back to school I plan on putting on a dress down day (my school has uniforms) where 100% of the proceeds will go back to the orphanage. </p>
<p>Awards: Not many academic awards aside from Gold and Silver Honor roll nearly every marking period (except for two) in my career as a student since 3rd grade. (I'm going to be a Senior)
I go to a tough Charter School that I believe may be even number one in the country.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would apply to UPenn early decision. Your AP scores are really high, but your GPA is a little low. I think your extra-curricular activities are outstanding! Here are some other colleges to think about: Umich, UVA, and NYU. Remember to keep your GPA up. You will do wonderful things in life. :)</p>
<p>Thank you very much! I’m wondering do you think if I get my grades up first semester of Senior year to like a 3.8 I’ll still have a shot for regular decision???</p>
<p>Oh thank you very much! I’ll definitely be sure to do as best as I possibly can on the essays! If you have anymore tips that’ll be great. I’ll also write about why my grades are so low.</p>
<p>You send your weighted GPA to colleges, so you’ll be sending them the 5.0. However, they recalculate it on a 4.0 scale anyway, so I’m not sure about that. You definitely stand a chance!!! You need to remember that colleges look at all of this as a package, and your ecs definitely shine. I see your passionate about your heritage, and they like to see that. Good luck, and lemme know if you get in! Good job!</p>
<p>How could your weighted gpa be a 5.0? Only an A in AP, CIS, IB ,or PSEO are scaled up to a 5. Since you have lower than A grades in other courses, you can’t have a 5.0. Does your transcript show your weighed GPA? Our did you calculate it yourself?</p>
<p>Your GPA and class ranking are low, but if your school is as competitive as you say it is that shouldn’t be too much of a problem given that your test scores are decent. Your ECs are outstanding too! Write great essays and I would say you have a fair chance.</p>
<p>Dwalker, different high schools have different weighting systems for calculating the weighted GPA, my high school did it a lot differently than most other schools in that there were more levels and a completely different scale. The weighted GPA is really only important for determining class rank.
JaneyWaney, I don’t think your grades are going to be as much of a problem as you currently think. If you are ranked in the top 7% of your class that shows that your school grades more harshly than usual which usually corresponds to it being more competitive. In many of these competitive schools, several kids are accepted to top schools each year. In effect this means that you are competing against your other classmates when it comes to grades. Do you know how many students from your school that have been accepted to Penn in the past? Knowing this will probably give you a better idea of where you stand.</p>
<p>@ Poeme
The weighted grading scale is A=5.0, B=4.0 etc. What way did your school weigh? I never heard of anything different, other than schools that don’t weigh, like mine. If an A is considered a 6.0, than its possible, but than the OPs GPA would be a 4.0 unweighed. PLEASE EXPLAIN lol</p>
<p>Dwalker, there are over 20,000 high schools in the U.S… Needless to say, there are many different methods of grading practiced. My high school had the highest weighted GPA as 5.33 and currently honors and AP courses are given the same weight because the same group of kids are in them (APs have very strict honors prerequisites). Many schools choose to weight APs more than honors, but again it depends on the school.</p>
<p>Hey I am a first generation hispanic from a low income family and I go to the top Prep/Private School in the country (according tot he NY times and Forbes), it is also the most Expensive!! The Average GPA that got into Penn from my school is a 3.6 (my school does not weigh AP’s or honors, no weighted GPA). The lowest GPA to get into Penn from my school since 2004 according to our naviance program is a 2.89!! The 2.89 student was not an athlete but a black student taking very challenging science and math courses. My GPA is between a 3.1-3.2 and I am applying early decision to CAS and major in economics, although my true dream is to go to Wharton. </p>
<p>I hope that you don’t write in your essay “I have a tough life because I am a minority. My GPA is lowd because blah blah blah.” Instead, write in your essay about challenges in your life where the adcoms can infer that this is why you have a low GPA. If you don’t,you won’t look responsible.</p>
<p>Poeme, I know how many schools there are, that is irrelevant. I want to know what the exact grading system is. Not just that schools weigh differently. That is common knowledge. How the school weighs is not. The highest I have seen was…
AP class worth 6.0 for an A
Honers class worth 5.0 for an A
Regular class worth 4.0 for an A
Having a 3.5 regular, and a 5.0 weighed seems weird, and I want to know the EXACT SYSTEM. I could easily see a 4.0 and a 5.0, but not a 3.5 and a 5.0.
This is for my knowledge.</p>
<p>Dwalker, I really don’t think the exact weighting system at her school matters, what matters is how she compares to her classmates and the reputation of the school. At a highly regarded school, they may accept several kids to Penn each year (I have two classmates from my year who go to Penn with me). In this case, applicants may be compared to other applicants who attend or have attended their high school.</p>
<p>At my school an A in an AP class is a 6.0 and an A in a Honors class is a 5.0
AP Lang B 5.0
AP Chemistry B 5.0
AP US History A 6.0
Physics Honors B 4.0
Drama Honors A 5.0
Pre-Calculus Honors A 5.0
Weighted 5.0 Unweighted 3.5</p>
<p>Oh and my cumulative weighted GPA from 3 years of High School is only a 4.6… but my most recent GPA as of my Junior Year grades is a 5.0. Since UPenn is my number one school… would my chances go up a significant amount if I applied early decision?</p>