Current College: Large US Public University (~Top 25 for public)
Applying as: Freshman → Sophomore
Major: Cognitive Science (intended)
High School GPA: 3.83 (homeschool)
ACT Score: 35C (35R, 35M, 35W, 33S)
College GPA: 3.8-4.0 (depending on final grade for English–everything else should be A/A+)
Hooks: none. My uncle was a faculty member at Penn for about 10 years, though.
Applied Before: RD last year, rejected. Had no real ECs then.
Demographics: 19M, White, ~120K parents income
ECs
Wrote an app for a church (from ground up)
Wrote an app for a DC-based farm product delivery startup
Worked in two labs in linguistics for a month
Peer mentor for a CS inclusion & diversity program
Language Flagship Program
Member of barbell club
Play in church orchestra and manage the screen every week
Definitely joining another lab in computational biology in the spring
(hopefully) appointed to student government legislature in the spring
(hopefully) joining an organized research program in the spring
Recommendations: Haven’t asked anyone yet, but all my professors like me.
Essays: I haven’t written them, but I think I can polish them before March 15.
What do my chances look like? Does anyone who has transferred have advice?
Hi! I am applying to Upenn as well!
Well, I am currently a freshman at UC Davis.
I don’t know I feel like you have such a huge chance to get into Upenn. But, I feel like you need to do much more activities related to your field ( cognitive science ) OR If you’re taking any cognitive science classes, to wrap your application up very interestingly, ask your professor for a letter of recommendation.
I have read a lot of articles about transferring to UPenn because simply it’s my dream school but I haven’t applied as a freshman because I didn’t discover my dream major till I came to UC Davis! I am interested in “Space Industrialization” and I wanna do physics at UPenn with concentration in Business and technology.
A piece of advice, don’t foolish your essay before march, start working on then ASAP. Beyond you academics and extracurriculars, Penn wants to know more about you as a human being, your mindset, your perspective about life!
One semester of college grades are unlikely to make Penn change their mind. You’d have a much better chance applying after 3 semesters of great grades.
You’re probably right. The thing I’m debating right now is whether I will be able to pull back easily from commitments after having invested deeply for two years. The prof I’m working with now (in research) says he’s fine if students tell him early whether they can stay or not, but hates it when they stay for over a year, then suddenly quit.