<p>Hey, guys, I would be really thankful if you could take a moment and tell me your opinion. I'm mostly curious because of my studying abroad, and the effect it has on my GPA/classes junior year. </p>
<p>I'm a white female, living in Florida, middle-class. I was born in Bulgaria, moved to the States, then did half of my high school in Bulgaria, where I learnt German as well (I speak three languages fluently, as well as two on an okay level) and had a very different education. In Bulgaria I was on the volleyball team and debate team. I also partook in various national competitions there, mostly in German and English, and placed second in Bulgaria for one of them.
My SAT score is a 2070, German is 770, Literature is 700. My extracurriculars are fairly good - I continue to do debate in the US 12th grade, I'm in French Club, I volunteer at the Masonic Home of Florida, I'm an intern with a company for two years now. I co-founded and co-preside over a club at my school called Students Against Heartbreak(raises awareness for cardiovascular disease). I'm also on the Brainbowl math academic team.
My biggest weakness is probably my GPA and classes from last year. My unweighted is 3.96, but my weighted is a 4.01. My classes last year were mostly regular first semester, and some switched to honors second semester because of the confusion with studying abroad. Due to those problems, the highest math I could take this year is Pre-calc honors, which is a slight disappointment.
My interview for Georgetown went really well, and my father went to Penn for his grad, so I knew a lot about the school and managed to write a good essay, I think.
I'm applying for undergrad international relations, by the way.</p>
<p>Since you’re applying to SFS, I presume you’ll be applying to Penn’s CAS? Ultimately I’d have to say that Penn is a low reach and Georgetown SFS is a reach. You have some cool EC’s here and there and your SAT II’s are good, but your weakness is your other academics: your SAT I is low for these schools and you have a pretty low lack of rigor in your coursework (since your weighted is only 4.01). It also hurts that you haven’t taken calculus. On top of that you don’t have any hooks, so I’d say these schools are a bit out there.</p>
<p>Oh! I presumed you were educated in Florida - my apologies. In most cases, legacy would help but in this case I doubt it because your father attended the graduate program which is soooo different and likely has a different admissions board than the undergraduate program. I still encourage you to apply though - you never know what a good essay can do for you :)</p>
<p>Just wanted to say that I was just in Sofia, Bulgaria for a competition two weeks ago and loved it there, awesome city and awesome place.
Now for the colleges I think that they are both reaches but feel that maybe your qualities and legacy could pull some type of acceptance. Since you weren’t educated in America I am not sure how to make the rigor there the same in terms of America.
Good luck in your applications and hopefully you get acceptance.</p>
