Ethnicity: Asian
Weighted GPA: 4.5
Unweighted: 3.99
ACT: 35 and 36 super score
SAT IIs: 800 Math II, 800 Biology, and 800 Chemistry
AP Scores: AP Physics B, AP Chemistry, AP Computer Science, AP Biology, AP Calculus BC, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics
All 5s
Senior Year Courses:
AP Statistics
AP Physics C
Honors Computer Science III
College Comp
AP US Government and Politics
Honors Latin V
Extracurriculars:
Science League (several awards)
Chemistry Olympics (3rd place in my event)
Science Bowl
200 hours of Volunteer Service
National Honors Society
Robotics (many awards)
-captain of Robotics team
Indian Drums (7 years)
Science Honor Society
Math Honor Society
Latin Honor Society
If you need anymore information, feel free to ask.
@citygroup Wow! Your stats look awesome – almost a 4.0, perfect ACT, great ECs with a passion for the sciences.
I would look into the Jerome Fischer M&T program at UPenn.
Best of luck!
Thank you @EIC2400 . Wow, I just looked up the Jerome Fischer M&T program; it combines my interest in science and business. 
Does applying to the program reduce my chance of being accepted into a single degree school? Do you see any major weakness in my application?
The weakness would be the lack of any big EC’s or awards. That’s going to come back to bite you. The stats are stellar. But by reading anyone’s chances threads on here, you know that many Ivy applicants have these stats. The EC’s are what separate you from the good stat pack. Your chances are fairly good for an Ivy… but that’s still a reach. ED will improve your chances a tad, but not much.
ED looks doable but RD might be a risk since ECs aren’t standout. If you are interested in M&T, definitely try to apply early because they fill 1/2 their spots that way. I think the review process might be independent so it shouldn’t help or hurt if you apply to both dual and single degree.
Ivy League schools now reject about 75% of perfect scorers (actually your ACT score doesn’t even count as a perfect scores since Penn and most of the top schools don’t superscore the ACT). Nevertheless, you have good grades and test scores. The challenge for you is to show how you stand out from the scores of other similar looking kids with good grades and test scores. Good luck!
@citygroup No, it doesn’t. You still have to apply to a single-degree school, and if you don’t get into M&T, you will still be evaluated for admission to a regular Penn college (i.e. Engineering, Wharton, Nursing).
I think @citygroup 's ECs are good, to be honest. I see a passion for science/engineering, which is great since the OP wants to be an engineering major. He also is the head of a club, which shows leadership. Would it help if he had some summer science research EC, or was the Science Olympiad Capt? Of course! But not all schools offer these opportunities and colleges – even Ivies – aren’t looking for picture-perfect candidates. Obviously, there’s no way to calculate chances for Ivies like Penn. But does the OP have a shot? Yes – a pretty good one, IMHO.
@EIC2400 You’re committing the cardinal sin of college admissions, which is letting the boundaries of the school hinder the EC’s. Just about every killer EC comes outside of the school property. By the logic you’re using, only students who go to large schools can have great EC’s. This is so untrue. Get an article published in an engineering magazine, work on a nonprofit organization that builds homes for poor families in Central America, etc, The EC’s are out there; you just have to find them.
@tigerrocks13 No I’m not – or at least I hope I’m not :). I totally understand your point, but please understand that not everyone has the same opportunities out of school. To get into one of these “elite” science research programs, you really need a strong Science department that helps kids out with their applications, writes good recs and overall facilitates the research work. Not many students can make a path of their own – I personally did in journalism, but not everyone is like that. I never said his ECs are incredible, but they are good, as they show a passion and leadership. No – he does not have a “major hook,” but his ECs are solid and combined with the high stats, he’s def. a competitive applicant.
I would also like to note that out-of-school ECs really vary by region. Some churches/synagogues will allow HS kids to serve in a leadership capacity and others won’t. Here in NY, I can’t become an EMT until I turn 18, although a NJ teen can be certified at 16. Not everyone has the same opportunities both in and out of school and it’s understood to be so.
Obviously, I agree that his ECs aren’t incredible, but I don’t think it’s “going to come back to bite him.”
@tigerrocks13 Are you sure ED will only help a tad? Penn’s ED acceptance rate is around 25 percent. which is quite a big difference to the 10 percent RD rate. Is there some catch to this seemingly big increase in percentage?
@citygroup Here’s why that stat is misleading. Mainly the best of the best students apply ED, not the chumps that just apply RD to Penn hoping to get a miracle. Students that are so certain that they want to go to Penn, to the extent that they would apply ED, are usually the cream of the crop. Most students in the ED pool will have a very similar application to yours. It’s the EC’s, essays, recommendations, etc. that set students apart.
@EIC2400 That’s still not an excuse. You listed 3 EC opportunities. I’ll name 3 more that you can do basically anywhere. Join the local School Board or School Board committees to show that you’re interested in the community. Write an article for a science/engineering magazine. Enter the County Science Fair with a killer engineering/science project.
@tigerrocks13 Not to be argumentative, but:
School Board – in my neck of the woods, SB is an elected office and you need to be 18 to run. I cover school board meetings as part of my freelance beat, and things often get ugly.
If someone goes to a bad school, they will not be educated enough to write a decent article and get published. Not every school has a stellar science department.
And again, for the science fair, one needs good advisement from dedicated teachers. Not everyone has that luxury.
@citygroup Tiger is correct that the ED pool has greater acceptance rates because the pool is typically all top students who are seriously pursuing a UPenn education. However, an applicant’s interest is an important factor, and that’s something expressed by applying ED.
@citygroup It is true that there are a higher percent of strong applicants in ED, but it is still beneficial for the applicant. Penn admits over 1/2 of its incoming class in the ED round.
Your academics are strong, so I think you have a good chance if your essay is good. Your ECs aren’t bad, but they just aren’t great.
Penn will definitely reject applicants with perfect scores and grades, but you chances are better if you have them. Penn is especially partial to high grades.
@falcon1 What is your source for saying top schools reject 75% of perfect scorers? It might be that low at Harvard and Stanford, but I would be surprised if it is that low for the other top schools.
@EIC2400 Most school boards are open to a student representative even if they don’t have one. If not, you can always serve on committees: just contact the superintendent. Just because you’re in a certain school or region, that’s never an excuse to have bad writing skills. And the science fair can be done without any consultation. It takes an innovative mind and the wherewithal to put it together. I agree that this shouldn’t turn into an argument, but these are all trivial excuses.
One can argue that if someone isn’t capable of writing a decent article, they won’t be in a position to do well at an Ivy League school. Often the discussion here on CC centers around a student getting into the best school he/she can, but it’s important to remember that there’s little use getting in somewhere you won’t be able to handle the academics.
Although I’m 99% sure that OP, with a 4.5 GPA, is perfectly capable of writing a decent article. If that’s not the case, grade inflation is even worse than I’d previously thought.
@NotVerySmart You’d be surprised! I have a columnist on my school newspaper that miraculously passed the tryout but can’t compose a decent article, yet got a 35 on his ACT.
Grade inflation is rampant at my school, and some people are just good standardized test-takers.
@EIC2400 The problem is, you can’t blame this on your school or area. You can always get better at something regardless of the environment.
I don’t want to ruffle any feathers or start a war, but one day, I asked my CGC privately why being a URM is a “hook” and they can therefore get in with supposedly “lower” standardized test scores.
She told me that it’s not as simple as it seems and the reason for the lower stats is due to perceived “disadvantages” students in some areas face in terms of tutoring, quality of instruction and out-of-class opportunities.