chance me// gpa question

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

first time posting kinda nervous…
I’d appreciate any feedback!

Background:

SAT: 1590 superscored
Class rank: unspecified, but top 9% officially
School: Competitive, California public school.
Class size: ~700 students.
Income: Upper middle class
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Multi-racial Caucasian and Asian (Chinese).
SAT Subject Tests: 760 (Lit), 760 (Bio M).
AP Tests:
5: APUSH, AP Euro, AP Lang
4: Bio, Comp Sci

Currently taking ap lit, ap enviro, ap gov, ap statistics, etc…

I’m national merit semifinalist, ap scholar with distinction, several national awards for writing

I have ec’s in both STEM and humanities but my angle for apps is political science/justice based-- so leadership in MUN, Mock Trial, Speech and Debate, political activism, etc. My essays and recs will be good.

Here’s the kicker: currently my weighted gpa is about 4.17 and my UW is 3.83. I feel that this is the weakest part of my application. I took 3 weighted classes sophomore year, 4 junior year, and now 4 senior year. This is considered rigorous at my school (but there are some who take a full load). I got B’s in precalc sophomore year and a B in calc second semester junior year. Worst of all, I got a B(sem) and then C(sem) in honors physics sophomore year.

However, this semester I will likely get all As so my midyear report should be good.

TLDR: Strong student but weak grades in math/physics.

Will colleges take into account that I don’t plan to major in STEM? How can I strategize to downplay/ explain these grades? Does my “low” GPA disadvantage me right now, as in, should I wait for RD to apply once senior first semester grades are added?

Please chance me for CAS ED!

2

Highly selective colleges don’t really care about how your HS calculates weighted GPA. They look at UW GPA, whether the “most rigorous schedule” box is checked by your GC, and for further context they look at the HS class report that comes along with every transcript giving details on how many kids take the more advanced classes as well as class grade and standardized test grade/score distributions.

That being said, At Penn, the boost from ED is probably worth more than another .02 or .03 on your unweighted GPA so if Penn is your first choice, you might as well go ED.