Chance me, please!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>I'm a junior in Southern California, considering neuroscience major/neurobiology within the "general biology" (or something equivalent to MCB- molecular and cellular), and pre med</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<p>SAT I (by section): 690M 720CR 710W (can re-take next fall)
SAT IIs: 800 Molecular Biology 780 US History
GPA, Weighted and Unweighted: 3.7 UW, weird weighting system
Rank: school doesn't rank
ACT: didn't take it
APs (including this year's): self-study AP Environmental Science (4)- 10th grade (the first one i took too!), AP Biology (5), AP US History (5)
Senior Yr Courseload: heaviest possible:
AP Physics, AP Calculus BC, AP Studio Art drawing portfolio, AP English Lit, Spanish 4, Gov/Econ, History of World Religions+ Philosophy (required for seniors), Thermodynamics (SPECIAL CLASS)
... Newspaper reporter and art after school</p>

<p>Other stats (Awards, etc.): Commended scholar PSAT (I heard this doesn't do anything!), LA Brain Bee contestant (neuroscience competition), outstanding research presented at California NanoSystems Institute symposium: August 2010</p>

<p>Subjective:
ECs listed on app: 1 JV sport, 13 years of art (plus AP portfolio), violin (no orchestra tho), neuroscience competition, Ayn Rand essay competition (not finalist), then the general "reading a lot, freelance writing, etc"
Job/Work Experience: research at UCLA w/stipend (so if I'm paid, it's considered work then...)
Essays (subject and responses): not done yet obviously
Teacher Recs: going to do AP Biology teacher who knows me really well and either my English or math teachers.. but I'm not sure. DILEMMA! I don't know either of those really well...</p>

<p>Hook (TASP, RSI, Research, etc.): research? two contests? (they weren't a big deal though)...
Location/Person:
State or Country: CA
School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): private, Catholic, really small, really competitive!!!!
Ethnicity: Indian (Asian)
Gender: female</p>

<p>Strengths: EC's, writing, passion!
Weaknesses: GPA!!! SAT!!!</p>

<p>General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc:
I hope people respond! I really want to go to Penn! My friend goes there and loves it! (Plus I love Ben Franklin :P)
Also, summer of 2009 (freshman going to be sophomore) I worked on a photovoltaics project with a small group.
And then, as I said, summer 2010 was research.
I'm going back to UCLA to do my independent project research again this summer.</p>

<p>There's still time! What should I improve? What do you suggest I can do to help stand out!</p>

<p>Thank you so much!</p>

2

<p>You probably stand a decent chance as long as you can get your SAT I (especially math) up.</p>

3

<p>Is GPA not scarily low, then?
Also, I don’t have much “leadership”, more independent things. Is that ok?</p>

4

<p>For Penn, GPA is less important as your transcript and your school. Or, in layman’s terms, your grades and what courses you took matter more. If you took 5 weighted courses (Honors or AP) and got all A’s or all A’s and 1 B, that is a lot better than taking easy courses and getting all A’s (this makes sense). Similarly, if you took 2 AP courses prior to applying to Penn and all of your peers applying to Penn took 7 AP courses (assuming A’s for everyone), it doesn’t do you any favors to be only in 2 AP courses (barring unforeseen circumstances). </p>

<p>Your SAT is a bit low for the Ivys. The general “trend” is 2200+. Of course, scores are only one part, and, from what I’ve been told, have less weight then the transcript and have similar weight to the essay, your extracurriculars, and your recommendations. (Please, someone, correct me if I am wrong but this is the info I have.) </p>

<p>Regarding “leadership”, I’m not sure. Being a leader is important; while it is good to be someone who takes direction, I’m sure all of the schools you are considering, Penn included, find leadership important.</p>