@wakid0002 Stanford and Penn are quite similar in terms of culture, campus vibe, social life, type of students, academic philosophy, ECs etc so you would be happy in either I think.
Stanford is arguably the toughest school in the country to get in and Penn LSM specifically has a comparable level of difficulty to get in as Stanford. You are definitely quite competitive even for these tippy top schools but you just never know given the sheer level of competition you will face.
@BigflowerSusie You make some very reputable points. I’m trying to decide between applying early to Stanford and Upenn, knowing their selectiveness and the fact that Upenn is binding. In regards to my pottery, I have a very strong tie to it; although I have only been doing it for 3 years. I have some crappy pieces from my sophomore year, but I currently have some pieces that are pretty decent. Pottery has been something that my parents were hesitant to let me do, but I pushed them to let me and it has been something I take time to do every week. I’m going to write about it in my common app essay since pottery helped me ease my shaky hands, something that I always thought would hinder me from being a surgeon. As I started to get more into pottery, I got really into Grecian sgrafito and traditional native American pottery, and I just started overall realizing that there was more to life than going medicine-hard core and being a surgeon. Actually, pottery make me look out of surgery, and I started to consider health policy because I pottery make me look at cultures around the world and study how they communicated their cultures and traditions. I also do CANstruction, and that is a pretty big art accomplishment that I have since I am one of the members who has done it all 4 years and I am currently one of the head youth designers and builders. The topics we promote are towards protecting people and the environment, and we have gotten a lot of attention from the St. louis Science Center. I fully understand what you mean though, since my stats make me look like any other Indian, but I was hoping the level of my Model UN experience would help me standout in regards to my interest with health policy, and I would explain how pottery gave me a new start (I was also considering submitting an art portfolio of my pottery to show that I’m not bsing, but I’m not a pro at pottery, just semi good, so I don’t know if Stanford wants to see it). Thank you for the advice, and please give me any more feedback you have.
@doorrealthe Thank you very much! I am considering Upenn, specifically College or Arts and Sciences and LSM for early decision, but I am going in between Stanford and Upenn. I really like Stanford, but I am thinking of applying to Penn early as I’m not sure I stand out enough for Stanford, and I would have a slightly better shot at Upenn.
@CaliDad2020 Thank you very much for this. I would consider applying for financial aid, but regardless of the school, I would take out loans. I am not rich, but we are financially-sound to pay for some and have me take out the rest in loans.
I like your breakdown of the chances I have. I fully agree with this, and that’s why I am considering applying to Upenn early over Stanford. This is one way to show them my interest and potentially give me a better shot, especially at LSM.
I am also going to apply to multiple safety schools. I know of a few state schools and private universities where I would like to go if I did not get into any of my top choices.
@Penn95 Either one of these schools sounds like the perfect environment for me. I love both schools over almost any other due to the way they promote pursuing endeavors and going into what’re your passionate about and can truly impact.
Thank you, very much. Both schools are extremely selective, which is why I want to apply to one early, as to increase my chances, even though they will still be extremely selective. Being an Indian Male who like science and public policy does not help me against the competition, but I’m hoping my other ECs can add a little bit of spice to my persona.
Also, I just received my AP scores today, and I think I’ll share them just to ask if they will help my college applications at all since the tests I took are heavy on government and science. I am in no way, trying to brag or show off more stats, I just want feedback as to see if they will matter at all, not in terms of credit, but in terms of interest and reputability to Stanford or Upenn
Last Year: Calc BC 5 (AB 5), Bio 4, Phys 1 4, World History 5
This Year: Stats 5, Physics C (M 5, E&M 4), US Gov 5, US History 5, Comp Gov 5, Lang 5
Focus on the Pottery and CANstruction… if you have a webpage with the pieces you construct or pics of the CANstruction exhibits, go for it will full force. I’d bet you the Model UN will matter little in your effort to standout. The other two activities are likely to be quite unique. Some years back, I had a student wrote about carnivorous plants as his hobby, how he learned about the native habitat of these plants (jungle trips paid by the hours he worked in a McDonalds) and how that related to his interest in ethnobiology blah blah. He was accepted to Stanford and studied linguistics. And, yup, likely most Asian applicants, he had near perfect stats too but I doubt those were his calling cards in the admissions process. So look for things few people can write about and truly meaningful to “YOU”. JMHO.
just so you’re clear, though, Penn will only give need-based aid. So it really is important to run the calculator. The income level you put in your post suggest you may get little to 0 fin aid from Penn. It is nearly impossible for an average 18 year old to borrow the kind of money a school like Penn would require, so it’s just a really good idea to have a good frank convo with your parents/guardians to make sure that if you do “burn” an ED application on Penn, for instance, you can afford it if you get in.
Good luck!
@BigflowerSusie Thank you for this advice. Are you referring to the supplmentary essays or the Common App essay? Also, by coincidence, I have a friend who is EXTREMELY interested in carniverous plants and has been growing them since middle school, and he is considering writing about them for his Common App essay, and addressing them in his supplementary essays as well. I know there are pictures online of my Canstruction projects, I probably also have a few personal ones. I could create a collage of the 4 projects and send them to wherever I apply early, but only in the last 2 can it be seen that I was one of the head designers, because I got my own picture with the mural. In the others, I am with other people. I think I will hit heavily on Canstruction and pottery on my Common App essays, but should I also include them in my supplementary essays?
You are certainly a very qualified candidate, but for such selective schools admission is far from garuntee. If you applied to the 8 ivies I would imagine you would get into 3,4,5
@CaliDad2020 Thank you for this clarification. I probably haven’t taken into consider the full cost of college and should probably do that ASAP hahaha. I’ll defintiely talk to my parents about the financial aspect of UPenn before applying. This was very helpful to hear.
Don’t mean to be a buzzkill, but as a dad who is writing a bit of a tuition check this week (ouch!) just want to make sure you and your folks/guardians don’t get any surprises. Nothing worse than getting into your dream school - and then finding out it might not be realistic financially.
The flip side of that conversation is for high-stats students, there are schools that give very nice merit aid and depending on your family situation you may want to be sure to include some interesting schools that might help your tuition needs due to your stats.
Just a thought. You’ll figure it out!
Every time I see a post like this, I want to ask how many hours you have in a day 
Congrats on awesome AP scores. Penn ED will significantly increase your chances, while applying early to Stanford won’t help that much.
@wakid0002 Another thing to consider regarding Penn and financial aid is that if you receive a financial aid award that is less than what you have indicated that you need, the ED contract is no longer binding and you are free to apply RD to other schools.
@CaliDad2020 I completely understand this. I would much rather know before hand that I would not be able to afford to go somewhere rather than apply and only later figure out that I won’t be able to afford it.
Hopefully I can get some scholarships or recieve some financial aid. This is a completely distinct part of the college application process that I need to go into.
@doorrealthe Okay, this is good to hear. I am most likely leaning towards applying to UPenn (SAS and LSM) early.
@Penn95 I had heard that if you apply ED somewhere and are accepted, but finances limit you, then you could be opted out of the binding process. I was unaware it worked like this though. Thank you for this insight.
Since this is a chance thread, here’s my input fwiw:
Penn - in if you apply ED, RD will be tougher but I think you’ll get in
Stanford, much tougher to get in SCEA or RD, my initial guess will be wait list, and I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt. You have a lot of things that show privilege, which Stanford is not going to really care for, may hold against you as well. As an Asian Indian, you’ll be expected to get 35/36, 1550-1600 and 800 or all your SAT 2s, so you will not get any advantage there. When you say recommendations, best student I ever had is good but Stanford is going to look for things like “can discuss black holes with Stephen Hawking (or non-stem, will be a future Constitutional scholar”). Also your ECs are all over the place, tighten them up, pick a few to show where you made the most impact.
Good luck!
@theloniusmonk If it is Penn LSM vs Stanford the level of difficulty of getting in is pretty equivalent. If it is Penn (non-dual degree) vs Stanford, then of course Stanford is def tougher.