<p>Hi! I'm a junior in high school right now and I've only been to UPenn once (despite living less than two hours from Philly) but I kind of fell in love with it.</p>
<p>Anyway, I was wondering if anyone could chance me. Here's a little window into my life:</p>
<p>BORING LIFE INFORMATION:
Parents' salary: Less than $40K a year at this point
Ethnicity: Caucasian/Jewish (nonpracticing)
Gender: Female</p>
<p>SATs:
(By the way, PSAT was 233)
Math: 760
Reading: 800
Writing: 680
I could take these again if it would be beneficial, but at this point I don't know how much a few extra points in writing would help.
Math II: 740
Physics: 700
French: 660
Again, I could take some other subject tests if it would be a good use of my time. I didn't actually prepare for any of them, but I did want to know my mastery of the subject material. I'm not sure how I feel about the scores.</p>
<p>APs:
10th grade:
AP US History (5)
AP Calculus BC (5)
AP Music Theory (5)
11th grade:
AP European History, AP Physics C, AP Physics B, AP Statistics, AP French</p>
<p>AP/Honors track whenever I could!</p>
<p>(I signed up for AP Bio, AP Chem, AP English, AP Gov, AP Econ, and possibly AP Comp Sci for next year. Also, Latin 4, Advanced Calculus (sort of a preparation for Calc 3, as some of the concepts are introduced), and orchestra.)</p>
<p>GPA (weighted where A in AP class = 5.0, A in honors class = 4.5, and an A is a 92 and above): currently 4.49
Unweighted I'd guess it would be fairly close to a 4; I've gotten Bs in maybe 4 or 5 quarters (but most were 90s so perhaps they would be considered an A?) and As throughout the rest.</p>
<p>Extracurriculars and such:
YPP (youth philharmonic orchestra) freshman year; I play the string bass (I'm in orchestra at school, plus the extracurricular chamber orchestra and every year I am in the pit orchestra for our school musical) as well as the piano (I've done various adjudications and competitions through the years) so music is a pretty big part of my life. </p>
<p>I love to write and I was chosen to compete in a couple essay contests--one being a state contest, and one being a national one. I am also the co-editor of my school literary/art magazine, Collage, and I recently gained an editorial position for my school newspaper after doing what I consider "freelance" work for it (I wasn't on the staff but I often wrote articles and such.)</p>
<p>I'm a member of Interact Club which is affiliated with the Rotary Club; I am on my school's Envirothon team (we just came in 9th place at the PA state competition a few days ago!) as well as the Academic Team (we basically do the Scholastic Scrimmage and other such competitions) and of course National Honor Society. I like to attend French Club and Latin Club meetings whenever I can, because I really enjoy learning more about the culture which is nice in a more informal setting than class.</p>
<p>I don't do anything regularly scheduled as far as volunteering but I do sometimes (and whenever I can! I love volunteering! I just also love learning as well as my other activities and what little social life I have, so that doesn't leave much time) volunteer at events through Interact or school, as well as ushering, etc. over the summer for PSF. I hope to find more opportunities next year; I really enjoy giving my time to others who need it if at all possible. As someone whose parents aren't that wealthy and who, for some time, had to rely on food stamps and such, I believe that I understand (at least somewhat) the value of helping others. I have participated in the ACS Relay for Life for 4 years and I was on the youth committee this past year.</p>
<p>I also believe strongly that it is important to be an individual. I'm not sure if this will help me at all in getting into college, but I don't really care; it's a part of who I am! I really believe that we live in a world too full of hate, and I am working on trying to get more involved in activism against this (I am trying to join the No Place for Hate organization at my school! Also, I hope to get more involved in LGBT organizations.) so we'll see how that goes.</p>
<p>Anyway, I'm sure there's stuff I'm missing (there always is, regarding a glance at my life) but that's kind of an overview of my life and myself. I want to know my chances because I truly want to go to Penn; I love the idea of flexibility in programs. I'm thinking of applying to M&T because I'm interested in Actuarial Science/Statistics/Finance but also Computer Science/Engineering (if not M&T, then Wharton). I'm the kind of person who takes all these varied classes because I enjoy them! I love learning about new things and being able to make connections between different subjects (I also love making nerdy, cross-subject analogies) so it seems (but correct me if I'm wrong!) that Penn would be great for giving me the opportunity to take a variety of classes and learn a lot of different things!</p>
<p>If there is anything you can offer as far as advice, please do! I don't really want to change myself because I don't believe that you should have to actually change your personality/goals for something like this, but if there is something I could do that would greatly help me in getting into Penn (possibly ED) it would be so helpful!</p>
<p>P.S. Sorry if that was a lot to read; I'm a bit wordy sometimes. I really appreciate your reading this and any guidance you can give!!</p>