Chances at UPenn ED 2018????

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

junior at a rigorous private school in Texas
prospective school: College of Arts and Sciences
prospective major: chemistry major; pre-med track

cumulitive GPA: 3.6
junior year (my current grade) GPA: 3.8
(my overall GPA is super low for Penn, but it is because I really struggled freshman year because of a chronic disease that I have, so maybe that will give me an edge?
act: 32
act breakdown:
english: 35
math: 29
science: 33
reading: 32
APs:
junior year: APUSH
senior year I’m taking: AP English, AP macroeconomics, AP US government, and AP biology, advnced precalculus, and either photography II or film studies

home state: texas

ECs: (I think that this will be the most important part of my apps)
-member of a patient research group (also on the communications board) for improve care now (works in conjuction with Texas Childrens, Boston Childrens, CHOP, etc.)

  • ridden horses since I was 5 years old and competes across the country (15-20 hours a week)
    -volunteers weekly at an underprivileged school
    -doing a summer volunteer program at Houston Methodist Hospital this year that lasts a month
    -president of the pre-med club
    -vice president of wildlife conservation club
  • will be treasurer of my class senior year
    -will have a summer job a juice store this summer
    -won awards in state photography competitions
    -shadowed the head of cardiology at Texas Children’s

teacher recs:
I am going to ask my APUSH and physics teacher for recommendations. I am expecting my physics teacher’s recommendation to be very good because she likes me as a person and I have a good average in her class (98), and I know that my APUSH teacher’s will be helpful because he has already written recommendaton letter for me for a volunteer program that I am doing this summer, and it was glowing.

haven’t written my essays yet

please note: I know that my GPA is really low, and that I have pretty average ACT scores for Penn, but I hope that my essays, extracurriculars, and teacher recommendations will help me a lot. Am I wrong in assuming that? I think that the best I can hope for is a deferral so that they can see my senior year grades, but I know that it is pretty likely that I will be rejected.

Thanks in advance :slight_smile:

2

Low. You have a very low GPA, and below average test scores, coupled with decent-ish ECs. What is your class rank?

3

your gpa is super low for penn and your test scores are just below average. the fact that your grades are trending up may be mildly helpful as are your ecs and the fact that you are planning on ed. but overall the prospects are not very high !!

4

@yaledad2021 @beepybeetle thanks for the input! how much do you think that essays and interviews factor into the admissions process for someone like me (who has less than stellar grades and average test scores)?

5

essays will definitely factor in, but whether they will put you into the pile of applications that they consider is questionable. if you have really exceptionally strong essays that definitely can’t hurt you. interviews should not factor in nearly as much, just be sure to not royally screw up.

6

Essays can break your application, but I don’t think they’ll make up for poor grades. Interviews count for very little.

7

@caffeinegirl Both your scores and grades are definitely low for Penn, so i would say your chances are very low. If you do ED maybe there is a super slight chance if there is another factor in your application that stands out, but if you do RD there is no way at all.
Essays can help for sure. Interviews can only hurt you I think if they do not go well. if they go well the benefit is not substantial.