<p>I'd like some input on my chances at Penn with the following stats...</p>
<p>Caucasian/White Male
SAT: 2370
- CR: 800 M: 770 WR: 800 (Essay: 12)
- (Missed an addition question on Math due to what I assume was me misreading the question. Ugh).
SAT II's:
- Literature: 730 (90th percentile)
- Math I: 760 (96th percentile)</p>
<p>Class Rank: N/A (School does not rank)
GPA: 3.71 (Weighted)
- About my GPA. Freshman year I had some issues, a close friend committed suicide, would argue with my parents constantly and occasionally miss school because of it, etc. Made around a 3.3 freshman year. 3.7 sophomore year, 3.9 junior year, and a 4.2 right now in my senior year. (FYI, an A+ is still a 4.0 at my school. I took the max number of AP's that I could senior year, which is one, AP Calc. Have an A+ currently).</p>
<p>I also attended the SAAST program at Penn this summer. I made an A+ in the course and the teacher is writing me a letter of recommendation. So, I already have college credit at Penn for one course and a 4.0 GPA.</p>
<p>I'm the only person from my school doing ED at Penn.</p>
<p>College essays, I'd have to say, are excellent. I'm applying to the Computer Science (DMD) program at Penn...I've met the director of the program personally, sat in on a class, met the assistant director personally, interviewed with her (She knew me before I entered her office, odd, and had seen my online portfolio website that I coded myself), and so on. So I'm pretty active in my relationship with the right people at Penn.</p>
<p>I guess it really comes down to the GPA. I've done everything else better than almost anyone else I know, but I really dropped the ball when it comes to my GPA. I'm just wondering if that alone is enough to count me out.</p>
<p>3.7 weighted is probably around a 3.5 unweighted? It’s going to be nearly impossible, even with your near-perfect SAT score, to get into Penn because of your low GPA</p>
<p>I did take the Computer Science (CG) SAAST course this summer, made the highest grade in the class, and made quite an impression on the directors of the program I’m applying to, if it makes any difference. I told them of my GPA, and they said they’d do everything they can to vouch for me. Additionally, the teacher of the course (who was the student at Penn who founded the program I’m applying to) is writing me a letter of rec, and I believe he will strongly fight for me in it.</p>
<p>However, like most 18 year-olds, the ins and outs of college admissions are totally unfamiliar to me, so I don’t know if that will actually do anything.</p>
<p>Oh, and if you count my senior year grades, it’s actually around a 3.7 unweighted. With senior grades, 3.78 weighted.</p>
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<p>Also, if it makes a difference (which I doubt it will), I played basketball during high school (Quit before varsity), I interview extremely well, and I have around 150 hours of community service.</p>
<p>Do you have an official rank or know where you rank? Penn has what I believe is the lowest percent of students not in the top 10% of their class (2%), meaning rank is everything there.</p>
<p>did you take difficult courses?
It doesnt seem so from your aps.
Im really sorry but it doesnt look like you have that good a chance even with your problems. Also did you have ecs?</p>
<p>If you are not planning on applying anywhere as difficult as penn and are pretty sure that you could get into your other schools without ed. Otherwise its worth a shot and if you get rejected then apply elsewhere.</p>
<p>@Redroses: My school does not rank. It won’t affect Penn’s admissions stats.</p>
<p>@Spiffy: Thanks. I taught myself programs at age twelve that they teach their undergrads and graduate students, then coded a website for an online portfolio that features my work with those programs. The director had somehow seen it, and heard about me, and did tell me that it was highly unusual for someone to have the knowledge I did at my age, let alone teach myself…</p>
<p>(I’m not trying to be arrogant, I’m just trying to give more information.)</p>
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<p>What I find interesting is that if you overlook my GPA, I think I beat almost every other student with my SAT/connections/SAAST grades + Penn professor’s letter of rec/college essays. My GPA is literally the only thing holding me back, and it’s only my freshman and somewhat sophomoric (ha, ha) grades at that. If I show, this year, that I also have the ability and drive to be the best student, GPA-wise, does that not fill the only hole in my app, my GPA?</p>
<p>I guess it does come down to whether or not they will overlook my poor freshman year performance and look much more closely at my recent performance, both in SAAST and in school. I sure hope so, because I know that I can handle Penn (scores), really want to go there (ED), and, ever since I grew up, have done everything I can to boost my chances.</p>
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<p>Also, what would people think about UChicago, Brown, Vandy, Notre Dame?</p>
<p>Summer programs that you pay for will not help your chances.</p>
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<p>Supplemental rec letters will not help your chances.</p>
<p>Besides, the problem isn’t just your very weak freshmen transcript, but it’s also that your sophomore and junior grades seem pretty bad. An upward trend can salvage a comparatively weak GPA, but maintaining a 3.7 and 3.9 weighted can hardly be considered impressive.</p>
<p>A 3.7 cumulative weighted GPA will put you in the very bottom deciles for Penn, a spot that is usually reserved for hooked candidates. And since you’re applying to a competitive program your chances will fall that much more.</p>
<p>“Summer programs that you pay for will not help your chances.”</p>
<p>That’s funny, when I talked to the Associate Director of the program I’m applying to, who happened to be the head of the undergrad admissions committee for something like sixteen years, she said that it would significantly help my chances for this program, seeing as I did the exact same type of work that I would be doing as a undergrad in the program.</p>
<p>I’m not saying you’re wrong, as I can definitely see where you’re coming from, I’d just like to know what you’re basing that off of. Because in that statement, you simply came across as angry and resentful of richer students…</p>
<p>“Supplemental rec letters will not help your chances.”</p>
<p>That’s funny. Being a professor who has been involved with admissions, you’d think he would know that his letter wouldn’t help, and would be less inclined to spend time and effort on it. But again, if this is true, it’s something that I’d really benefit from knowing, so if you could provide where you’re getting your information from, that’d be great.</p>
<p>Hehe, relax, man. Don’t forget that this place is to give you advice. Of course, no one knows if you will get in or not. And trust me, I have yet to see a PERFECT application on this website…everyone lacks a little of something.</p>
<p>It seems like you feel confident about your chances so that’s very good. But you should be warned not to devote all of your attention to this school. You should look around at other schools because you never know what the future holds…</p>
<p>It looks like you are misinterpreting the advice offered to you by the head of that program. It’s wise for every student to invest in extracurricular activities that support their intended majors i.e. what you (for the most part) seem to be trying to do, but at the same time you need to realistically understand the weight this program will add to your application.</p>
<p>It’s important to note that Penn offers the equivalent of SAAST for both business and communications and, for the most part, all three of these programs are primarily designed to draw in revenue for the school. The selectivity of your programs is neglible, and while it does offer an excellent look into Penn academia and add to the focus of your application, SAAST will not be your saving grace. The general consensus on the Penn subforums corroborates this assertion.</p>
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<p>False. I mean, I’ve been in enough of these situations to realize that it’s natural for kids to get angry when they don’t hear what they want to hear and/or realize that they don’t have as good chances as they thought, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying. </p>
<p>Besides, I’m not implying that kids being able to pay for a program will make it less prestigious; it’s just that the majority of the summer programs that are actually impressive (TASP etc.) are free. Tuition is the benchmark you should use to differentiate the TASPs/Boys States from the CTYs, if you get what I’m saying.</p>
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<p>Recommendation letters will never make or break an application. There is a reason why most schools only want rec letters from two teachers and one guidance counseler and that’s because they can only say so much that has not already been said. Kids get their supplemental rec letters for mayors, congressmen and professors all the time. But does this really do anything? Not really. </p>
<p>But since we’ve already established the ineffably large holes in your application and your low chances of admission, I hope that you do have “connections” to Penn, because that’s the only way things will work out in your favor.</p>
<p>Thanks for the honesty. Makes sense, and I would have to say I’d be inclined to do the same if I were in the admissions department.</p>
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<p>Good to know. However, there’s no denying that she flat-out said it would significantly help my admissions chances into the program. Now I’m not saying that she’s wrong, you’re wrong, or anyone else is, as I am probably the least qualified to be making that judgment, but what you two are saying does blatantly contradict each other’s statements.</p>
<p>Anyway, if you think I really do have such a low chance at Penn, I’m inclined to think you’re right. What tier of schools do you think I should be looking at?</p>