<p>Hi! I am new to this forum, and I am intending to apply ED to the College of Arts and Sciences at Penn! I see that some people have posted about their chances of admissions, and I thought it might be a good idea. Obviously you guys are not admissions officers, but I thought it might be a nice idea to get some outside opinions so…thanks!</p>
<p>The Numbers:
SATI: 700V 650M 730W second and better sitting. I am not taking it again.
SATII: 710 US History, taking Literature and MathIC in October
AP: US History: 5 this is the only AP offered at my school before senior year
Class Rank: 8/244 last time I checked which was several months ago so it might have changed.</p>
<p>Academics:
I go to a decent but not top tier public high school in a suburb of Boston. My GPA is weighted somewhere around a 3.98 ish on a 4.3 scale. We don’t get extra weight for AP’s. I try to take the most challenging classes available. I have managed to earn A’s in most of my subjects except for math. I have a pretty obvious weakness in that subject. Basically I am good enough at it to take the top classes, but not good enough at it to earn top grades. My freshman year I was in a special program where you took two math classes, and it was generally harder than the regular honors course (though not weighted extra- oh my poor GPA!) I worked very, very hard in that class and just managed a C for the year. This is a big scar on my transcript. My other math classes have B’s/B+'s. Math is also my lowest SAT section. My english SAT sections seem in the middle range, but math…not so much. One of my biggest concerns is that my math history will put me out of the running. </p>
<p>Other academic stuff:
I am taking two foreign languages which is something that is not too common at my school (becuase it is one of my biggest interests). I take French and German. I’ve been taking German from the beginning but just started French sophomore year, and was able to skip a year (so I went from French I to French III). This year I didn’t have room for it so I am taking it independent study, which basically means that I meet with the teacher and have my own french class. :-D</p>
<p>Senior Year Classes:
AP Calc AB
AP Biology
AP English Lit
German 5 Honors
French 4 Honors Ind. Study
Intro to Social Sciences Honors</p>
<p>EC’s:
Gymnastics(9-12): I dedicate a lot of time and energy to this sport. I compete in club gymnastics and on my high school team. Depending on the time of year I usually spend anywhere from 12-20+ hours at the gym. However; while I would love to compete for Penn it is very very unlikely for me to be recruited as a varsity athlete because I am not at the level where I could realistically make it (level 9) I am cocaptain (yay) for next season on the high school team.
- Diving (11,12): Last year I took up the sport of diving on my high school team. I found it very enjoyable and wish that I had tried it earlier. Coming from gymnastics I was able to pick it up pretty quickly, and I have actually talked to people/coaches and been told that I could do it in college, however I don’t think that I am good enough at it to be recruited for Penn (most of the people I talked to were division III people…obviously Penn is a very good division I) I am unlikely to be recruited in my sports, but I love them and am very dedicated to them.
- Band (9-12): I play the clarinet and a bit of guitar. I am not amazing at it but I enjoy it.
- Tri-M: National Honor Society for music
- Girl Scouts (9-12): Yes. I am still a Girl Scout. As far as accomplishments go I received my silver award freshman year and got my Gold Award this spring. For anyone who knows anything about scouting, the Gold Award = the Eagle Scout in Boy scouts.
- National Honor Society (11,12)
- School Newspaper (9-12): I write for the newspaper, and am the current News Editor. Penn’s amazing newspaper is one of the non academic things that most interests me about the school.
- Literary Magazine (9,11,12): I write and do layout. The club sort of disappeared my sophomore year because there was no teacher to sponsor it.
- Century Club (10,11,12?): this is an honor type thing given to people in the top of their class unweighted…10 freshmen, 20 sophomores,30 juniors etc. I did not make it freshman year because of my math grades.
- Community Service: I participate in a few things throughout the year like the relay for life or various opportunities around town, but I don’t have a regular volunteer position or anything.
- Captain’s Council (12): student council/student government but for sports captains. We do fundrasiers and raise school spirit :-P.</p>
<p>Awards:
-Smith Book Award
-Gold/Silver Awards in Girl Scouts as previously mentioned
- Gymnastics stuff like state competitor, state individual competitor (HS), league all star 06, most improved athlete 06</p>
<p>Other:
- this summer I participated in a conference sponsored by a NGO called Empower Peace. It involved young women from the US and the Middle East. The focus was on leadership, education, and diplomacy/politics. It was a great experience and I want to mention it somewhere in the application.
- my father attended Wharton for undergrad. so…legacy?</p>
<p>I do not intend to follow in my father’s footseps, I am applying to the College. My intended major is International Relations. My main academic interests include politics, languages, and writing, and I have looked pretty deeply into this major and it seems to focus on everything that I would love to study, and lead toward may careers that interest me.</p>
<p>so…what do you think?</p>
<p>I realize this has gotten very long…I give kudos to anyone who makes it through it all, and I give a special thanks to anyone who actually comments and leaves some insight. If I ever meet any of you in real life I will bake you cookies! :-P</p>