<p>With everything else perfect as in essays, recs, sec. school report, ec’s, leadership roles, class rank 1, ap’s and honors with no regular classes in all 4 years but have mid to high 600’s on the SAT Reasoning and Subject test, what are my chances? (Since alot of people here seem to act like these test are the deciding fact for admission.)</p>
<p>Well, no, but SAT test tells how well you will handle college and how much you learned in high school. 600's aren't bad, but it still is a weakness for a school like PENN though UPENN seems like the only Ivy that doesn't hold SATs to the same standard as the rest (accept a broad range of scores)...SATIIs are important though</p>
<p>yeah on the accepted board there were more 1300s (old test) than I would expect. The common denominator seemed to be very very high ranks.</p>
<p>How high were those ranks? Can you post a link for that accepted list (is it RD or ED)? I'm sure it won't make a difference for me anyway, since so many people are applying from my school anyway.. ugh..</p>
<p>Most w/ low tests seem to be 1 or 2. Actually, most seem to be 1 or 2. lol</p>
<p>If you're class rank is #1 (unshared) and you took most rigorous courses, then you will shine above all the other candidates from your school. High School grades and courses are more important than SAT I believe. (Go to Penn's website for information requested--it combines ED and RD results though)</p>
<p>stambliark- that thread that you posted is so depressing. a lot of people with high SAT scores who also had ranks well within the top 5 % and great ECs were rejected. im officially freaking out.</p>
<p>princess, not trying to upset anyone...but that is the best idea of what it takes to get into penn. :/</p>
<p>no im glad u posted that thread. it gave me a reality check, esp. becuz people who are unaware of the admissions process keep telling me that my chances are way bettter than they actually are (or at least that's what i think). must....write....great.....essays........</p>
<p>Thank god that's regular decision........right??</p>
<p>(Please tell me ED will be at least A LITTLE easier, although I know the applicant pool is more competitive)</p>
<p>my SAT results are not strong either. actually worse than urs. the thing is i don't learn most of the thing on the SAT II list for one whole year. i need to pick up and learn some new stuff all by myself.
hopefully, they will understand this.</p>
<p>hm.. i think not learning what's tested in SAT 2 may not be the best excuse not performing.. cos for my case, half the phys syllabus was nv taught, whiel some of the chem and math 2 stuff were taught 2 yrs back and never touched anymore.. but the expectations for us is at least 750 for each subj.. cos most pple get their perfect score.. i guess tt's the only thing tt can make up for our poorer SAT reasoning, where a 2200 is considered a fantastic score.</p>
<p>Valedictorian at my D's school last year out of about 305 students , SAT scores low 1400's was rejected last year; my D, salutatorian, SAT 1500, was accepted, however fwiw</p>
<p>sounds that im hopeless..
=(</p>
<p>i think the admission is not just about grades and SAT.. i know of 2 pple who got in.. SAT of 1440 and 1360 each, ranked 18/800 and 50/800 respectively. yup.. if im not wrong, they got close to or perfect score for their subject tests (writing excluded)</p>
<p>okay, as a Penn student i can see why everyone is freaking out, but really, dont! if you don't like your SAT score now, and you're applying early, then dont apply early decision. in fact, retake it and then apply for RD thus you'll be less stressed about your stats and more concerned with the application process. trust me, plus you'll regret it if by any change you do get rejected (which i doubt since most you guys on this board have amazing stats) becuase you'll think you only got rejected because of the SAT scores. if you're only aplying early because you think its is easier to get in, then dont do it because it really isnt-it's just easier to get in for those students who's parents went there (thats why the percentage seems higher-they just say that so more ppl will apply there early to make them look good). trust me on all this, you dont want to regret something cause it maybe bad.</p>
<p>too late to change decisions now. btw, according to lee stetson , it is easier for everyone (not just children of alumni) to get in early because "Penn's regular decision applicants tend to be slightly stronger," and the average stats for those who apply early are a little lower. but idk, i guess there's no real way to verify this.</p>
<p>No, princess, that's not true. ED is very competitive and the same people who would be accepted ED would be accepted RD (excluding alumni). This is straight from a regional representative. Even a Penn student verfied this!</p>
<p>Bongo - That goes against everything I've heard and it doesn't make sense that a regional rep would admit to this, even if it were true. People would stop applying ED, and rankings would plummet. In reading about college admissions policies in highly competitive schools(Duke, Georgetown)this is definitely not the case - the ED pool is somewhat less competitive, and some that would never make it in RD get in. I don't know why Penn would be any different - the kids who know they are solid, know they have choices, and typically won't apply ED. In my school #s 1-5 are not applying ED anywhere. So, unless things have really changed in the last couple of years, I have a hard time totally believing this.
On the other hand, the CC Penn thread, "Official Decisions - ED from January 2005, is scary, and would seem to suggest that what you are saying could be closer to the truth than I want to know. However, that is a just a tiny subset of applicants - and no way to know how accurate either.
Could it be that current Penn students who got in ED, don't want to be seen as "inferior" to their RD classmates? As far as regional reps - this week alone three people in admissions told me three different things about the application. And at my info session, the rep didn't even know about the SAT II requirements. Don't believe everything you hear.</p>
<p>The #1 piece of advice Penn students gave me was "If you're sure about Penn, apply early." Don't kid yourselves -- it helps!</p>