College help!! (Can I get into Upenn?)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi! I have some questions about requirements for certain/top schools and was wondering if anyone knowledgeable could help me out :slight_smile:

I’m a junior in high school and my top college is Upenn (Along with Georgetown and Boston University).

My class rank is 2 out of 325 and my GPA is a 5.15 out of 5.5 (I have received straight A’s throughout high school). I just took my SATs (the new SAT out of 1600) and I am hoping to receive a score around 1300 and I plan on taking them again in May as well. I will also be taking 3 SAT Subject Tests in June (Physics, U.S. History, and Math Level 2). I am taking 2 AP classes this year (U.S. History and English) and I plan on taking 4 AP’s next year (Biology, Government and Politics, Literature, Calculus).

I play 2 varsity sports (field hockey and lacrosse) and I am involved in many clubs at my school (Medical club, environmental club, interact/key club, ambassadors, writing center, TEAM) and I have been a Girl Scout since I was in Kindergarten and I have received my Bronze Award. I have a summer job and I have hundreds of volunteer hours. I am also planning on being the President of the National Honors Society.

With my academics and extracurricular involvement, will I be able to get into a school like Upenn? If not, how can I make myself a better candidate? Specifically, I am interested in a medical career…should I volunteer at a local hospital or become more involved in that area to show my interest? Instead of taking AP Biology next year, should I take AP Chemistry?

I was invited to attend the Governor’s School of New Jersey this summer, but unfortunately cannot attend because I will be on vacation… could attending that school make me look more appealing? Is there any educational programs I should attend this summer? I was also debating taking classes at a local college this summer… would that be a smart idea?

I’m sorry for the massive amount of questions, but I hope that somebody can answer some of them. I just feel as if my academics and extracurricular are not appealing enough for these top schools :frowning:

2

In terms of academics, an SAT score of 1300 is much too low. You need 1400 as a baseline, and preferable a 1500+ (1500 translates to 2250 on the old SAT). Your extracurriculars, while strong, are not of a “stand out” caliber. I think hospital volunteering would be a good idea to demonstrate interest in the career in medicine. Also, both AP Biology and AP Chemistry are medicine related fields. Take the one that you are more interested in. (or take both, if you can handle the rigor).

Whether you get in to Penn or not really won’t affect your career in medicine. Admission to med score is really dependent of GPA and MCAT scores, not which undergrad school you received a diploma from. Best of luck!

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thank you so much!

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As asianfang said, medical school depends on undergrad GPA and MCAT scores, so don’t worry about which college you get into, although it is always best to aim high. Try to get your SAT up, and keep achieving in your ECs. Then, you should have a good chance.

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asianfang is probably a high school student too-and how good is the advice there and what is it based on? . Don’t volunteer for the sake of looking good to colleges. Following that advice will make you indistinguishable from every other candidate doing things for the sake of looking good for college.