<p>I hope you end up at a school that makes you happy. It is discouraging to hear people speak of Penn as if it is a backup/safety school; it makes me think that you’d be unhappy at Penn. You clearly are a smart and active person, but so are all the other applicants. Penn is probably a better school for what you want than HYP through M&T. If your essays showed that you are passionate, you should be a decent candidate, even though your Asian status / SAT scores could be a downside.</p>