Do I even have a chance?

<p>ender: F
Race: Asian (Indian)
State: NJ
College Class Year: 2012
High School: Public
Major: Mechanical Engineering</p>

<p>My ACT score is 27 (not going to send it)
MY SAT score is 2050
SAT Subject tests: Math 1= 650; Biology = 650
AP Tests: 5 on AP Composition</p>

<p>School doesn't do ranking but I'd be top 10 percent of my Senior Class (650 people)</p>

<p>unweighted GPA-3.6/4
Weighted GPA- 3.9/4</p>

<p>Sports:
Fencing- private academy 2 years</p>

<p>Clubs:
Chemistry Team 2 years
FBLA- 3 years
Vice President of FIRST Robotics Team-2 years; Member of Robotics Team-4 years
Secretary for French Honors Society- 1 year
French Club- 3 years
NASA Online Learning Community- 4 years
The Academy at Rutgers for Girls in Engineering and Technology- 2 years</p>

<p>Honor Societies:
National Honor Society 2 years
French Honor Society 2 years</p>

<p>Volunteer work:
70+ Hours at Veterans Hospital</p>

<p>7 AP classes- AP Comp, AP Micro/Macro Econ, AP French, AP Calc, AP LIT, AP Physics C, AP Chemistry, </p>

<p>Recommendations will be from my AP Physics Teacher- should be good. The other will be from my AP French Teacher, who I've had before and know very well.</p>

<p>What are my chances?</p>

<p>If you really want to go to Penn, I would say try. However, your SAT I and SAT II scores might be a bit low. It’s not impossible, though, if you have an outstanding essay and letters of recommendation.</p>

<p>7 AP classes- AP Comp, AP Micro/Macro Econ, AP French, AP Calc, AP LIT, AP Physics C, AP Chemistry – is this your senior year courseload? That is a lot of AP classes for just one year (my school doesn’t even allow that many a year)… If you mean you have or will be taking these classes, how are your AP scores?</p>

<p>70+ hours of volunteer work isn’t that much, but are you very active and passionate about what you do?</p>

<p>very unlikely that you’ll get in with a 2050</p>

<p>You won’t know unless you try, so definitely submit an application. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket, though; try to fall in love with a couple of other schools, as well. </p>

<p>I think a really stellar application (essays, etc.) can really help an applicant’s case, but you are unfortunately coming from a geographic area that sends lots of qualified students’ applications to Penn every year. If you can articulate why you want Penn and why Penn needs you, show them that there’s a niche here that only you can fill, you’ll have a shot. Do keep in mind, though, that Ivy League admissions are hard for everyone and “low” standardized test scores (most notably the Math SAT II for an Engineering applicant) will need to be compensated for elsewhere in your application.</p>