Do I even have a shot at UPenn?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>About me:
Major: possibly business, but most likely undeclared
Male
Asian-American (Korean)
Live in Southern California</p>

<p>School does not rank
GPA weighted: 4.24
GPA unweighted: 3.76
UC Eligibility in Local Context ELC (indicates top 4% of class, very weak class of 2010)</p>

<p>About my GPA, my sophomore year I was taking 3 APs and I got 4 B's first semester and 2 B's second semester (3.91 GPAW). My junior year I took 5 APs and got straight A's for both semesters (4.8 GPAW). Hopefully, this shows at least an upward trend and that I can handle an extreme courseload.</p>

<p>SAT: 790 Math, 780 Writing, 730 Crit Reading, 2300 overall
SAT IIs: Math 780, US History 720, Chemistry (taking in October, expecting around 750+)
APs:
Sophomore year:
AP Calc AB – 5
AP Euro Hist – 3
AP Environmental Science – 4
Junior Year: Again, hopefully my AP scores also show an upward trend from my sophomore year
AP Calc BC - 5
AP Physics C - 5
AP US Hist - 5
AP English Language – 5
AP Chemistry - 4</p>

<p>Senior Year: AP Stats, AP Physics EM, AP Eng Lit, AP Gov, Spanish 7-8 (did all 4 years of HS), Comp Applications(for requirement)</p>

<p>ECs:
-Math Tutoring Club Secretary (11), Treasurer (12)
-Investment Club founder (12)
-Volunteer at local Hospital (10-12) over 100 hours
-National Honors Society (11-12)
-various local writing and math competition semifinalist
-School JV tennis (9-10), MVP for Sophomore Year
-Piano National CM test Level 10 (9-12)
-participate in city's Youth Symphony (9-12)
-Youth Symphony Marketing Committee
-kiva.org member and participant (9-12)
-smaller school clubs that I might or might not write down
-Stanford EPGY Summer program (11)</p>

<p>Work Experience:
-Internship at IBM Korea and Deutsche Bank Korea (2 weeks each, not sure which one to write down), can get a 3rd optional rec letter from either
-Volunteer work at North Korean refugee camp in rural South Korea (3 weeks)
-Work at UPS for 4 hours per week during the school year</p>

<p>Rec letters:
-pretty sure of 2 very good recommendations, one from physics another from US History to balance it out
-can get a 3rd optional from one of my internships</p>

<p>Essays: I have one very, very unique experience at the North Korean refugee camp and another talks my overarching passion for business that I’ve shown through my ECs and and the different types of work experience.</p>

<p>Hooks: Can pay full.</p>

<p>Antihooks: Asian, Korean, I have alot of ugly B's, upper middle class</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>You definitely have a shot… it’s just really up in the air. You have great test scores and some solid ECs. The asian thing definitely works against you though, as you said… and by stating that you are interested in business you might make the college wonder why you didn’t apply to Wharton. You have to find a way to show that you aren’t just applying to the regular college with hopes of transferring.</p>

3

<p>What’s with the title? It’s ridiculous. You have an outstanding resume. There are many people who would love to be in your shoes. Of course you have a shot.</p>

4

<p>2300 sat and seven APs before senior year? and you don’t even think you have a shot? you’re either joking or are really insecure.</p>

5

<p>asian/male/socal makes wharton pretty damn unlikely. but overall these “do i even have a shot?” titles, which are common this year, are getting really annoying, as you have a great chances at 99.5% of schools, and a strong chance at Penn CAS ED. and penn is need blind so being able to pay full is irrelevant.</p>

6

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<p>Not a hook</p>

<p>I think you need more unique ECs. Nothing on that list really stands out</p>

7

<p>I am half chinese/half caucasian… Why can I ask is the asian thing a negative? I am being serious. I don’t understand except that maybe so many asians apply??
Thanks</p>

8

<p>buffalowings24: You just joined CC, so your question isn’t that surprising. If you had waited a week, you probably wouldn’t have bothered asking it.</p>

<p>There is a persistent belief among Asian (and some non-Asian) teens and parents that ethnic-Asian applicants to top universities face discrimination in the form of quotas limiting the percentage of Asian students the institution is willing to have. There is some evidence for this. Ivy League Asian enrollments are generally around 15%, with Penn and Cornell a little higher (I think). Stanford and MIT are a little higher, too. Asians generally represent a higher percentage of applicants, although not that much higher. Berkeley and Cal Tech, both of which are known to eschew any consideration of race in admissions, have Asian percentages approaching 50%. (They are also in California, where the Asian representation in the general population is much higher, too.)</p>

<p>A couple years ago, a New Jersey ethnic-Chinese student at Yale sued Princeton claiming that he had been rejected because he was Asian. He cited studies claiming that ethnic-Asian applicants needed on average about 100 extra points on their SATs to be admitted to Princeton compared to non-Asians.</p>

<p>This problem, to the extent it exists, affects only maybe 20 institutions that receive a disproportionately high share of applications from ethnic Asian students – the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, Duke, Chicago, Hopkins, Northwestern, Tufts, WashU, maybe a few others.</p>

<p>It’s unclear to me to what extent the numbers are mainly a consequence of affirmative action for “under-represented minorities” (i.e., Blacks, Hispanics, indigenous Native Americans) and for recruited athletes – two groups that have a very high admission rate, and that thus force all other groups’ admission rates below average. It is also often noted that lots of ethnic-Asian students tend to cluster themselves, not only in the colleges to which they apply, but also in their career goals (medicine, finance) and extra-curriculars (piano or violin, non-team sports, science and math contests, ethnic-group related organizations). It is pretty clear that ethnic Asian students who don’t fit the “mold” have a higher likelihood of admission than those who conform to it, although the latter are admitted in much greater absolute numbers.</p>

9

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<p>It is also of note that for all the smarts among the Asian population, it is interesting how relatively few have figured out that a better strategy for getting a top education would be to zig where others zag … that is, instead of chasing after the same top 20 universities, expand their horizons, look at the 20 - 50 group, look at LAC’s, look at the women’s colleges, look at colleges in the midwest or south where being an Asian isn’t as “common” as it is in, say, California. It’s hard for me not to question “smarts” when the obvious creative solution is right there in front of them and so many don’t take it.</p>

10

<p>Thank you for your answer. Since a lot of my ECs are sports related (4 year varsity soccer and captain, will be 4 years Lacrosse and VP of Varsity Club) as well as Peer Counseling and then the usual suspects, maybe I fit the not so traditional mold. I do play an instrument but it is self taught guitar. There was interest from Cornell for soccer but after having met with them I have decided not to play at that level in college. I would prefer to play club or intramural, but I see it would have helped my chances at UPenn as well. I am applying to several IVY colleges as well as BC and UVA and others. I am the traditional business major though, so we shall just have to see.<br>
Thanks again</p>

11

<p>You note on your chance threads that you are a business major; note that at the Ivies, only Cornell and Penn actually have business majors. Good luck to you, but also widen your search and don’t be so swayed by the Ivy as the be-all and end-all.</p>

12

<p>Im a junior right now and I want to major in computer graphics. I have a 3.75 GPA, four APs this year, and in tennis,robotics,chess,and FBLA(all actively involved)…would i have a shot next year?</p>