Do I have a shot?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Ethnicity: White Female
An underachieving public school in Vancouver, WA. Only roughly 60% of our students passed the state required exam to graduate in the math, similar numbers for reading, etc.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.94/4.0
Rank:7/306
SAT I: 1790(very bad, but I didn't study) Am studying and retaking in Oct/Nov
-CR:580, M:600, W:610 (essay-8, mc-62)
Very bad AP scores Jr. Year: AP Lit.:3, AP Us history:2</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:
AP Comparitive Gov't
AP Calculus
AP Environmental Science
Intro. to visual art (req'd)
Aerobics (req'd)/Teachers Assistant(no other classes this period)
Ap English language
-currently considering an extra class at the local community college, but not sure since im getting a job</p>

<p>-I took/am taking most of the AP classes offered at my school, minus one or two</p>

<p>EC's:
-3years class council
-3 years mock trial (varsity last year and this coming)
-2 years NHS (officer last year and this coming)
-3 years legal magnet (officer last year and this coming)
-1 year math club (officer)
-1 year red cross club
-volunteer at various places (local library, local homeless shelter, etc.)</p>

<p>-Job at local burger place for 9months jr. year. (currently looking for another)</p>

<p>Summer Experience:
-Economics for Leaders sponsored by the Foundation for Teaching Economics
weeklong intensive camp at the university of washington in seattle.
-I also visit my family in alabama when i am able.</p>

<p>Hoping for really good recs and essay.</p>

<p>Economic disadvantige: I come from a really disadvantaged family. I live alone with my mom and she is disabled so we only get about 12,000 dollars a year.(hopefully will make me stand out)</p>

<p>Possible essay topics:
-the experience of living with my mom being in the hospital while she was fighting for her life. (why she is now disabled)
-visiting my dad in prison
-growing up in a family that is surrounded by drugs and realizing that i don't want that life.
-...among other topics im considering</p>

<p>Basically, I do not have a lot of opportunities available to me. I would love to do some of the stuff that i see on these sites, but i have no connections to get me in and i am clueless about how to try. </p>

<p>I really want to go to a top 20-25 school, but at my school my counselors are more aiming to get students into washington state or western washington, not vanderbilt, if you know what i mean.</p>

<p>I would greatly appreciate any and all input on all areas of my stats and how i can really stand out without having to aid in microbiology research or some of the things i see on these sites. Also any good websites you know for scholarships (fastweb hasn't really given me anything useful) would be appreciated.
So...do i have a shot? (I feel greatly inadequate)</p>

2

<p>Your rank is very good, but it is worthless due to how easy your school is.
You come from a very rough background, but if you can't bring it up to 2000 then I don't see you getting in. If you can make 2,000 then there is a fair good shot due to your socioeconomic/personal situation.
If anything else hurts you it is the fact that you only worked 9 months junior year. I kinda imagined you walking/riding your bike to work since 9th grade to help support your mom.</p>

3

<p>that's kinda why i had to quit. i had to ride a bus one hour each way to work and it was starting to really interfere with my school stuff because they had me work evenings...</p>

4

<p>The University of Washington is a very good school.</p>

5

<p>yeah, i agree with you that u. of w is a good school and it is my safety. but the idea of nearly 30000 undergraduate students doesn't really appeal to me all that much. I'm looking for something just as good, if not better, that is more medium in size.</p>

<p>plus, do you know how much it rains in seattle? not for me.</p>