Double Legacy and URM chance for ED? (Please read full post)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
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<p>Objective:</p>

<p>Testing:
[ul] [<em>]SAT IIs: 730 Math I, 740 Math II
[</em>]ACT: 32 (33W, 31M, 30R, 32S, 31E+W, 9/12 Essay)
[<em>]ACT Super Score: 33 (33W, 31M, 34R, 32S, 9/12 Essay)
[</em>]I'm going to be taking the ACT again and am shooting for a 34 composite [/ul]
My course rigor has been quite high. I will have taken 6 AP classes and 7 honors/weighted classes as well and had a huge upward trend in grades.
[ul] [<em>]Unweighted GPA: 3.59 w/ Freshmen year - 3.74 not including freshmen year
[</em>]Weighted GPA: 4.05 (w/ Freshmen) - 4.26 (w/o Freshmen)
[/ul]
I made two section for grades because my Freshmen year as bad for these reasons (which my counselor will document during her letter of recommendation) and after I talked to an admission officer during my visit he said that they'll look more heavily on my Sophomore and Junior grades more because of this:
[ul] [<em>]I moved from a small private school in NY to a large public school in Colorado so I had to adjust to a new learning style, bigger class rooms, had to start a new social life and the transition in general was bad.
[</em>]I missed 61 courses (I have it diagnosed and documented). I had to sometimes take tests right after coming back from being sick with almost no time to catch up.
[li]I was dealing with the death of my brother (from suicide) and was getting mental help too (psychiatrists) [/ul][/li]Rank: School doesn't rank</p>

<p>Senior Classes:
[ul] [<em>]AP BC
[</em>]AP Macro/AP Micro
[<em>]Adv C++
[</em>]AP Lit
[<em>]Chemistry
[</em>]Creative Writing/Film Lit [/ul]</p>

<p>Major Awards:
[ul] [<em>]Academic Honors 3x
[</em>]First Place iPhone App Developer Competition (Real-Time Stock Market Game)
[<em>]State for FBLA
[</em>]State Entrepreneurship Competition - First Place
[<em>]Best Delegate - MUN
[</em>]Honorable Mention - MUN [/ul]</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars -</p>

<p>2 years -
[ul] [<em>]Peer Leader of SOS
[</em>]Model UN
[<em>]FBLA [/ul]
4 years -
[ul] [li]Varsity Track[/li][</em>]Computer Club [/ul]</p>

<p>[ul] [<em>]Piano for 14 years, Guitar for 9 years, Trumpet for 9 Years
[</em>]Black belt in Tae Kwon Do (6 years training) + former student instructor (2 years)</p>

<p>[li]Audio Engineering and Video Editing Internship at a Recording Studio for 1.5 years [/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Suicide Awareness Activity -</p>

<p>[ul] [<em>]President, Founder and Facilitator the creation of a SOS Chapter (Suicide Awareness Program) at my School.
[</em>]Promoted Suicide Awareness Walk at CU Boulder
[<em>]Raised ~$10,000+ for Suicide Awareness Walk at CU Boulder - 2013
[</em>]Raised ~$10,000+ for Suicide Awareness Walk at CU Boulder - 2014
[li]Part of a support crew for a race team in the Race Across America to raise money (~$10,000) and awareness for the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention. [/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Summer Studies:</p>

<p>[ul] [<em>]Studied International Relations and History of WW2 - Putney (Oxford/Tuscany)
[</em>]Studied Political Science and Philosophy - Putney (Amherst) [/ul]</p>

<p>Other:</p>

<p>[ul] [<em>]Teachers Rec: Will be amazing. My teachers adored me.
[</em>]Counselor Rec: Will be amazing. She knows me on a personal level and will explain my bad freshman year grades.
[<em>]Interview: Haven’t done the alumni interview yet, but I interviewed with the head of Alumni Relations while on Campus and have a skype meeting with a Ancient History professor this Saturday.
[</em>]Essay: Phenomenal commonapp essay, one of the best I’ve ever written and my literature teachers said it’s amazing. My why Penn essay will also be great, but I just started writing it. [/ul]</p>

<p>Extra Info</p>

<p>[ul] [<em>]State: Colorado
[</em>]Country: USA
[<em>]School Type: Public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Hispanic/Columbian
[<em>]Gender: Male
[</em>]Income Bracket: Parent retired but Upper-Middle/Upper Class
[li]Single parent household [/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Hooks:</p>

<p>[list] [<em>]Hispanic
[</em>]Double Legacy
[<em>]Have some connection to the Alumni Department. My family has also been very involved with the Alumni network (especially my Grandfather when he was alive.)
[</em>]Taken Action in Suicide Awareness after the death of my brother</p>

<p>Thanks so much!</p>

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<p>Bump :)</p>

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<p>Strong odds. Your obvious weakness is your gpa but you have reasons why it is what it is. I like how you turned your tragedy into a passion to prevent other people going thru it. </p>

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<p>@Madaboutx‌ Yeah, I hate that my GPA is so low but what happened in the past happened. If I could go back and change my GPA I would, but sadly Amazon has not delivered my time machine!</p>

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<p>Before you take more standardized tests, remember that Penn has no score choice and wants all scores.</p>

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<p>@Wordworker‌ I know that. I asked the admission officer at Penn when I visited if I only send in my ACTs do I have to send in the SATs and he said no. So I might not even send in my SAT 2s. Based off of my info what would you say my chances are?</p>

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<ol>
<li>What college - CAS, Wharton, SEAS?</li>
<li>Leadership?</li>
</ol>

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<p>If I were an admissions officer i would admit you. I think that all you have accomplished after dealing with your brother’s death and moving across the country is very impressive. Good luck!</p>

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<p>@CollegeGoer 1) CAS 2) My main leadership in school was being the president, founder and a peer leader in Sources of Strength (District Funded Suicide Awareness program). I’ll probably be an officer in FBLA this year (I’ll know at the start of next week.)</p>

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<p>bump :)</p>