Early Decision UPenn vs. Early Decision Swarthmore?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys I told myself I would never do this but I’m in a bit of a moral pickle right now so here I am.

Here’s the run down. I’m applying through Questbridge (if you don’t know what that is that’s fine, dont worry about it). My parents want me to ED to Swarthmore because the chances that I’ll get in are pretty high. I got accepted into their Fly-In program Discover Swarthmore and I’ve been told that if you go to DiscoSwat the chances you get accepted are about 66%. The only thing is, I didn’t enjoy myself at all during DiscoSwat. I met a lot of people and all that, the only problem was I couldn’t really see myself in Swarthmore, didnt get that feeling, ya’feel?

I want to ED to UPenn, but I don’t know how I feel about it. My family’s not very financially well off, so if I don’t get accepted ED to Penn, and then get rejected from Swarth RD, there’s a high chance that I’ll be paying 22K to go to community college (which i’m fine with except my family literally cannot pay that much).

I’ve posted my stats down below. Please let me know what you think would be the best way to approach this situation.
(BTW I’m Asian, and I come from an inner city school, just so you can have a bit more perspective on my chances)

Grades: 96.5 unweighted
98.813 weighted

AP’s: 8 classes, which is about the average amount taken at my school
2 tests (so far) APUSH: 3, Bio: 4

ACT: 35 Composite, nonsuperscored

SAT 2: Bio: 790
Math 2: 690 (I didn’t send this score)

Extracurriculars: Lots and lots. This is my strongest aspect of my application, I feel like.
- One of Eleven International Trustees of Key Club International (National)
- Lt. Governor for New York District Key Club (State / National)
- Student Body Sophomore VP, Junior Senator (School)
- Concept Vehicle Racing Team 2nd Place in Shell Eco-Marathon (International / National)
- Tae Kwon Do Jr. Instructor (Community)
- Church Officer and Praise Team Leader (Community)
- I feel like I’m rambling now so I’ll stop lmao. There’s like 3 or 4 more, but they’re fairly local extracurriculars and not too impactful.

Essays: These are what I’m mostly worried about. They’re very mediocre. If you want, comment your email down below, and I’ll send you a copy of my supplemental essay / Common app essay.

Please let me know what you think! Thank you so so much, ya’ll are all beautiful individuals.

2

Wasn’t the ED deadline like in November?

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@rebecca12345 Because I’m applying through Questbridge, I’m allowed to roll over my application to one school. It’s all really complicated and confusing LOL, but basically I can submit my application early by sending it now.

4

Normally, I would counsel against going anywhere you can’t see yourself, but your situation is unique, and the downside outcome is pretty disastrous. Two questions…

Does Swat have ED2 and is that an option if you don’t get into Penn? And what about Swat felt wrong for you?

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@gardenstategal OH WOW thank you so much! ED 2 completely slipped my mind, I don’t know why I never made that correlation.
I just googled it and yeah Swarth has ED 2. This is actually amazing.
You legit just helped me so much LOL thank you!!!

BTW just to answer your previous question, there was nothing wrong with the college itself, that part was amazing. It was just I kinda felt like it’s not the right school for me. The campus is very rural, and everybody’s super chill. I think I personally prefer more urban and high-energy schools, just because the entire dynamic is different. My personality and Swarth’s personalities just didn’t match up.

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By the way, also, I still kind of want some advice as to whether or not you guys think being accepted to UPenn is feasible with the statistics that I have. Please and thank you!

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My only caution, is that ED2 isn’t nearly as nice as ED1. I’m not too sure about swarthmore specifically, but I know for Emory University very few people get in through that process and is more similar to RD than ED1