ED Penn, What should I expect?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>With an acceptance rate of about 25% and a deferral rate of also about 25%, I'm hoping I'll be accepted. Chances for Comp. Sci?</p>

<p>GPA: 3.91
Average: 97.7
Also take a class there, college credit. Anthropology.</p>

<p>Recommendations: Two really strong ones from Chem/English Teachers, Also have a third one from my Chemistry professor at Penn (See EC's)</p>

<p>SAT 2080 - Penn's 25th/75th is 2040/2310
Math: 670 Reading: 710 Writing: 700
SAT II
Math 1: 710 Math 2: 620 Chemistry: 640</p>

<p>Essays: Super strong
EC's:
National Honors Society Scholarship Committee Head
Boy Scout 10+ years, Eagle Scout
Chemistry Research Program at Penn over summer
City Year Young Heroes, Presidential Community Service Award (100+ hours), three years
Science Club, 2 hrs/wk all school year, two years
Jazz Band, 2 years
Geek Squad Summer Academy (Not sure if I should include this in an application)
Polish Exchange Student Host, Exchange Student (Hosted and then went there)
Temple University Music Program, Viola, 2 years
Settlement Music School, Violin (2 years), Piano (6 years)
Philadelphia Mummers, 3 years</p>

<p>Pre-College Classes: Drawing 2, Figure Drawing at University of the Arts</p>

<p>AP Classes: AP Chemistry 4 on exam, AP Calc (this year) (only AP's offered to me)
Honors Classes: English 3, English 4</p>

<p>Other things to Note:
I'm agendered/queer which is noted in my application, talked about activism in essays, Penn is super LGBTQ friendly and is trying to be inclusive. Have even joined a club there called Penn NCIS which is for non-cisgendered people, discussed that in essay, so I'm part of the community already sort of. </p>

<p>Other schools I'm applying to: MIT, NYU, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign </p>

<p>Thank you! Will chance back if I can :)</p>

2

<p>Penn’s math, science and engineering courses are very rigorous. Based on your stats, and especially your math 2 score, I would be concerned about how well you would fit in the Penn’s professional/academic culture as a computer science major. My sense is that admissions would have a similar view.</p>

3

<p>Not good. I agree with Fogcity. The same for MIT. NYU is more likely especially with its recent purchase of Brooklyn Tech if they have integrated it into the fold. </p>

<p>A lot of times engineering /comp sci has its own review process, and the SAT Math counts heavily. I have no idea how UI reviews applicants for those programs.</p>

4

<p>^^</p>

<p>Brooklyn Tech is a public New York City High School.</p>

<p>You mean Polytechnical Institute. Prior to 1973 this college was called “Polytechnical Institute of Brooklyn”.</p>

5

<p>Really? I’m very well versed in Math, they’ll see that from my grades in Calc and so forth. And I took the SAT II’s without any background knowledge, in junior year, prior to calculus or any related math. I hope they see that.</p>

6

<p>SAT Math level 2 only requires Pre Calc. And your 670 SAT Math isn’t very optimal either. Nice ECs though. Guess we’ll just wait and see!</p>

7

<p>I’m sorry, but I agree with the above commenters :frowning:
As well versed in math you may be, the SAT IIs are meant to show where you stand in comparison to the country, to put your math and chemistry knowledge in perspective for them. I don’t know much about what exactly computer science entails, but I’m pretty sure you have to be really good at math, chemistry, and a little bit of physics. Your grades are great, but the disparity between your grades in school and your scores on exams could indicate that your school doesn’t grade harshly or something along those lines – its difficult to say how admissions will view this. Your ECs are great and I’m sure your essays will be as well. Penn might take you, especially since being agendered is not super common and can add to the diversity of people they accept. Overall, your grades and ECs are great, your test scores are just a little iffy. But many schools are more than willing to overlook something like test scores if everything else fits the bill. Good luck!</p>

8

<p>Just a quick question, are you applying to Computer Science at CAS or at SEAS? Your EC’s and GPA are really quite something, but I think you would have a better chance of acceptance if you applied to CAS since admissions to SEAS seem to focus on Math/Science readiness. But, as the above person said, admissions might overlook your testing if they think you’re a strong candidate otherwise (which you definitely seem to be). Good Luck :)</p>