ED to UPenn CAS chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I am going to do Early Decision to Upenn CAS. Chance me thanks. Will chance back.

Currently a Senior about to start applying
Lived in India- 9th and 10th grade
Live in Texas- 11th and 12th grade
Will not be applying for financial aid

9th-10th grade (all of the below)

Rank: Top Ten (percentile - 8 percent)
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
GPA: 9.8/10
High School Varsity Soccer team Captain (2 years)
High School Varsity Basketball Team
member of Robotics Club
member of Math Club
member of Yoga Club
Science Olympiad: Rank - 147 (international)
NTSE (National Talent Search Examination): Rank in Biology - 80 (national)
Volunteer hours: more than a hundred ( Spent money to serve and feed a whole village south of hyderabad)
Shadowed an Emergency Speciality Doctor
Went to alot of Programming, Soccer and IT Competitions (Should I list them on my resume?)
Courses taken: Biology, Chemistry, Physics (both years), Programming, History, Civics, Geography

11th-12th grade (all of the bellow)

Rank: 92/460 (terrible I know but I had a disadvantage since my credits and grades from India didn’t transfer0
College GPA: 3.87/4
Liverpool Club Soccer , first division
Founder and President of Cricket Club
President of Science Club
Co-Founder and Secretary of Robotics Club
Leader of Home Yoga Group
member of NHS
member of NAHS
member of Math Club
member of Math UIL
member of Science Club
Shadow Orthodontist
Shadow Orthopedic Surgeon
Volunteer hours: about 50 hours

SAT- 2070. Math- 730, Verbal- 650, Writing- 690
ACT- 32 (taking it again prolly get around 35)
SAT2- BiologyM- 730, Math 2 - 780, Chemistry - 690

Started a application project outside of school with my cousin known as DoctoReach. It is an app that basically improves healthcare management systems in India. Got to the prototype stage and pretty big but soon died due to lack of Investment.
Research Project on Neurosurgery lasting a year (still in progress) (Independent Student Mentorship)
Co-founder and US head of IATRO ( software application and company related to healthcare systems in india) releasing in a couple months.
Junior Course Load: AP Biology, AP Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, Medical Terminology, Us history, PAP Calculus,
Senior Course Load: AP Physics C, AP Calculus BC, AP Gov and Econ, AP Environmental Science, Pathophysiology, Microbiology, AP Stats, ISM

University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Summer program. (Does it increase my chances? I will write about it in my why penn essay and nail it)

Recommendation letters-
Both are good.
Supplementary Recommendation letter- Research Professor and MD from University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of medicine. (mediocre letter. Doesn’t harm me).
no hooks.

2

I’m also a rising senior, but I’m not applying to any Ivy Leagues.

-Remember that you’re competing with students from around the globe. They will have a lot of impressive credentials just like you (such as sports, NHS, studying-abroad, helping ppl from 3rd world countries)

-Your GPA and Rank are also really good, you just need to get your ACT and/or SAT score to 34-36 and 2250-2350, respectively
-For the Penn Medicine summer program, I had a similar issue with Brown. I attended the Summer@Brown program, but during the student orientation, the staff there said that this summer program would NOT increase any chance of admission into Brown. I would write your essay about the program and then explain how the program made a profound impact on you)

Hope this helps and good luck applying!

3

if you can get your act up, i think you’d have a good shot at getting in. i recommend not submitting your SAT score to them. the ED acceptance rate is around 24%, i believe, so nothing is for certain, but you’re certainly qualified and your first-generation immigrant status will really help you. best of luck!

4

You need a lot higher test scores to have a decent (as decent as it can be) to UPenn. Right now, it’s extremely unlikely, but if you were to get it within range, it will be a reasonable reach (because of selectivity).

5

get higher SAT or ACT scores around 2250 or 33 and you are a solid candidate for upenn… btw, doesnt a 9.8 CGPA in 10th translate into a 3.92ish GPA? or was the 3.87 because of slightly lesser 9th grade marks? I’m asking this because I have a 9.8 and 9.4 in 9th and 10th respectively and im moving to usa this november/december

6

@10thgrader My 9.8 cgpa from india did not get transferred so I had a 0 gpa in the USA so I had to try to get a good gpa while taking core classes like art and health which people generally take in 9th grade. That is why my gpa is lower.

7

@basedchem Yes I am actually aiming for 36 on the ACT. I will have to submit my SAT scores no matter what because penn asks for them. Would it act as a disadvantage? or do they only see how many times I have taken it? Also I plan on writing on the ‘miscellaneous section’ of the common app that I moved from India in 11th grade and that my gpa and rank is not the true showcase of my academic abilities along with a counselor letter. How do you think my chances are then?

8

No, they will consider the better scores.

They see all your scores and the dates taken

Don’t do that; let the GC handle it. It will be obvious from your transcripts that you were in different schools. It is unlikely that you would be able to objectively address this without being perceived as whiny.

What is you unweighted 11th grade GPA?

9

@skieurope are you sure I shouldn’t explicitly state i moved from india? Would colleges not like it?

My unweighted 11th grade gpa is 3.813. which is very low compared to penn average I believe. But I feel like the app project as an EC would carry me and the fact that I have stayed in penn for a month would help me write a very good and personal essay on why penn is a perfect fit for me.

10

Your transcript will make that obvious, so there’s no reason to waste precious space discussing your move from India, IMO.

11

@skieurope Thank you very much!! I appreciate your help.

12

I saw you have a good shot! Make sure you get recommendations and you write a killer essay. Your only “flaw” is that your standardized test scores are on the lower side but other than that, great!