Female, URM, 3.8 UW (but 2 C's)-Columbia/Penn?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I am a junior in HS, and thinking about where to apply next year. I want to apply ED to Penn or Columbia. Whichever one I have a “greater” (though still extremely slim) chance of getting into. Which ED do you guys think I should do? What are my chances at these 2 schools? Meaning, should I even bother applying. I have a low gpa (3.8 UW), with 2 C’s ( C+ in honors Chem, and a C in AP Calc BC). I also have a B+ in honors bio (freshman year) and a B- in honors chem and alg2 w/trig (sophomore yr). I have taken the most rigorous course load available. I took an AP class freshman year, 2 sophomore year, and all my classes this year (8 of them) are AP/IB classes. By the time I graduate I would have taken 12 AP classes, and some of them also being IB classes.

ACT score: 33
SAT score (practice scores; for new one): 1410
Reading: 710 Math: 700
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8 UW | Not sure the weighed
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (4) APWH(4) AP Lang (5) || APES, AP Bio, AP Euro, AP Calc BC, AP physics, AP french, AP Lit, AP microeconomis, AP gov
IB (place score in parenthesis): full IB diploma, but no scores yet
Senior Year Course Load: Ap physics, IB English HL2, IB history HL2, IB math studies SL, TOK, French 4 (Ap french), IB Biology HL2
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP scholar, honor roll

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): global volunteers (secretary), model un(president), NHS, student council, have fashion/beauty youtube with over 2,000 subscribers, went to a leadership symposium at state capital for high ability HS juniors in which I met a Senator
Job/Work Experience: Summer job in 9th grade
Currently work 10 hrs a week (afterschool Friday and Sunday morning)
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at hospital for 3 summers (75 hrs), tutor inner city kids (30 hrs), Helped organize a fundraiser for african organization in which we raised money for a “water for Africa” project
Summer Activities: Volunteered at hospital every summer starting the summer before freshman year(will do again this summer), health careers exploration camp at local university, my summer job

Intended Major: English
State (if domestic applicant): Midwest
Country (if international applicant): U.S
School Type: competive public (250 students)
Ethnicity: Black (African)
Gender: female
Income Bracket: 70K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc): URM

2

You’re fine. A 3.8 isn’t low when you’re taking that rigorous of a schedule. Just know that junior year is by far the most important year, so if you do extremely well, you can greatly help your chances of admittance.

Penn would be the “easier” of the two to get into, though really, you should pick whichever one you genuinely like better. The worst they can say is no.

3

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5

I think you have a great chance of getting into either UPenn or Columbia. As Babylon mentioned, your Junior year is definitely the most important, so keep your grades up, stay involved, and prep for those standardized tests. As for which one is easier, I would say neither. They are both top notch Ivy League schools. Applying ED is a great idea if you are absolutely positive you want to attend there. However, you should definitely visit both schools before making a final decision. Good luck!