How can I improve my chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

Hi,
If you could possibly give me some tips about how I could improve my resume in order to get into UPenn, that would awesome! I want to get into UPenn nursing and maybe the dual-degree program with Wharton. After school, I want to help bring medical card to impoverished communities (like a missionary nurse). Below is some info about me.

Note: At my school, unless you transfer from homeschooling and have had the opportunity to take more advanced courses, we can only start taking AP courses Junior year. Also, we have less than 10 AP classes available (which are only available once a day) and we do not have an IB program, as it is a small school.

Freshman Grades:
Honors English: A
Honors Geometry: A
Bible (required class and only CP): A
Physical Science (only CP): A
World History (only CP): A
Yearbook: A

Sophomore Grades (as of 3rd quarter):
Honors Civics/ Economics: A
Honors English: A
Bible (still required and CP): A
Honors Algebra 2: A
Chorale (will be honors junior and senior year): A
Honors Biology: A

Extracurricular:
-I participate in theatre weekly at Spiritual Twist Productions and am in 2-3 shows a year.
-I volunteer to help run a younger theatre class at the same place weekly and help them put on a full production.
-I am apart of the school praise team which helps lead the school in worship during chapel.
-I was part of the Girls Buddies Club and will be co-directing it next year.
-Although Chorale is a class, I count it as an extracurricular because we perform at many church concerts throughout the year and are performing at Carnegie Hall this summer.
-I am part of Beta Club.

Other things:
-I did All-State choir.
-I was elected as Sophomore representative for homecoming.

In th next two years, I plan to continue all of my extra curricular and I hope to get involved in more volunteering that have to do with nursing (there is a local medical ministry I hope to get involved with in some way). Academically, I hope to continue to take as many honors and AP classes as possible, hoping to take 2 AP classes next year and 4 my senior year.

2

I feel as though this post leaves a lot up in the air. Have you taken the PSAT 10? Any test scores? Are you an ethnic minority? Knowing more about your background would lead to more personalized advice.

Beyond that, I guess the only concrete advice I could give is to continue to take the most rigorous courses available to you at your school. But personally I would try to do some extracurriculars that distinguish you from your peers. One thing I wish I did in high school was to coordinate a fundraiser/food drive with student government for our foodshelf. Things like that where you make a tangible difference in people’s lives really stand out to colleges, are good for rec letters and scholarships, and are also just good for the soul. I’m sure your church would be receptive to starting something like that with you.

Also if you are interested in health careers, look to see if your city has an Advisory Board of Health or something of the like. If they take youth commissioners, I recommend you apply. If not, maybe email some people and see if they could make a youth position happen for you.

Oh and if you were sophomore homecoming rep, maybe try to leverage that popularity into a student government position?

Hopefully I gave you some ideas that helped you out. Other than that, just keep at it. Do stuff you enjoy, and don’t live these next few years just to get into college.