HS Sophomore - Needs (Honest) Advice

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Hey,</p>

<p>I'm currently a sophomore (Asian male, that's a hook right there...) at a pretty competitive public HS in NJ (yeah, a little young to be worrying about colleges right now) with a few questions. In case you can't tell from the name, UPenn is my dream school. Now almost halfway through my HS career (and a little more than a year away from having to worry about applying to UPenn CAS ED :) ), I'm starting to wonder whether I have what it takes. So, (granted that some of you seemingly good-natured members of the Penn forum have the time to reply), I was wondering:</p>

<p>a) If a GPA as low as mine (3.83 UW, 4.00 W) immediately disqualifies me for admission. My school doesn't report rank but, I'm pretty sure I'm easily in the top 5% of a class of 600+ if that helps any. </p>

<p>Transcript: </p>

<p>Grading Policy: (AP: +.5, H: +.25) A = 4.00 (95%>), A- = 3.67 (90%-94%), B+ = 3.33 (87%-89%) </p>

<p>9th Grade (3.75 UW, 3.92 W) - AP Physics B (A- and 4 on test, only AP offered to freshmen at my HS), English I Honors (A-), Honors Government (A-), Honors Alg II (B+, had A- before final exam :(), Latin I (A), Intro to Computers (A).</p>

<p>10th Grade (3.92 UW, 4.07 W) - Honors Chem and Honors Bio (both A), Honors Pre-Calc (A-), Honors English II (A-), US Hist (A), Comp Prog Pasc (A), Latin II (A)</p>

<p>11th Grade Courses: AP Chem, AP Calc BC, AP English III, AP Comp Sci A, Honors Global History, Honors Latin III. (I'm determined to work really hard next year since I feel like I haven't been giving it my all)</p>

<p>Even worse, I'm calculating the MAXIMUM (meaning 4.00 GPA junior year :() potential final UW GPA as being a 3.89...</p>

<p>b) Will high SATs counter a low GPA? I don't know how I'll do yet, but if I get high scores on the SAT I and SAT IIs (planning to take Chem, Math II and maybe: Bio, Latin, Lit), will that help offset the crushing blow of the low GPA? Took the PSAT this year and got a 206 w/o an ounce of studying (which I was told was good even though it scared me out of my mind). Suggestions for SAT ranges to boost the low GPA will be much appreciated.</p>

<p>c) Does Penn forgive low freshman GPAs like Princeton/Stanford?</p>

<p>d) I'm a very confident writer and have plans to write some great essays. In addition, I already got to know one of the teachers I'll be getting a rec from this year (one honors level teacher also teaches AP) and I might get a supplemental rec by the end of a 2-summer research stint with a professor whom I'll begin working with this summer. How much do these things factor in in the overall decision?</p>

<p>e) ECs are probably a weakness for me:</p>

<p>So far: </p>

<p>Part of:</p>

<p>-NJ Science League (10th, Chem I, no placements)
-JSA (2 yrs, will continue on until end of HS, officer potential next two years, also regional position potential)
-Writing for a student-run political newspaper (10th)
-Latin Crotamen @ Princeton Univ (came in 2nd freshman year and 4th this year)
-FBLA (9th only, not planning on rejoining or listing on application)
-Latin Club (9th only, attended scattered meetings this year due to other commitments and hope to fully rejoin next year)
-Science Competition Club (10th, will continue on until end of HS, officer position potential next year and year after)
-Club Med (10th, will continue on until end of HS, officer potential next year and year after)
-March of Dimes (10th, will continue on until end of HS, no position next year, maybe year after)
- Research in microbiology from 9-5 every weekday this summer and next
- Piano (I'm nothing compared to other Asians) for 3 yrs. </p>

<p>Comm Serv:
- Hospital (3 hrs/week, haven't had many opportunities to go recently...)
- Senior Center (2 hrs/week)
- March of Dimes (every hour is being tallied and will be given end of junior year)
- Total comes close to 100 hrs so far.</p>

<p>Next year: Same clubs as mentioned plus Central Jersey Math League and Chemistry Olympiad.</p>

<p>Awards (nothing much):</p>

<p>-NJ Science League - Is being a part of it an award lol?
-National Latin Exam - Latin I = Silver, Latin 2 = Gold<br>
-JSA - Some Best Speaker Awards<br>
-Letter Signed By Governor in Recognition of Service to March of Dimes</p>

<p>I have a whole load of things I plan to be a part of next year and the awards list should increase exponentially...I hope</p>

<p>Anyway, any suggestions for improving on ECs? I don't have any significant achievements in music or athletics and I feel like that's going to hurt me in the end...</p>

<p>f) With one year left to go before ED, what can I do to start improving my chances? Obviously, I will up my GPA as much as I can, but is there anything else I can do to stand out more? </p>

<p>Feel free to respond to any or all of the questions. I'd really appreciate any feedback you guys can give (even the brutally honest kind). Thanks a lot.</p>

2

<p>Advice: Wait one year before thinking about college :)</p>

3

<p>hope4penn09,</p>

<p>i'm an asian male too. i have basically the same gpa as you (3.82 uw and 4.15 w). my sat I's were well in the 1400 range and i had numerous sat II's. i applied to penn ed this year and was deferred, but was accepted rd. so you shouldn't really worry about where you stand now. </p>

<p>just show penn that you have a lot of interest in going there (try and talk to your regional director when senior year rolls around.) take an interest in something or a few things you really like to do and keep with it through the end of high school (e.g. i'm really into IR and speak 4 languages, leader of multicultural club,) it shows you can commit to something and illustrates your curiosity for something non-school related. i also play a varsity sport and an instrument, which shows the school i'm well rounded and not boring. it's mostly about quality rather than quantity. </p>

<p>basically just do your best, don't worry about college too much (in the long run connections are more important than where you go to college any way), and never forget that the ivy league is almost always a crap shoot when it comes to admissions (4.0 students with 1600's get rejected all the time while 3.7 students with 1300's get in all the time.) it's very arbitrary. </p>

<p>even if your gpa isn't perfect, penn will see that you challenged yourself with ap's and honors and are able to perform at the ivy level. also, try to set yourself apart from others, especially from all the asians who are instrument masters, have perfect gpa's, and basically lead boring lives. even if it comes off as discriminatory, the reality is that top colleges do compare asians with other asians. you want to portray yourself as a person any of the admissions officers would actually want to take the time to get to know and go to dinner with. </p>

<p>good luck and don't stress over it too much, half of it is luck and whether or not an admissions officer is feeling cranky when he reads your application. by the time college decisions roll around, you'll wonder to yourself why you didn't spend less time on working and more time enjoying high school and getting to know people.</p>

4

<p>i actually met my regional admission person and the admission dean at the previews, it was kind of surreal, but they were so nice</p>

5

<p>I don't see how a 3.83 is that low. That shouldn't be a reason that you would be automatically rejected or something.</p>

6

<p>it's low but not death low. I had a 3.86 weighted and I survived (albeit with near perfect boards)</p>

<p>Anyway, applying to Penn is ALWAYS the right decision. But NJ is quite possibly the worst state you could apply from. Get your parents to move out to Nebraska or something, pronto. If you were applying from a nowhere state, you'd practically be a shoe-in</p>

7

<ol>
<li><p>Don't worry too much about all this stuff now - you'll have plenty of time to obsess later.</p></li>
<li><p>Sure higher boards offset lower grades to some extent. In your demographic, (Asian, male, NJ) I'd say you want to shoot for at least 2200, especially if there will be others applying from your school, but really it's not the clinching fact0r - if they really like you otherwise then a 2000 is not too low, if they don't like you, a 2400 won't help.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>They want the recommendations to come from current teachers not someone you had in 10th grade.</p>

<p>On the ECs, concentrate on quality not quantity - 1 really great leadership position is better than 10 club memberships.</p>

<p>Try to do something that makes you stand out and appear to be an interesting person (even if you aren't) so that you don't come across like just another stereotypical Asian male - score higher on verbal than on math. Record a rap CD - play electric rock guitar instead of piano classic. </p>

<p>Johnny is right about being from nowhere - at the Penn previews the adcoms were shouting out to the candidates from Kansas, etc. in the audience on a first name basis - one adcom territory is like 3 counties in NJ or 7 Midwestern states. For some reason west of the Mississippi but not on the coast is especially hard - maybe because a lot of these states don't have many people to begin with and those that they do have are happy enough to go to Idaho State and don't see why they need to spend $46k/ yr. They really want to say that they have people from "50 states" and they'd give anything to get that one person from Wyoming or N. Dakota or wherever the hell it is that they are missing.</p>

8

<p>Honestly, don't worry about it yet! I didn't even decide I was applying to upenn until november (regular decision).</p>

<p>My best advice is to pursue what you TRULY enjoy w/ a lot of energy. Even if it doesn't give you a lot of awards/leadership to pad your resume with, you will have the opportunity to really speak from the heart on essays and that, in my opinion, is what set my application apart.</p>

<p>Please, don't worry about college plans until end of junior year (come test time) and senior ear. Just have fun, do what you love, and enjoy HS!</p>

<p>That sounded kinda corny, but I mean it!</p>

9

<p>The bit about not getting a recommendation from a 10th grade teacher... You can pretty much disregard that. Sure, they'd like it if the recs are from junior and senior year teachers... But if you apply ED, it might be hard to get a senior teacher rec (which was true for me), so I had one junior year teacher and one sophomore year teacher write my recs and I was accepted. As long as they're teachers that really liked you and you stood out in their class, it'll be fine.</p>

<p>But good luck! And don't fret too much about being an Asian from NJ... Throughout the whole process I was wishing I lived in Wyoming or South Dakota, but there's nothing that can be done, and tons of applicants from the northeastern US are gonna get in. It's tougher for someone like you or me (not a URM, from a heavily represented state), but just let that motivate you to study even harder then!</p>

10

<p>dude, its ok to be thinking about college as a sophmore, I know I did. But there is certainly no need to WORRY about it. Just do the best you can do on SATS and ACTs, and try to raise ur GPA, I mean thats all you can do. Don't worry man.</p>

11

<p>I don't see why you wouldn't be competitive if you applied ED with good SAT's.</p>

12

<p>move to Wyoming.
buuut... on a more serious note, no point in getting stressed out now. I would say the only think you can actively do is keep up your grades +SATs and be passionate about something. Also, do not get your heart set on one school. It is not worth getting fixated on something that all comes down to a crapshoot (speaking from experience here :-/) it will just depress you and make the whole college application process worse then it has to be (and its pretty bad to start with). Keep your options open and don't disqualify other schools just because they are not Penn. Just stop worrying about it all otherwise the next two years of your life will be miserable</p>

13

<p>Thanks for all the feedback guys; I really appreciate it and I think the message got across quite well :).</p>