<p>I have a 2250 SAT score, a 4.2GPA, am president of my school's Chess Club, have played varsity baseball for the past 4 years of high school,Golden Key CLub member, played in school band the guitar, oboe, saxophone, and piano, worked at a local hospital, and have 50+ hours of community service.... and I didn't get into UPenn.</p>
<p>HOWEVER,</p>
<p>A kid that I know has a 1790 on his SAT, a 3.7 GPA, and little extracurricular activities, and he got into Penn.... He says that he has "connections" </p>
<p>I am soooooo ****ed and am wondering if anyone has any logic for his acceptance.</p>
<p>Maybe he’s lying to you about his SAT scores, grades and ECs or maybe he has some stellar accomplisments or has had stellar challenges that you aren’t aware of.</p>
<p>No he isn’t lying, he showed his SAT documents, his grades have been confirmed for he has showed us his transcripts. He has nothing outstanding except for his “connections.”</p>
<p>Sometimes there is no logic. Category admissions (e.g., hooks) play a big role. Essays can be important, both plus and minus. Schools admit those they want the most, and why they want individual students is often known only to the schools.</p>
<p>He also might be a “special admit”, so don’t beat yourself down on it. A friend of mine who attends Penn with his brothers and sisters do so mainly because their parents donated a large sum of money to the Library, or something like that. My friends was decently qualified to be there, but some of his siblings, are not. Most likely, the student will get nothing out of the PENN education, except the degree. Most employers will realize his incompetence in the interview or just by peeking at his grades.</p>
<p>At Ivy League schools, having connections is a considerable advantage. It’s unfair, yes, but I think by the time you’re done with high school it’s good to realize that life has no obligation to be fair.</p>
<p>The best thing to do is to realize that you should get into colleges for you and not for others.
Don’t worry about other people, just do your best for the rest of your colleges. </p>
<p>Essays. Forget about the other kid–they wanted him for a reason we don’t know. Once you have the stats it’s about the essays. If you were deferred, submit new ones.</p>
<p>Maybe he had a couple of other hooks (URM?) alongside the ‘connections’. Or maybe he does have some EC’s and accomplishments you don’t know about, and his essays truly were stellar/unique. Have faith Elk I hope you get into an awesome school come regular decisions round. Best of luck!</p>
<p>I didn’t get into Northwestern (waitlisted, then denied last year) with 35 ACT, 4.6 GPA, and quite a bit of extracurriculars. Do not expect to get into an Ivy that easily. My friend who was second in the class with 36 ACT was waitlisted at UPenn. Although my class produced quite a few people with 34+ ACT and 2300+ SAT, we only had two people getting into an Ivy (one Harvard and one Cornell) and one into MIT. We did have over 20 going into U of Chicago and Northwestern though.</p>
<p>My daughter had a 1500/2290 on her SATs, 3 high 700 SAT II scores, and very high GPA… and did not get into Georgetown last year. A male classmate with much lower stats, ECs, and other credentials, etc. did get accepted. It really is a crapshoot to some degree.</p>
<p>My friend’s sister got a four year scholarship to Northwestern. She wasn’t president of any club but the treasurer of like, five clubs. She played the piccollo in band and marching band, and had a 2390 on her SAT. She did no athletics. My friend still doesn’t know how she got that scholarship. </p>
<p>Point is, doing this and that is not going to guarantee admission to any college (though it might help your chances).</p>
<p>Also, Penn (if it is Univ. of Penn NOT Penn State) is known for being particularly legacy-friendly - admissions pays attention if someones parent went there, etc.</p>
I hope you get into an awesome school come regular decisions round. Best of luck!</p>