<p>That's what I want to be able to say on December the 13th!</p>
<p>So yes, this is my Penn ED chance thread. Feel free to exit now if you're not interested in doing so ^^</p>
<p>Before I begin, I just want to make this clear that I'm quite an unusual applicant.
I came to the US in 2006 from Australia. My Freshman grades were not transferred properly (they should all be As) and my second semester of freshmen year was not transferred, so I am 5 credits shorter than everyone else in my class.</p>
<p>Information:</p>
<p>Ethnicity: Russian Australian
Citizenship: Russian, Australian, New Zealand
Sex: Male
State: WA
Grad Year: 2009
Major: Going for PPE, or Poli Sci/Psychology dual (if I don't get into Huntsman)
School: Very Competitive, ~# 30 in Newsweek.
Course Load: I'm guessing most rigorous - been taking all Honors, and will have 8 APs by graduation.
Grading System: A = 90%-100%, B=80%-89%, C=70%-79% etc.
Based on a 4.0 scale.
APs and Honors are out of a 5.0 scale,</p>
<p>Frosh GPA: 3.44
English 9 - B
Phys Ed - B
Team Sports - A
Math - B
Science - A
Geography - A
Wood Tech - B
Visual Basic - B
Japanese 1 - A</p>
<p>Soph GPA: 4.0/4.0
Honors Sophomore English - A/A
Speech - A
Web Publishing - A
Weight Training - A/A
Honors Algebra/Trig 3 - A/A
Chemistry - A/A
World History - A/A
Japanese 2 - A/A</p>
<p>Junior GPA: 4.0/4.0
AP Lang - A/A
Honors Precalc - A/A
AP Chemistry - A/A
Physics - A/A
AP US History - A/A
Marketing/Business - A/A
Japanese 3 - A/A</p>
<p>Senior Year
AP Lit
AP Bio
AP Gov
AP Psych
AP Calc AB
Japanese 4
Ceramics/Open Period.</p>
<p>Current GPA = 3.866 UW, Weighted around 4.2.</p>
<p>GPA Summary:</p>
<p>My Freshmen year is the problem since my Australian grade format was not GPA based. Rather, a B = 6 months ahead of the class, and my Australian teachers said that it would be equivalent to an American A, but my school registrar doesn't want to transfer it, so I'm stuck with these grades that don't reflect the truth.</p>
<p>Rank:</p>
<p>My school submits rank. I'm currently 77/354, but that is because I am short of the credits than everyone else (by 5 from Freshmen 2nd Semester), and the GPA which wasn't transferred correctly. </p>
<p>AP's (Total of 8):</p>
<ul>
<li>US History (5)</li>
<li>Chemistry (4)</li>
<li>English Language and Composition (5)</li>
<li>Biology (next year) Expecting a 4/5</li>
<li>English Literature (next year) Expecting a 5</li>
<li>Psychology (next year) Expecting a 5</li>
<li>Calculus AB (next year) Expecting a 4</li>
<li>Government (next year) Expecting a 5</li>
</ul>
<p>Scores:</p>
<p>SAT: June 08 M - 630; CR - 630; W - 630; T - 1890 (1260) * This was my first sitting.
October 08 M - 650 ; CR - 660; W- 710 - 2020 (1310)</p>
<p>SAT IIs: Chem 760; US History 770; Literature - 650 (didn't study ><) Math IIC - November 1st</p>
<p>Recs:
Counselor - Generic.
Teachers - I'll be asking from 3 teachers. My APUSH teacher was amazing. Because I ran for ASB and Class Office, she promised me a phenomenal one. My AP Lang teacher knows me really well and so I'll have him write one too. And my AP Chem class was taught through team teaching, so 2 of my teachers will write one together!
Supplemental - One from my city manager who works with me on Youth Court and Youth Link.
My Essays - Hoping they'll be good. My Common app has been said to be eloquently written. My Why Penn sounds passionate, but sadly insincere (working on it). Working on my Huntsman and pg 217 right now.</p>
<p>EC's:</p>
<p>Key Club
- 10th Grade to Present
- Got a bunch of hours from them.</p>
<p>Debate
- 10th Grade - Present.
- Broke into JV last year.
- Won a plaque for 6/6 at a round.</p>
<p>Student Senate
- Elected 11th & 12th.
- Passed various bills to improve the school.
- Also allowed me to be part of the ASB budget committee.</p>
<p>DECA
- Member 11th Grade -Present.
- DECA Treasurer.
- Hoping to get to at least regionals this year.</p>
<p>Junior Statesmen of America
- 11th Grade - Present
- Almost like Debate to me</p>
<p>Bridge Across Borders
- 10th Grade - Present
- Pretty much a foreign language club where we promote cultures and have potlucks, parties, information nights, and let new students get integrated into the community.
- 10th-12th Grade Activities Co-coordinator.</p>
<p>Youth Court
- 2007-2008 (It was founded in 2007 with me on it)
- On the Action Team that oversees the whole thing.
- I'll be writing a college essay on this.
- I've been a Judge, Advocate, Jury, etc.
- I really love doing this, especially to give back to the community, it's good community service, and I used it to meet real Judges, get internships, go to law conferences etc.</p>
<p>Youth Link
- 2007 - 2008
- Pretty much the main organization with branch groups from it, like Youth Court.</p>
<p>Youth Link Board
- Appointed for the 2008 - 2009 Year.
- This is the top of the Youth Link hierarchy. I am steering the publications committee, and I'm one of 6 youth and 6 adults that have monthly meetings to give out grants, steer funding, etc, to projects.</p>
<p>National Honor Society
- 2008-2009</p>
<p>FBLA
- 12th Grade
- Helped found it, and am the parliamentarian.</p>
<p>Track and Field.
- 10th Grade - Present.
- 100M Sprint, 100M Hurdles.
- Junior Varsity.</p>
<p>Community Service
- ~ 300+ hrs by the time I graduate
- 24 Hour Relay, Key Club, Youth Court, Youth Link, etc.</p>
<p>Leadership Summary:</p>
<ul>
<li>Current: DECA Treasurer, Student Senator, Bridge Across Borders Activities coordinator, Youth Court Action Team, Youth Link Council, Youth Link Board, FBLA Parliamentarian.</li>
<li>Next Year: Same as above. </li>
</ul>
<p>Honors, Recognitions, Awards</p>
<p>-Japanese Speaking Competition Award from Australia (9th Grade)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Academic Award 9th Grade (Australia)</p></li>
<li><p>Certificate of Business Operations (for McDonalds)</p></li>
<li><p>Honor Roll 2006- Present (GPA over 3.5)</p></li>
<li><p>Leadership Academy 2008 Certificate ( Local Community)</p></li>
<li><p>AP Scholar</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Work Experience
- 1 year working at McDonalds as a crew member, about 30 hours a week during school, 42 hours a week during summer. (Had to do it to support my family). This was back in Australia.</p>
<ul>
<li>I tutor a 4th grader about 3-5 times a week in English and Math.</li>
</ul>
<p>Possible Hooks: 1st Generation Immigrant (Cliche, but hey, AUSTRALIAN!), Low Income ( <40k), Victim of Domestic Violence and Alcohol Abuse, under the VAWA provision. (My common app essay is on how I've grown from this, and I'm sure my rec letters have this)
Also applied to Questbridge.</p>
<p>As I said before, I'm not very typical, so it may be hard to answer this because my ranking and GPA isn't correct.
I've been in contact with my regional director and he said that they may count me as unranked since my classes weren't taken at the same school throughout my highschool career.</p>
<p>I also will not be taking financial aid the first year, taking out a loan.</p>
<p>I really hope I get into Penn. It's such an amazing school in an amazing location. Every time I think about it, I get this euphoric tingling feeling down my back xD
And if I don't get in, I'll keep trying to transfer!</p>