I'll chance you if you chance me :-)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
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<p>Hey guys...I know, asking people for chance to UPenn is like...uh, I don't know, it's like something witty that I can't think of right now, and it's probably pointless. Could you guys tell me what you think? I value your feedback and I'll chance back if you leave me a link, I promise.</p>

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<p>Gender: M
Location: NY
High School: Public HS of around 1500
High School Type: Usually sends a handful to tops, but this year sent many to tops so far.
(My class is VERY competitive and VERY successful compared to others)
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>My dad is Puerto Rican, no high school. He is noncustodial and missing.
My mom is Puerto rican, no college - single mom.
so Hispanic, 1st generation, income ~64k all that jazz.</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 4.0
Class Rank: 32 (Don't laugh, Harvard explicitly told me this was OK given the class size)
Class Size: 450[li]APs: Chem, 5, USH, 5, Bio (now), Calc AB. My school only offers 9 AP's, and most overlap during only 2 periods of the day. There isn't really an opportunity to take more than I have, and I explained that to my schools.</p>[/li]
<p>all honors where honors could fit, and all A's.</p>

<p>Major in Biochem/Premed (Biological basis of behavior at UPenn)</p>

<p>2000 SAT (bad) 650M/670W/680CR
SAT II! - 690Math 2, 710USH, 770 Chem
31 ACT (better...) 35Eng, 31Sci, 29Math, 30 Reading, 32 Writing+English 9/12 Essay</p>

<p>recommendations:
1 GREAT from AP Chem teacher (TAing with her now)
1 GREAT from counselor who knows me VERY well
1 unknown, presumedly great from english teacher who knows me well
1 Awesome from Superintendent of Schools- knows me very well. Huge emphasis on how I did this process all by myself, including FAFSA/CSS/IDOC since my mother works too much to give any support other than $, which I'm grateful for.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
I think this is where I'm strong...</p>

<p>-Academic team (varsity) co-captain
-Track & XC scholar athlete
-Was on quiz bowl TV show competing for $10,000 for charity
-Manager, coordinator of charity event to raise $20,000 for hunger causes globally and in the community with the superintendent, 2 other students, some community members. Inaugural year of an annual project. The project goes off on 4/2. I'm responsible for media management & event planning.
-I'm a mentor for freshman through the guidance dept.
-National Honor Soc., Math Honor Society, Lead Prosecutor of Mock Trial
-Was assistant JV XC coach when I was out hurt from XC.
-Head of public relations for shark club (we raise & donate money to shark saving charities)
-Freshman tour guide
-Teaching an AP Chemistry lab class. We meet 2x/wk. I set up, coordinate AP labs to demonstrate everything a teacher would. It's on my transcript as Independent Study - Teaching Lab Science Methods.
-Safe School Ambassador: we work with administration to keep the school safe and happy through watchdog efforts, reports on the student body. No, we don't rat people out.
-Clean up crew for XC/Track meets, football games all 4 years.</p>

<p>Hooks: URM (Hispanic) (Idk what else?)</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure that my essays were great, I tend to be a great writer and english teacher-editors had all good remarks after some major overhauls.</p>

<p>Thanks guys! Let me know if any more info is necessary...</p>

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<p>hmm i’ll take a shot. if you don’t get in, you should know why: your SAT/ACT score. HOWEVER, you are a URM, you’re being provided for by only one parent (emotional issues would probably count if any), and none of your parents went to college. These are three big hooks that makes it so much easier to get in. If a normal student with no hooks applied, they would need about a 2250. But because of your hooks, that means you only need like a 1950. I’ve heard of a few people get in with a 1950-2050. However, a 2000 seems kinda low. i think your 31 act should help, but i dont know how much. if you got a 35 on the english on the act, you shouldve done better on the sat critical reading if that’s what youre strong at.</p>

<p>unfortunately, it’s hard to believe that your school is very competitive, just because youre ranked 32 with a 4.0 unweighted GPA with a class size of only 450. Harvard may have said that, but it really isn’t amazing then. That shows that people were able to take many more AP’s and still get all As. It doesn’t mean your school isn’t successful cuz it really seems like it since they send many students to top schools, but it seems like many other kids in your grade are extremely smart.</p>

<p>your extracurriculars are GREAT! you are right. that is probably your strongest point. I think i got into penn because of my extracurriculars, so i think you will too. i really hope you stressed your charity event coordinator position, safe school ambassador, and ap chem lab teacher in your essays, because those set you apart from the others.</p>

<p>as for any more info, which SCHOOL at penn did you apply to (SEAS, CAS, Wharton, Nursing)?? That makes a huge difference. If you applied to CAS, i think you have a decent-good-great shot of getting in. If you applied to Wharton, I would say you have no chance unless they really look into this URM, 1st generation stuff and your leadership positions (ambassador and manager of charity event). SEAS, you have an okay shot. SEAS and Wharton really look into math stuff, which you aren’t very strong in. But you did amazing on your chemistry sat 2, so that might help for SEAS. hope i helped.</p>

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<p>With your stats you have a great chance at Penn, but with that attitude I don’t know man I don’t know.</p>

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<p>@IAmABeast , CAS for Biological Basis of Behavior.</p>

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<p>I think you have a great shot as long as you emphasized how much you wanted to attend Penn and if you had valid reasons; also, if you elaborated your family life, that can only help the officers have something with which to empathize. I am white and got in for biochemistry with a 2030 (660/640/730 R/M/W), a 31 (34/30/29/29 E/M/R/S), a 730 on SAT II Chem (taken once Jr year) and 720 SAT II Bio M (taken once Sophomore year), and a 3.89 UW (but a 4.79 weighted, having taken 7 of 9 APs + 14 honors). I am salutatorian of a class of 163 (now 156 as of end of first semester) in which only the top four had GPAs that were “competitive” (we even have a co-Valedictorian as of end of first semester), and I am a first generation college student. I feel like Penn values those things a lot, but not as much as (or at least with equal value to) being an URM because, statistically, URMs have other barriers in life (and your life sounds like it speaks for how diligent you were in obtaining success). My stats are here, by the way: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1047271-official-university-pennsylvania-class-2015-early-decision-thread-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1047271-official-university-pennsylvania-class-2015-early-decision-thread-2.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If you do not get in, your SAT/ACT scores definitely will be a factor, but will not be the only one, I think. I am not too sure what IAmBeast was getting at by “normal” student (white, privileged student hailing from a super amazing high school?), but I must have gotten like a 220 point boost just for being a first gen, so if you are a first gen + URM, you must get at least a 440 point boost (congrats on having a 2470, you’re getting in!). The other thing is that students who do not “like” the SAT typically will do better on the ACT because it is an achievement based assessment versus an aptitude test; different test dates bring different levels of performance, too, and a 31 is about a 2040 (1350-1400), so it all seems accurate/predictable and similar to mine. If anything, it says that your aptitude meets your achievement (i.e. you worked to potential).</p>

<p>From my experience, the students on CC (especially ones interested in the Ivies) are super qualified, super gifted students to which our levels of success seem incomparable since we are in a different context; I mean, kidPenn found that of 135 reported students, 90 were accepted, 19 deferred, and 26 rejected, for a 66.6% CC acceptance rate (versus the 26% actual). These same gifted students, too, generally come from US News ranked schools, private and public, and have resources we wish we could have (my school has 9 APs, and even though I took 7, I had to really fight for those classes + teach myself two of them). I could think of so much more I could have done, if allowed or if given the opportunity. Top colleges really look for students in the top 10% of their class, and in a class as large as yours, 32 is a respectable rank (7.11%), especially since you have a 4.0 UW, and only took 4 APs (almost half of your school’s offering) and mostly honors classes. Maybe it would have been better for you to have taken more APs, but if you challenged yourself and succeeded (it sounds like you did), you should stand out. Your ECs are incredible, and mine FAIL in comparison, so you seem like a well-rounded candidate (whereas I was “angular”, as in, very committed and successful in a few, similar things, such as tutoring 500 hours and NHS about 75 hours). </p>

<p>I know that you want some validation from CC, but chances are that you will not get much and at the end of the day, it is all on YOU to justify your merits to yourself and not to be disappointed by someone “better” than you; there will always be someone “better” than you. What IAmBeast forgot to emphasize that “it seems like many other kids in your grade are extremely smart”, as in, IN ADDITION to you. P.S.–IAmBeast only took four APs and got a 2220 on the SAT, it appears, and got into an accelerated program (go IAmBeast!!!), so I think he is pretty self-effacing himself: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1043564-official-university-pennsylvania-class-2015-ed-decisions-thread-16.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1043564-official-university-pennsylvania-class-2015-ed-decisions-thread-16.html&lt;/a&gt;. Not trying to attack IAmBeast, but I am providing my perspective and I hope to combat one bias with another.</p>

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<p>This is likely the most helpful feedback I’ve ever gotten on these forums.</p>

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<p>my extracurrics were really good in my opinion when i applied. but after looking at yours, mine fail in comparison as well. you have AMAZING extracurriculars. when i said “Regular” student, i mean the normal ivy applicant. like all those people you see that get rejected, even though they have around a 2250 or 2300 sat with a 3.9 gpa. yeah, i took 5 ap classes, but only 4 ap tests. but my school offers like 14 i believe. so even though i took the most amount of AP’s out of other people in my school, i still didn’t do THAT many. so therefore, i don’t think ap tests matter that much. yes i got a 2220, but AsTheMoonBleeds is 115% correct that the important parts are that you are URM, 1st generation, have amazing extracurriculars, and have a 4.0 gpa (which is still great even though you are rank 32). the most important part is that you show how much you want and NEED penn, and how much you love the school. I think my interview and essays are the two things that really helped me too.</p>

<p>AsTheMoonBleeds is also correct in that 32 is still a very respectable ranking because top colleges only look at if you were in the top 10%, and then move on to the rest of the application. The only reason i mentioned that was because i have about 500 students in my class, yet getting a couple B’s puts you at about rank 27 or 28. But, i dont know if rank has much to do with it since you kept a 4.0 UW gpa. since you are applying to CAS for BBB, i think you have a great shot :slight_smile: good luck! sorry if i said anything biased, wrong, or unhelpful.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your responses, they’re great and very helpful. Just to be clear, how hard do you think it is to get in BBB compared to let’s say…biochem? (Biochem was my second choice major…)</p>

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<p>biochem harder? just based off the name. i dont really know.</p>

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<p>Biochemistry is allegedly more difficult, especially since it is so physics based and the pre-meds run the show even more than with BBB. I think determination will help everything. Also, I do not know about you, but I do NOT plan on having my highschool GPA (though I would love to). Without attending Penn, I am thinking a 3.3-3.5 sounds like a nice goal, which is pretty hair-curling to me now. Something tells me it could be even lower, but I cannot let myself stress over it now, and nor should you. </p>

<p>IAmBeast, we are all good! I just wanted to provide my analysis, and any bias was not necessarily wrong (just half the story?), and we agreed on what at least appears to be most important :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Good luck, again!</p>

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<p>does anyone have one last opinion? i’m feeling that my test scores are too weak, I dont think a 31 act can cut it.</p>

<p>Edit: BTW - all of you have been so great to me during this very stressful process. This thread is really the kindest thread on CC, so thank you guys! I hope this speaks well for the university.</p>

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<p>dont worry about it! you’ll be fine. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1093644-who-has-gotten-low-sat-scores-still-made-into-penn.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1093644-who-has-gotten-low-sat-scores-still-made-into-penn.html&lt;/a&gt; hopefully that makes you feel better.</p>

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<p>You have a really good chance! Your amazing ECs make up for your low test scores. And you have a 4.0 so don’t worry too much about your class rank… Good luck!</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1085463-chance-me-please.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1085463-chance-me-please.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>i think you’re urm status will hold a lot of weight and your gpa is impressive, you definitely have a good chance, though your sat is iffy. i’d say go for it and hope for the best</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1098762-chances-wharton-ill-chance-you-back-best-my-ability.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1098762-chances-wharton-ill-chance-you-back-best-my-ability.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Thank you guys, I’ll get you right now.</p>