Is this enough to get me into upenn??!!??!!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Your Open Question: Is this a good start to get into UPENN?</p>

<p>Hi! I'm going to be a sophomore in high school next year and am in love with UPENN... I'm an indian girl (grew up on Long Island,NY)</p>

<p>Does this look good so far?</p>

<p>SAT/ACT
-none (going into 10th)</p>

<p>SAT 2's
- chemistry=700 (ninth grade)</p>

<p>Class percentile
-in the top 10%</p>

<p>Course load 8th grade (some classes count on my transcript)
-accelerated biology- A
-Algebra 1 accelerated- B+</p>

<p>Course load 9th grade
-Spanish 2 enriched - A
-Geometry accelerated- A-
-Wind Ensemble- A
-English 9- A-
-AP world history 1- A-
-Musical theater- A
-Chemistry accelerated- B
-Physical Ed. 9- A
-Studio in Art- A</p>

<p>Course load 10th grade( no grades yet)
-Spanish 3 Honors
- Algebra 2/Trig accelerated
-wind Ensemble
-English 10 honors
-Ap world history 2
-Psychology
-computer science
-Physics accelerated
-Physical Ed 10</p>

<p>Awards/Achievements:
-John J. Newell Citizenship award
•For my volunteer work
-Perfect attendance award
-Science award
-Excellence award
-Nominated for National Leadership Conference in D.C
-Jr. National Honor Society
-2nd place in Spanish poetry contest
-Read the most amount of pages in novels in the Teen 2012 Summer Reading program (26,000)
-Red Cross CPR and Heimlich certified 2011-2015
-Fluent in English, (almost) Spanish, and Hindi</p>

<p>Volunteer Work- around 500 hours
- Huntington Hospital volunteer (1 year now)
- Huntington Jewish center= making Sandwich's for homeless shelters
-cold Spring harbor library volunteer
-special Olympics volunteer
-relay for life volunteer
-volunteer at all school back to school nights, junior high party's ect...
-Planting trees in a local park in India</p>

<p>Sports
-judo- 11 years 2nd degree black belt
-gung fu- 2 years green sash</p>

<p>Clubs
-Locks of Love (donated hair twice).
-Drama Club
-Improv comedy club
-Science Club; Wide variety of chemical and physical experiments for fun.
-Outreach (tutored 7th and 8th graders in Spanish, Math, English, Biology, and Social Studies). (president)
-Recycling Club
-Tournament Speech club (Read prose and poetry pieces at tournaments) (vice president)
-Mathleets (Math competitions)
-Cold Spring Harbor Educational Foundation; aided in decisions made by club.
-Musical Theater
-Open Mic night</p>

<p>Music/ Theater
-French Horn= 6 years- NYSSMA level 5
-Singing= 8 years- NYSSMA level 6
-Several small leads in Musicals and plays including:Oliver, The Wizard of Oz, Footloose, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, and Legally Blonde.</p>

<p>Work experience
-Soccer Referee
-Cashier at local grocery store</p>

<p>Travel
-India
-Thailand
-Canada</p>

<p>I really want to be a neurosurgeon when I am older. </p>

<p>As I said, UPENN is my DREAM school, but does it seem like I need to drastically change anything now? </p>

<p>Thanks!!! :D</p>

<p>PS- I'm the oldest, and really really really freaked out about this whole application process</p>

2

<p>Don’t bother freaking out. What you really have to do is up the GPA to at least a 3.9 (yours stands at around 3.8…) and study pretty hard for the SATs (re-take chem). Your extra cirriculars and stuff are probably good enough. Just work hard and keep up those numbers because you don’t want to be shut out before you even have a chance to represent yourself through the rest of the application.</p>

3

<p>Retake chem. Do well on your SATs. Work as hard as you can to get a good GPA.</p>

<p>Those last two apply to just about everyone. But don’t stress about it now - you’re only a sophomore and it’s not good to get too attached to any one college. When the time comes if you still love Penn apply ED. But make sure you do those things I listed.</p>

4

<p>:) thanks guys… You think I can raise my gpa by first semester of 12th?</p>

5

<p>Your GPA can absolutely be raised! </p>

<p>Here’s the takeaway-Above grades, activities, and your overall solid applicant profile (which most Penn applicants will have anyways), there are two factors that are crucial to mind:</p>

<p>1) Your essays. They need to present you in a creative, unique light. Being Asian does make it a bit more challenging in terms of elite college admissions-that’s known. Present yourself creatively and allow your personality to shine through-This helped me get into Penn.</p>

<p>2) Awards. Rather than doing many things decently, Penn is looking for applicants who are extremely good at a few things. This way, they have a balanced class, but they don’t want simple, well-rounded students. Try to win awards/recognition in the clubs and activities in which you participate.</p>

<p>Best of luck and don’t hesitate to ask further questions!</p>