Low GPA, Good Scores, Good ECS. Chance Me

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>I am looking to get either a Finance or Econ major. I want to go to a top school but my GPA is terrible and I have shotty leadership outside of school. In the classroom, I lead the groups I am in and participate a lot in class. I will be applying RD to all schools in January. Is that bad?</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT: 31
SAT II: N/a
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.3/3.4 UW, but since last trimester of Sophomore year to end of Senior trimester, I have averaged a 3.6 GPA.
High School Course load: 5 AP, 6 Honors. I have taken at least 50% honors or AP classes. I would have taken more but scheduling conflicts with French.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 30%? Maybe 25%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Didn't take
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP econ, French 5, Physics, AP English LIT, Psych, Honors Precalc.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): I started my own company in June of this year. On pace to make $50,000 revenue in first year. Wrote about it in essays</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience: Worked online as a Freelancer doing SEO/reputation management since December 2012. Helped Canadian company generating $50+ M with reputation, celebrity doctor, and a lawyer. Jimmy John's for 2 months</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community service: None. Would it help? If I got like 200 hours or so.</p>

<p>Summer Activities: Went to africa for 2 months to visit family. Not really relevant but....</p>

<p>Essays: I think they are good. I wrote about my first business failing and why I like business.</p>

<p>Teacher Recommendation: Both of the teachers liked me, so I think pretty good. One teaches my major.
[li]Counselor Rec: Generic.I barely knew her</p>[/li]
<p>Other
State (if domestic applicant): MN
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: African American. I was born in Africa but came to the us in 2003.
Gender: Male
Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): <40k family of 6
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM
General comments: I didn't really have a guide throughout high school so I was pretty clueless about the admissions process. I took challenging classes for my school, I participated in class and teachers liked me. I didn't get involved in school because of transportation issues but I followed my passions outside of the classroom.</p>

2

<p>Volunteer/Community service: None. Would it help? If I got like 200 hours or so. - Of course it would help. Admission Officers are looking for students who have demonstrated social responsibility and commitment.</p>

<p>I started my own company in June of this year. On pace to make $50,000 revenue in first year. Wrote about it in essays - This will be a huge boost.</p>

<p>I think you have a good chance but still uPenn and all ivies will be reach.</p>

3

<p>I’m certainly not an admissions rep, but viewing the details you’ve shared I think you have a very small chance at getting admitted to an Ivy. That said though, take a shot at applying to a few of them if that’s your dream. Being blunt, here’s what I see in the information you’ve shared:</p>

<p>—URM: A positive</p>

<p>—ACT of 31: Okay but not great. Is that a “one and done test” or did you take it a number of times? Penn wants to see them all. Penn’s last incoming class profile says “31-34 score on ACT is 25th to 75th percentile range of those admitted”, so your 31 is likely in the 25th-35th% admitted, with higher %-tile being better odds. Being URM helps though.</p>

<p>—GPA 3.3/3.4: Negative</p>

<p>—GPA since soph year is appx 3.6: “Eh” at best for highly selective schools.</p>

<p>—Class rank is 25-30%: Not good for highly selective schools</p>

<p>—Volunteer hours = zero, and you’re part way through senior year: Not a positive, and not sure how you can get some before the early January RD deadline. Seems like it might come across as “have to do it” and a last minute thing, versus wanting to do it. That’s kind of how it comes across in your above post too.</p>

<p>—Took 5 AP classes but didn’t take any of the AP tests at the end of the courses: AP’s are good, but not taking the tests at the end is a big negative IMO. Penn might see your not providing the AP scores as either (1) didn’t do well on them so don’t want to show, or (2) didn’t think I would do well on them so I didn’t take them. I don’t see how you can paint the not providing AP scores as anything other than a negative. Can I ask why you didn’t take them? Depending on the college, a score of 3 or 4 or 5 could get you free college credits and a head start toward graduation.</p>

<p>—Math level (taking Honors precalc): Puts you behind a good bit of applicants to Penn who are taking AP Calc A/B or AP Calc B/C in their senior year. You mentioned you want to major in Finance or Econ and are business oriented, which points you toward Wharton…which looks for strong matl skills among other things.</p>

<p>—Started biz in 6/2013 which has generated $50K revenue, and also had one business fail: Biz experience is a positive. Can I ask how you generated the $50K in 4 and 1/2 months? Scaling a business is one thing, but flipping a $50K house for $50K (one move, no profit, $50K revenue though) is another.</p>

<p>Sorry to be somewhat pessimistic here, but I assume you’re looking for honest opinions. </p>

<p>As a parent I’d suggest you use your guidance counselor and sites like Naviance, Fastweb, Parchment, etc to get an idea of relative chance of successful admission by college. Then build a reasonable list of safety versus fit versus reach versus high reach choices before starting to narrow your list down. Best of luck with your search!</p>

4

<p>vol hours = zero means nothing. Schools like Penn want to see that you’ve been involved. Vol hours are not the sole method – regardless of what Grandison (humblebragging much?) said.</p>

<p>I know a kid who is probably top woman athlete in our school district. She puts in 15 hrs practice each week for 2/3 of the school year. Then there’s summer conditioning. She probably has logged in +700 hours to her sport and she’s only a Junior. And she’s carrying a top GPA at the most rigorous school inour state. Her vol hours? ~10.</p>

<p>You can’t convince me that her achievement to date will be diminished due to her vol hours.</p>

<p>I agrew w/ivy parent and you, to be frank. You know it’ll be tough. But ultimately is it worth trying? I’d say YES. Best of luck to you.</p>

5

<p>I didn’t take the AP tests because I heard a lot of schools did not accept them. It’s on pace to generate $50k in 1 year. I have 10 clients each paying me 500 a month for the next 6 months to a year. Scaling was a matter of sending out mail and meeting with people. Referrals from my work experience beforehand helped</p>

6

<p>It’s a mistake not taking the AP tests at the end of the courses, as most schools accept for credit based on a high enough score. Worst case for the few colleges that wouldn’t give credit you can opt out of a class because of your AP score, moving up a level and giving yourself another free elective. You should make sure to take the AP tests for the courses you have this year.</p>

<p>With the income bracket your family is in, getting college credits before you even start would be a huge help.</p>

<p>P.S. Those 5 AP tests you didn’t take so far, if you scored well and your college of choice accepted them, would give you 15 credits toward your degree. That’s one full term of college instantly done, leaving you only 3 1/2 years of classes left instead of 4.</p>

7

<p>I will take the AP tests for sure lol. Thanks ivyparent. Would it still be worth it to apply? Or is it a VERY long shot? Parchment says I have a 30% chance but I don’t know how accurate that is.</p>

8

<p>Very long shot.</p>

<p>But go for it.</p>

9

<p>I agree w/ Madaboutx, it’s a long shot. Can’t hurt to take your shot though.</p>