M&T Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>I'm a White male from a rural public school in upstate PA.</p>

<p>GPA - 99.00% UW
Rank - 2/170
Class load - most rigorous - taken all honors and 3 out of 5 APs offered
Senior Schedule - Accounting I, Computer Programming, AP English Lit. and Comp., AP Calc AB, Honors Physics, AP Psychology, Advanced Microsoft Office
AP Scores - TBD (4 out of 5 are senior-only)</p>

<p>SAT I - 640 CR, 680 M, 760 W
ACT - 33 composite (36 Math, 34 Science, 34 Writing, 29 Reading)</p>

<p>Awards
-National Merit Commended Scholar
-Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership Representative
-Attended Pennsylvania Governor's School for Information, Society, and Technology at Drexel University (I wrote in my Why Penn essay how my experience there made me realize why I wanted to go to Penn)
-Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award (nominated by faculty, voted by students)
-Recipient of several local awards like Elmira Key Award, etc.</p>

<p>ECs
-Class of 2009 President (2006-2009)
-Student Council President (2008-2009), Treasurer (2007-2008)
-FBLA Vice President (2008-2009), Reporter (2006-2008)
-Varsity Soccer two year letterman, Co-Captain (2008-2009)
-Quiz League Member - two years
-National Honor Society Member (2006-2009)
-Youth Elder at local church
-Youth committee member on church's Pastoral Nominating Committee
-Coordinating Team Member for Safety Town - helped plan and execute a safety education program for all local kindergarteners.
-100+ volunteer hours at local church
-Part time job as a crew member at good ol' McDonalds :P - 10-15 hours a week for 1.5 years now.</p>

<p>Teacher Recs
-Guidance Counselor knows me very well and I'm sure has written a very strong recommendation
-English Teacher/Student Council Adviser - knows me very well and is an english teacher, so it will be very well written
-Business Teacher/FBLA Adviser - also knows me well and has written good recommendations for me in the past</p>

<p>Essays
-Common App - I used an essay that we had for AP English that was tweaked several times. Prompt was about my reading history and if I still read, what I read, etc.
-Why Penn - I talked about how my experience at Gov School solidified why I wanted to go to Penn. It has been tweaked several times as well and introduces me and my priorities well.
-M&T - talked about how I've always been interested in technology but my leadership roles suit me for business and how I can combine the two rather than choose one.
-Optional - very creative piece in which I talked about how at the age of 50 I had to convince my son to at least be interested in Penn, my alma mater :P</p>

<p>I realize my SATs are weak but I feel that my ACTs make up for that, as well as my class rank and GPA. Hopefully they respect my leadership positions, as I have and will strive to lead wherever I go. I am super-involved in my school and barely have time to juggle everything.</p>

<p>Thank you in advance for any comments you have. I applied ED to M&T with a secondary choice of SEAS.</p>

2

<p>SAT IIs? </p>

<p>To be honest I don't see it happening without BC or AP Physics.</p>

3

<p>I took ACTs instead of SAT IIs and both AP Calc BC and AP Physics are not offered at my school. Like I said, I took advantage of what was offered at my school besides AP Chem and AP Bio, both of which would have little value in what I want to do.</p>

4

<p>M&T's a crapshoot, but I'd say you look good for SEAS</p>

5

<p>I agree with the above poster. M&T is hard as hell to get into so the fact that your school doesn't offer BC and Physics AP might end up going against you, sadly. Nothing wrong with trying though! Remember you can always transfer into the program from Penn after one year.</p>

6

<p>hmm, i daresay you have a great chance.
remember, the secret is to stay positive! =P</p>

7

<p>sorry, but probably not. m&t is heavy science, and you don't have scores to back that up. youd be better off in wharton.</p>

8

<p>i also ed'd m&t... similar stats. good luck!</p>

9

<p>I would advise against submitting the SAT I scores.</p>

10

<p>It's a bit late for that tickytock14.</p>

11

<p>Even that ACT is a bit sub-average for M&T, but it's still more or less in-range for SEAS. The SAT is low even for Penn's average (all four schools inclusive), but they likely won't hold it against you since your ACT is higher. Everything else seems to be pretty cool though, so I hope they find that it makes up for the slight hit to the test scores.</p>

<p>Like others have said, M&T is a crapshoot here, but I still wish you good luck -- even if that doesn't work out, you still seem to have a very good shot at SEAS.</p>

12

<p>ok I'm sorry but this is just my OPINION...
for reasons above about testing and lack of calc bc and ap physics, you wont get into M&T. However, SEAS seems like a tossup still... just a hunch lol sorry</p>

13

<p>I really disagree with all of these people who say you have a weak chance at M&T but strong chance at SEAS. The lack of physics and calc (and lack of chem/bio as an alternative) makes you a very weak engineering candidate.</p>

<p>To get into engineering, you need strong physics, math, and other science background. To get into M&T, you need these things and leadership.</p>

14

<p>There is no way the AdCom will deny me based on the sole reason that I did not take what was NOT offered to me. Like I said before, they can't expect EVERY candidate to have Calc BC and AP Physics because schools like mine currently do not. I have taken the highest level math and science I have been able to take, and I have been assured they take into account what you did based on what you were offered.</p>

<p>In Response to Millhouse: It is the second level class for Microsoft Office. Just a technology elective I picked up.</p>

15

<p>im just wondering... what is advanced microsoft office?</p>

16

<p>I'm about to graduate from M&T. I've spent quite some time talking with folks about how admissions is done. Your EC's are really solid on paper, so you might end up being a strong M&T candidate.</p>

<p>It would be a wonderful world if admissions were fair and only judged you on what opportunities you took advantage of, but the truth is that it's not that simple. Penn's engineering adcom expects to see top levels of science classes. Since your school didn't offer BC calc and AP Physics but did offer Chem and Bio, they're going to be disappointed to see that you didn't take advantage of the science classes that were available. AP Chem and AP Bio should have been on there, not Psych. </p>

<p>You posted a chances thread. I replied with an honest response. Tough it up. I know it would be nice if we could look at your SAT scores and EC's to make estimates, but the truth is that top engineering schools really want to see that advanced science work, as its the closest thing to engineering you can get in high school.</p>

<p>At the end of the day your chances are largely going to be determined by your high school. Since it's in PA, Penn knows a lot about it (as they do all HSs in PA, NJ, NY). Have people from your school gone to Penn in the past?</p>

17

<p>I'm sorry if I came across as defensive or offended, as this was not the case. I understand that I did in fact get exactly what I asked for, but my responses have not necessarily reflected this understanding. As to the question about my high school, I honestly cannot remember ANY ivy league student in the past 4 or 5 years, even though the quality of students has definitely been there.</p>

18

<p>The only way NOT to get in is NOT to apply! Good luck!</p>

19

<p>Does your school offer AP Biology or AP Chemistry?
Seems like it should considering it offers AP Psychology.
I would have taken either AP Biology or Chemistry instead of the easier psychology.</p>

<p>Just saw Mattwonder's post after I've written this post. I agree with him.</p>

20

<p>@OP
but what you could have done is self studied for the AP Calc BC and Physics tests, or taken classes at your community college. The adcoms like initiative and blaming everything on your school isn't going to help you.</p>