My chances of getting into Penn?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>I'm trying to get into Penn CAS as a linguistics major, and I'm going to be applying ED. Do I have a reasonable shot?</p>

<p>ACT: 34 in one sitting, haven't taken it with writing yet but I will in Sept
No SAT
GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.74 W
Rank: 2/485
AP: World 4, Chem 4, Spanish Language 4, English Language 5, US History 4, Psych (didn't take the test)
Senior year course load: All 6 classes are AP: Calc AB, English Lit, Human Geography, Spanish Lit, US Gov, Environmental Science
Awards: some school awards like 4.0 GPA and Pre-AP Spanish III, probably gonna get one of those AP awards like AP scholar with distinction, 1st place Spanish III scholastic test, 2nd place 10th grade grammar scholastic test, 1st place 11th grade grammar scholastic test, 2nd place Spanish IV scholastic test</p>

<p>ECs: Spanish club in 8th grade, Islam class in the summer before 9th grade, hospital volunteer in the summer before 11th, junior escort at graduation in 11th, after school during 11th grade I went to these Spanish class "charlas" where basically we talked in Spanish and learned more Spanish, also in 11th grade on the weekends I went to chemistry lectures for chemistry class, hospice office volunteer in the summer before 12th
Next year I plan on continuing volunteering at the hospice, joining Spanish club, key club, and Asian American Society. I'm going to get a job as a tutor for my school district. I also just got certified to be a reading tutor by the American Youth Literacy foundation and so I'm going to start volunteering as a reading tutor. I'm going to volunteer at a charity walk for Down Syndrome Awareness. I'm probably also going to do some environmental work and become an Apprentice Ecologist for the Nicodemus Wilderness Project.
I only have about 40-50 hours of community service under my belt right now but hope to get it up to at least 100/150 which I know isn't that much either, but at least it's something I guess. </p>

<p>Misc: Female, living in Oklahoma, born in China, my ethnicity is Uyghur so I guess that's an underrepresented minority. Uyghur is a Turkic ethnicity which I recently found out is Caucasian even though I've been saying that I'm Asian all my life. So I guess I should put white as my race on my application because I've heard the horror stories about Asians being overrepresented. </p>

<p>So is that enough to have a shot? I know my ECs are really lacking, and I'm all of a sudden starting to do a bunch of stuff which probably looks like I'm making up for lost time (I am), but since I'm applying ED could that boost up my chances?</p>

2

<p>Doesn’t Uyghur just count as Asian or some sort of European? If so, it won’t really help you. FYI colleges don’t care about something you were involved in before 9th grade that didn’t carry on (Spanish Club). And what are the scholastic tests? Are they major awards?</p>

<p>Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but going to a chemistry lecture after class or a spanish lecture outside of class doesn’t count as an EC does it? Colleges might not be impressed since you’re supposed to list your best ECs on the application, and tbh this feels like filler info.</p>

<p>You have great stats, and you’re applying into like half your ECs starting on senior year, so there’s no continuity and to adcoms it may feel like you’re only doing them for resume purposes. If you’re certin on Penn, then ED’s the best option, but be certain that there aren’t any other ED schools that are easier for you to get into.</p>

3

<p>I’m hoping Uyghur counts as Caucasian.
Scholastic tests aren’t really major, they’re just things we do at my school.
Yeah, the Spanish and chemistry lectures are just filler but I’m really at a loss for what else to put.
I’m sure there are other schools that’d be easier to get into ED but I really had my heart set on Penn. I know I’m just starting to pile on ECs and I really regret not having had things more figured out earlier into my hs career.</p>

4

<p>I agree with Smarty99, penn might not be the best decision for you bc of EC’s. I would shoot for something easier</p>

5

<p>I was afraid of that. I’m definitely gonna apply to backups but would applying to Penn be a total waste?</p>

6

<p>I think that ED would be worth a shot, given your grades, ACT, academic interest (Linguistics), and residence in an underrepresented state. To boost your chances, get the best recommendations you can (select teachers who know you well and think very highly of you and your work), and put lots of thought and work into your essays (both Common App and Penn Supplement).</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the advice!</p>

8

<p>I get that Penn may be your dream, but if you get rejected from this school, then you’re backup dream schools may be too difficult to reach in the RD round, instead of having picked on ED. That being said, best luck to whatever school you pick, because you can only ED once :)</p>

9

<p>That’s exactly what’s probably going to happen lol.</p>

10

<p>Just a thought, but if Uyghur heritage/culture is an important part of your life you can actually use it to your advantage because it feeds right in to the idea of diversity that schools look for. In the same way that Cambodians and Laotians (underrepresented asians) are helped by affirmative action, perhaps your unique heritage could help you in some way. Definitely consider mentioning that in your essays or something. Even without that though, your numbers are strong and honestly, for ED, those EC’s look adequate–undoubtedly worth applying to if it’s your first choice school. Good luck!</p>

11

<p>I don’t agree about the ecs. I personally think that in many ways, ecs can be overrated. For example, I really only did two ecs in high school, orchestra and other music activities in the summer, and science olympiad (which I didn’t start until junior year). I didn’t have any leadership positions in either of them, although I did have some nice awards in science olympiad. When I was applying, I definitely thought that my ecs were too weak for Penn, but I was accepted ED to CAS. Part of the reason I didn’t do many ecs in high school was because I went to a very academically demanding high school and spent most of my time either studying or keeping to myself (I am pretty introverted so being at school all day was very draining for me). Now in college, I have done a few activities, but have mainly focused on research (which I spend around 15 hours a week doing) at which I have been highly successful. For PhD applications, this is really the only thing that matters, which fortunately happens to be my passion, so I don’t feel pressure to do things I am not really interested in. I still have played in music groups and have volunteered at an elementary school though because it was a nice break from my studies.
The fact that I did not do many activities in high school really had no indication on my success in college. Many other people who did a lot of extracurriculars in high school did not end up continuing them in college, either because of burn out or the fact that they were not really passionate about them to begin with. So the point I am trying to make is that admissions probably knows there are going to be some kids like me who were not into joining a lot of clubs/having leadership positions in high school but are very suited to doing things like research in college (many times these sort of research opportunities are not available in high school). Penn wants a well rounded class, they need people who thrive in group activities and in leadership positions, but also people who are more introverted and like doing smaller group activities.</p>

12

<p>Thanks so much, Poeme and breaker! And I’m definitely going to write about my heritage in my essay, specifically as it relates to language–that’s good for a linguistics major, right?</p>

13

<p>So I’ve recently started school, and some things have changed as far as my ECs go.
I’ve joined chess club, and I’m going to join Senior Council (which I’m assuming is going to be basically like student council except for seniors). I’ve become an Apprentice Ecologist for the Nicodemus Apprentice Ecologist Initiative. But I’m not so sure I’ll be able to do the Down Syndrome Walk. So are those, along with my ECs mentioned in my first post, any better? Also, my class rank might potentially be 1 right now because my school hasn’t updated our transcripts yet, but I’m still at least 2. So yeah, are my chances okay?</p>

14

<p>Oh, and I got the AP Scholar with Distinction award, but I don’t know if Penn actually cares.</p>

15

<p>Haha so I am also an Uyghur girl, born in China but raised in MA, applying for a linguistics major in the class of 2018 and considering Penn! Who would have thought there’d be two of us…</p>

16

<p>chocochipluv, what a coincidence! I hope you apply to Penn, it has one of the best ling depts as far as I know. Hope we see each other there one day!</p>