My Probability of Gaining Admittance to the University of Pennsylvania

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
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<p>If I sound familar, I've posted a chances thread several months back, but this is with my updated (and improved) stats. It also reflects the opportunities I'm pursuing this summer; please give me a second chance (pun intended). Thanks so much! </p>

<p>Weighted GPA (school didn't give me UW): 4.1</p>

<p>Percentile: Top 3% </p>

<p>SAT's: Still awaiting scores from June </p>

<p>SAT II's: Taking this fall</p>

<p>Legacy (will apply ED)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>-Features Editor of multi-award winning school newspaper. I have written about a wide variety of topics including the effects of the recession on the local economy/educational system, technology's role in helping the English language evolve, and the process of Amish integration into mainstream society. In each of these pieces, I have interviewed at least one professor with national recognition. This upcoming year, I will be Opinion Editor of the paper. </p>

<p>-I was selected by my principal to participate in a regularly-meeting committee of students who suggest changes to school policy and evaluate the current offerings of the school.</p>

<p>-I am a member of a nationally-recognized environmental organization at my school, and this summer, am serving as a group leader for their children's environmental awareness camp. </p>

<p>-I played a comedic role in my school's play, a satire of several popular theatric works.</p>

<p>-I was the public relations manager for my school musical which entailed organizing/completing paperwork, creating a musical webpage, photographing musical rehearsals, and designing musical advertisements. </p>

<p>-I am the founder and leader of a cultural awareness club, which I created (as a high school student) for my local middle school. Participants have the opportunity to play multicultural games, enjoy international food items, discuss current events, and learn about cultural mores.</p>

<p>Employment:</p>

<p>-Pool refreshment services </p>

<p>-Supermarket cashier</p>

<p>Awards:</p>

<p>-First place in my county's science fair--I completed a project assessing the effects of age and gender on natural and artificial sweetener preferences. I also evaluated the toxicity of these substances, determining which the best sweetener based on both taste and safety.</p>

<p>-Three-time winner of my school's geography bee, two-time state geography bee participant.</p>

<p>-My artwork was chosen to appear on a health-awareness calendar for a national corporation. </p>

<p>Other:</p>

<p>-I am currently planning a community-wide international festival which will feature local vendors selling ethnic foods and crafts as well as multicultural folk acts. All proceeds will benefit an international charity (which I am in the process of choosing).</p>

<p>-I am a graduate of my state's Free Enterprise education week.</p>

<p>-I am volunteering at a local archaeological site.</p>

<p>-I am setting up an internship with a local newspaper. </p>

<p>-I am the co-founder of a freelance greeting card company. I am using my drawings, paintings and photography to create greeting card designs, and I am sending them to nation-wide greeting card companies looking for freelancers. </p>

<p>My one concern is that I have received C's in math courses because of an LD. Will my 4.1 GPA/my other offerings be enough to offset that?</p>

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<p>So far, so good. When available, post your test scores and your classes taken (AP, Honors, college, etc.). You certainly seem to have enough material for your essays.</p>

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<p>hmm so you mean “chance me?”</p>

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<p>Can’t say anything without standardized test scores.</p>

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<p>Just curious… don’t mean to be offensive, but what does “My one concern is that I have received C’s in math courses because of an LD.” mean?</p>

<p>Are you sure that your learning disability is the reason for not doing as well in math? I mean, I know people who just aren’t good at math but excel at other subjects…</p>

<p>Basically, my point is that unless there’s some really legitimate disorder that makes you bad at math (and I personally don’t know much about this), I don’t know if it would be a good idea to even mention it to Penn, in case they just think it’s a bad excuse.</p>

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<p>0%… if you don’t apply</p>

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<p>I have NLD (Non-Verbal Learning Disorder), which has given me difficulties with math ever since elementary school, as well as other things, such as handwriting and physical education. I have documentation from professionals, so I would say my diagnosis is very legitimate. I intend on mentioning it if I apply at Penn, because they need an explanation for why I have nearly straight-A’s in most of my courses, but C’s in math classes. I am concerned they would think it’s “just an excuse,” but I cannot take the chance that they would mistake my poor mathematical grades for laziness if they received no explanation.</p>

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<p>My SAT’s are in. This was my first time taking them, with no preparation, so I think it is feasible for each to be raised by at least 100.</p>

<p>CR: 700
W: 650
M: 540 (ouch…)</p>

<p>I know that no matter how much I study, I won’t be able to crack above a 700 on the math. Do you think my explanation about my NLD will help Penn go a little easier on my math score? I’ve tried to get accomodations, but my request was not accepted, so I hope that Penn will soften if they learn that I took the SAT without the extra time that I needed–do you think they will?</p>

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<p>Does your school know about your learning disability? Because if you have accommodations at school, I would think that your college counselor or whoever is writing your secondary school report would mention that in their recommendation letter. I would suggest you talk to someone at your school. They may be a lot of help with this concern.</p>

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<p>Have you considered that given your LD, a place like Penn may not be what you need?</p>

<p>not to say that this is the case, but if you’ve struggled this much in HS and on the SATs (at least in terms of Penn standards), you need to contemplate whether a place as rigourous as Penn is what’s best for you.</p>

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<p>^agreed. consider where you will thrive and don’t look simply for marquee value. does Penn offer LD learning support?</p>

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<p>I have considered that perhaps Penn might not be the most supportive atmosphere, however, seeing that my LD only significantly affects math (and I am going into a non-mathematical field). I don’t want to neccessarily give up on applying to more prestigious universities since I have succeeded in other academic areas and I crave genuine intellectual stimulation. That is not to say I’m not considering the smaller LAC because it would be nice to have faculty approachability (although what attracts me to UPenn is the faculty expertise). For almost the entirety of my school career, I’ve made it without accomodations (being diagnosed recently), so I can only continue what I’ve done in the past. My only concern would be the gen. ed. math requirement. Does anyone know what would be required for a humanities major? (I’m thinking Anthropology or History).</p>

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<p>Maybe you could try taking The SAT again to boost your score. I don’t think your reasoning about your learning disability will help you at all. It seems as though you’re contradicting yourself a bit; you say that your learning disability affects you so much that you have C’s in math, and yet your learning disability couldn’t qualify you to receive extra time.
If I were you, I’d retake The SAT and give it my best shot. You never know.
Best of luck!</p>

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<p>It didn’t qualify me for extra time because I just got diagnosed this year, and the College Board requires that you have a diagnosis in place for longer than that because they don’t want people just getting diagnosed to help themselves on the SAT’s.</p>

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<p>I don’t think you should give up on Penn because of your disability. Although you may need to learn to do things differently than other people, there are a lot of extremely smart people who have learned to manage their disabilities and have done amazing things as a result. I was just reading about Carol Greider, a biochemist at Johns Hopkins who won the Nobel prize in medicine last year. Though she didn’t know it growing up, she actually had dyslexia which made it hard for her to take standardized tests and learn certain things in school. Because she didn’t score well on her GREs, she actually was only offered interviews at two grad schools she applied to. Think about what she would have missed if she had given up then! So if you don’t succeed the first time, just remember that there are many different paths that lead towards the same place.</p>

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<p>I agree. You shouldn’t let your learning disability, or learning difference, stop you from giving it your best shot. David Boies has severe dyslexia, and he’s a brilliant attorney all the same.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your encouragement everyone! I’m still deciding if UPenn is an appropriate fit for me, or if there are other universities which offerings appeal to me more, but I’m not going to rule out UPenn.</p>

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<p>My best friend has a ‘disability,’ which he was diagnosed with in like 3rd grade. It was really minor and didn’t reflect on his grades or any of his actual behavior. He was a very capable student. Anyways because he was diagnosed so early he qualified for extended time (he actually got x2 time on the subject tests). He ended up scoring very high ~2200 (don’t remember exactly). And he got close to 800, if not an 800, on all his subject tests (remember he had 2 hours for each). </p>

<p>Long story short collegeboard fails.</p>

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<p>one tip, don’t start a thread with the a title of "My Probability of Gaining Admittance to the University of Pennsylvania "</p>

<p>chances will def go up</p>