<p>Thanks! :-) (Well... Cho Chang, but she's a fictional character and also a girl. lol)</p>
<p>These are great tips, but dont think you have to do something extreme like "teaching violin to children of illegal immigrants..." Dont you think that's a little extreme? Just do some sort of community service that's meaningful to you. And don't get down by the fact that you are a "typical Asian applicant." Though unfortunately we are slightly disadvantaged because of our tendencies to similar activities, it is not impossible to get into Penn while still pursuing what you love (violin). I got into Wharton and I probably would fit the "typical Asian applicant" label at first glance. I do tons of violin/orchestra stuff, heck, I even play tennis (but know that I have some leadership activities and work experience that are not "common" in addition to my other activities). But, I don't want to mislead you, because I have a lot of small, "unique" activities and things I've done that I think made me "stand out," in addition to my essays. You can still do what you love, but just try to emphasize some of your "unique" things; if you want to do community service, it doesn't have to be "wild", I did a small community service project that I mentioned on my application and it was just teaching music to local ordinary kids, that's all. I think focusing on debate is a great thing.</p>