<p>General Things
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: East Indian (international)
Country: India (but living in Singapore for 16 years)
Current Grade: Senior Year (in singapore, schools run from Jan-Dec)
Financial Aid: Not applying for any sort of FA</p>
<p>Grades
GPA: 3.1 (Sharp rising trend)
-Very tough international magnet school specializing in Math & Science</p>
<p>SAT Reasoning Test
SAT Critical Reading - 770
SAT Math - 800
SAT Writing 800
SAT Composite (M+CR) 1570
SAT Composite (M+CR+W) 2370</p>
<p>SAT Subject Tests
SAT Math Level 2 - 800
SAT Physics - 790
SAT Chemistry 780
SAT Biology M - 770</p>
<p>AP Tests
AP Calculus AB 5
AP Chemistry 5
AP Physics B 5
AP Biology 5
AP Calculus BC 5
AP Statistics 5</p>
<p>Extracurricular Activities
- Captain: Debate Team
- President: Creative Writing Circle
- Editor: School Yearbook
- Editor: School Newsletter (we don't publish too actively tho)
- Editor: Official Newsletter of Singapore Int'l Mathematics Competition
- Captain: Scrabble Team (placed 3rd nationally in 2007, several individual awards at national level too)
- Head Delegate: Model UN
- Tennis Team
- National Education Ambassador
- 300ish Community Service Hours
- Creative Arts Program (very selective program for writers and poets)
- Research on atomic spectroscopy
- Research on oxygen's behavior on palladium and applications in fuel cells
- Interned at a renowned museum of biodiversity research
- 2 Commendatory Awards @ Commonwealth Int'l Essay Writing Competition
- Gold (Drama) @ Singapore Youth Festival
- Best Delegate @ Singapore Model United Nations 2009
- Best Delegate @ WE International Model United Nations 2009</p>
<p>IMO, about a 50% chance if you can explain how you have such bad grades and such high testing scores… a 3.1 aint too bad, but with a 2370 and all 5s on aps?</p>
<p>I’m not among the top students in my class. But my class is among the top students in my country (top 5%). Admissions rate wise, my HS is more selective than the ivies and that puts together an academic environment where it’s just really hard to be near the top.</p>
<p>The pools are different, but I’m afraid I agree with nate24: Your scores tell me you’re brilliant and your grades tell me you’re lazy (regardless of whether or not it’s true). Such a vast disjunction will not bode well for you, which is unfortunate because you would be an asset at any Ivy.</p>
<p>Brilliant? I wouldn’t go that far. The SAT can’t seek out brilliance. I had similar scores.</p>
<p>However, I do agree with the others; SATs can only take you so far. At schools that rank, 99% of people that Penn accepts are in the top 10% of their class. Now, perhaps you would fall into that remaining 1%… I can’t say.</p>
<p>The truth is, I’m sure you’re very bright, and deserve to come here (or any university). But the GPA will hurt your chances, if only slightly. If you apply early, however, you would have a good shot - I suggest that you do, if Penn is a top choice for you.</p>
<p>Where else are you looking? Do you have any other ED preferences? I recall seeing a similar thread on the Columbia forum - are you looking to apply there for ED?</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone here understands the OP’s school curriculum. I have a friend who goes to a very competitive science/math magnet school in Singapore. By “competitive”, I’m talking about average SAT above 2300. There’s no slacker in his school. Judging from the OP’s EC, I think he is a very self-motivated student who will succeed in any Ivy’s (as anyone from the school will)</p>
<p>You’re certainly hurt by a competitive applicant pool. Penn is a match for you.</p>
<p>1) There’s no school in Singapore, and I think the world, where the avg SAT is 2300+. </p>
<p>2) My school is the only magnet sci/math school and while we are indeed “very competitive”, our averages on the SAT don’t reflect that (simply bcs the SAT isn’t a math/sci test). Perhaps your meant 2300+ on a combination of 3 subject tests. In that case, then that’s probably true. But as far as stats for the regular SAT goes, I’m the only person in my class above a 2300. </p>
<p>Anyway, I agree that I’m not brilliant, maybe not even bright for that matter. But I’m not lazy. A rising trend building up from really dismal freshman grades to very high senior grades should show that.</p>
<p>Really - I thought that Indians heavily preferred Penn over Columbia. What are your reasons?</p>
<p>If you’re applying RD, your chances are significantly diminished, although your SATs will help you remain competitive. Penn likes internationals, but many apply, and it doesn’t accept a very large proportion (as you know).</p>
<p>Perhaps we disagree semantically, but I stand by original estimation: The OP is clearly beyond bright and has a composite reasoning capacity that far outstrips 99% of the test-taking population.</p>