Penn Engineering or CAS??

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>I'm applying ED to Penn and i don't know whether to apply to their Engineering or CAS... I'm definitely going on the pre-med track and I've heard that the engineering school is better for you. However, I've also heard that the chances for an asian male (me lol) are much tougher at Engineering than at CAS. I really want to go to Penn and I just don't want to make the wrong decision and ruin my early boost. I'll post my stats underneath this if it helps. ANy help would be much appreciated :)</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2250 (CR 710, M 760, W 780)
SAT II: Math II (800), Biology M (740) , History (720, crammed 200 years of history in 2 nights before the test lol)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88 (Went down a bit from 3.91 due to a B in the highest level Spanish class offered in my school)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7/349
AP (junior year): AP U.S. History(5), AP Calculus AB (5), AP Biology (4, only 5% got 5s -__-)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics, AP Chemistry, AP Statistics, AP Language and Composition, AP Computer Science, AP Macroeconomics, AP Calculus BC
Pretty sure I took the hardest courseload in my grade except for like AP Music Theory and AP Studio Art
Awards: FBLA 3rd in regionals, 4th in states in spreadsheet applications, would've went to nationals but school didn't let me :/, Several Quizbowl Competition Trophies</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): NHS, Spanish Honor Society, Science National Honor Society (Founder + Prez), Academic Team, Math Team, Key Club, Student Council, Debate Team (Started up this year and gonna be vp), Stand Up, Peer Tutoring, Varsity Cross Country for 2 years, Rutgers Pre-Medical Honors Program
Volunteer/Community service: At Local library, and at local hospital for a total of about 150 hours. And with other scattered events in various clubs for about another 100 hours. Canvassed and made phone calls for Cory Booker.
Job/Work Experience: Kumon (Tutoring kids in Alg 2 and Calc)
Teacher Recommendation: My calc and physics teachers. Both liked me and I did well in their classes.
Counselor Rec: my counselor is honestly the sweetest person ever and I talk to her almost every other day. She's probably going to write my a great rec letter
Interview: If college does provide one, I'll go.
Other
Apply for Financial Aid?:Yes
Intended Major: Biophysics at Penn CAS and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Penn Engineering. Pre-med track
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 100k to 120k, checked out Penn's net calculator and I'll get approximately 36k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): One of my cousins went to UPENN Wharton and recently graduated
Essay: (Supplement) Talks about traffic lights and how they relate to my life. I'm getting heavy revisions and criticisms from my teachers and friends who are in college.</p>

2

<p>engineering for sure</p>

3

<p>that’s what I’m seriously thinking about because it suits my interests a lot more. but I’m just really insecure about not getting in. that’s one of the main reasons i might apply to CAS…</p>

4

<p>Just apply to whatever school you think you would want to be in. The difference in acceptance rates are negligible. Just as there are a lot of asian male engineers, there are lots of asian male premeds, so I don’t think going one way or the other would really make much of a difference. It is also not terribly hard to switch your first year assuming you are taking physics, calculus, and chemistry your first year.</p>

5

<p>okay thanks! so if I don’t like the Engineering school my first year, is it easy to switch to a different school such as CAS?</p>