<p>So, I’m doing college research right now. I have yet to finish testing, and I’m waiting on my AP. And, I’ll probably take the SAT in October for early decision.</p>
<p>If I were to apply to UPenn, then I’d apply to SEAS.</p>
<li>What kind of SAT II scores would I need to stay in the running? Would 700+ be enough? Can 650+ scores hurt?</li>
<li>What kind of SAT scores would I need to stay in the running? For math and critical reading? Do they care about writing?</li>
<li>Is there a core curriculum at UPenn SEAS? Sort of like a liberal arts engineering education?</li>
<li>Is rank really important to UPenn? Is top 5-7% competitive enough?</li>
<li>Can AP scores play a role in anything of this, maybe to sort of even out poorer SAT II test scores?</li>
<li>How is the educational quality at UPenn SEAS? How large are the class sizes? Can I talk to professors outside of class, sort of in a friend-like way? Are they approachable?</li>
<li>How is the financial aid at UPenn?</li>
<li>What kind of people does UPenn SEAS look for? How does their interest in math and science play a role in all of this?</li>
</ol>
<p>eh to most of your questions. do some research, you'll get a feel for that kind of stuff. no one knows it all. most of your questions are veiled "chances" requests, and those are just lame.</p>
<p>SEAS does expect strong math, physics, and some other science preparation. I only bring this up because you could see a straight-A, 2400, 30 AP person who didn't take physics get rejected. </p>
<p>There is no "core" for engineering at Penn like Columbia's core. You've got basics in engineering-related fields (math, science, tech) and there's a writing requirement that all Penn students have. Then you've got 3-6 social studies/humanities/liberal arts requirements, but these are very broad and most students have no trouble finding classes they enjoy to fill this category.</p>
<p>See, I can't fit physics into my schedule. I tried to fit it into my senior year schedule, but it wouldn't fit.</p>
<ol>
<li>Can AP scores play a role in anything of this, maybe to sort of even out poorer SAT II test scores?</li>
<li>How is the educational quality at UPenn SEAS? How large are the class sizes? Can I talk to professors outside of class, sort of in a friend-like way? Are they approachable?</li>
<li>How is the financial aid at UPenn?</li>
</ol>
<p>What about these three, especially number 7 because that is really important to me?</p>
<p>If you can't take physics, and you want to be an engineer, you need to change something. You need some kind of physics class experience. Same goes for calculus.</p>
<p>Penn meets all financial need, and has need-blind admissions.</p>
<p>Penn SEAS education is outstanding. Small classes, and professors are extremely approachable. Penn's SEAS small size prevents it from getting higher US News rankings, but makes for an excellent environment where you can actually know all of the professors in your department and have them know you.</p>
<p>My SAT scores were really low (even math) but my GPA was high. I also took all the science APs and honors science courses offered at our school. So basically I had two years bio, two years chem, and two years physics. I got good scores on the AP exams. I took Math at our local university. I completed Calculus III at our local university which is basically the equivalent of Math 114 at Penn. </p>
<p>So, yeah, I would advise you to take as much science and math courses as possible. Physics is really important and even if it is a little tough, go the extra step and take it at the community college. </p>
<p>The only reason I took AP Physics instead of AP Econ was so I had the option to apply to Penn and Columbia SEAS and be a competitive applicant.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>AP scores can play a role in admissions. Not as large as SATII because SATII is required and AP is not, but having ten 5s on AP tests when you apply looks pretty good.</p></li>
<li><p>As with every college, depends what classes you take (not sure because I', a prefrosh)</p></li>
<li><p>Depends on how rich/poor you are. I will say that it sucks, but then again I was never expecting a dime from any college except UMD.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>So, should I really do anything about my SAT II scores, two of which are in the low 700s and two of which are in the high 600s? I still need to take the SAT, which I'm preparing for as we speak. It's just that I can't really do well on SAT IIs.</p>
<p>How popular is Chemical or Biomolecular Engineering?</p>
<p>700+ in SAT II's is totally fine. Once you're in this range, other aspects of your application are taken into account. High 600's may hurt you a bit, but it won't kill you.</p>
<p>you have to realize that you only need two SATII scores for SEAS. One in math and one in physics or chem. If you get 700+ on both of them you will be fine.
Admissions are often really random. You will be surprised as to who gets in and who doesn't. Essays are really the deciding factor. I would stop worrying about admissions during the summer and enjoy myself. Then come mid September start putting your app together and then start worrying after November 1.</p>
<p>Alright, that makes me feel good. I have a 720 in Math II/C and a 730 in Chemistry. The Chemistry might be a bit higher as I'm waiting on the May rescore. The May one I definitely did much better on, but the score doesn't say that.</p>
<p>How do they process SAT/SAT II scores? Is it all computerized where the committee never actually sees your College Board transcript?</p>
<p>New Jersey? I'm from the DC area and all the kids who got into great schools got 800 on the IIC (except a few with 750+ but they were humanities majors). The curve is so huge that if you get less than an 800 it means you got over 10% of the questions wrong.</p>
<p>Chem is also an easy test if you get used to the format. Maybe I'm just good at SATIIs, but I feel that just looking at scores, yours are on the low side for a Jersey applicant (unless you go to an impoverished school, my school is very very rich).</p>
<p>My school is far from that. North Brunswick Township High School is a very poorly funded school. Almost every time the senior citizens strike down the funding increase for the school at budget votes. They have enough power to do that because students' parents never vote. So, I suppose we kind of deserve that. And some of our teachers aren't that great either. For example, our pre-calculus teacher is a horrible teacher. She did not teach. She always just put four to five lines of notes up for each topic and let us do everything ourselves. That's why most of the people who had always done extremely well in math like myself ended up with a B or B+. Only two or three people out of 25 people earned borderline As. And, I can also explain the chemistry. On day one, our AP Chemistry teacher said that he wasn't going to make any promises about AP scores, given that we were working with an eight-year-old book that was probably the worst $*** he had ever read about chemistry in his life. The juniors who will have him this year will have an amazing class because the school finally approved the book our teacher originally wanted after three years of fighting. And, to add to all this, our AP programs really stink in general. This year College Board did an audit, and so many of our AP teachers refused to even fill out the paperwork. Their reasoning was that students should just take the test anyway and not expect any credit. We didn't even have a coordinator for the whole audit until three or four weeks before it was all due.</p>
<p>And, you really have to be surprised when the administrators complain that only one or two people in a good year get into an Ivy League school. That's just in a good year. Typically, most years have been very bad where no one has gotten into an Ivy League school.</p>
<p>Then your SAT scores are fine probably. I saw New Jersey and thought you were one of the richer suburban kids like me :) If you go to a poor school you need to be one of the top few kids (I was outside the top 5%) but your SATII scores should be fine. Penn can't hold it against you that your preparation was crappy. You probably did the best you could. I suck at self studying for test, so I can see why your scores are much lower than my own. But try to have someone like your GC try to emphasize how crappy your school is.</p>
<p>I'm just hoping that my May SAT II Chemistry rescore works out for me, so I get the score that I actually expected.</p>
<p>You said that these scores were good for SEAS, given my situation. Are these scores good for SAS? I'm considering doing a chemistry major or chemical engineering because it's my favorite subject anyway. Then, I could go into medicine.</p>
<p>
[quote]
But try to have someone like your GC try to emphasize how crappy your school is.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Isn't that kind of wishful thinking, though?</p>
<p>I don't know how this helps, but I suppose my ECs show an interest in science with the volunteering and the chemistry olympics team I helped start and the folding@home project.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Robotix (3 years)
Yearbook (section head 2 years, editor this coming school year)
Newspaper (3 years)
Key Club (Two years)
Literary Magazine (Three Years)
NHS
French NHS
NJIT Chemistry Olympics (2 years, co-founder of the school team)
Red Cross volunteer
Star Tutoring (40 hours)
St. Peter's (50+ hours)
Volunteering at Mosque (240 hours)
Folding@Home (100k+ points on the AMD team)
Islamic awareness business founder and artist (it's not longer around though, but it was around for one year)
<p>I know exactly why I got into Penn so I really suck at doing these chances things. I have no idea how meaningful any of that stuff is now how Penn would weight any of it.</p>
<p>Why did you get into Penn? I'm sure you totally deserved it, but I'd just like to know what you think got you into Penn.</p>
<p>Being that SEAS is [duh] for engineering, I could probably write an amazing essay on why I use GNU/Linux rather than Windows. It's more than, I just don't like it, but it reflects some of my ideological differences with Microsoft. It would show a lot of character, my interest in science and technology, and would appeal to the SEAS adcoms.</p>
<p>The SAT score I'm sure I can increase. The first time I took it, I just wanted to see what I could get without any preparation, and I found pretty clearly where my weaknesses were. I think that if I can pull off a great SAT score, then the SAT IIs won't matter so much, not that they do to begin with, or so many people have said. Hopefully, my APs will be good too to just show that maybe the format was not good for me.</p>