<p>Hey all, first and foremost CONGRATULATIONS to all those who go in!!!
Second, can anyone help me just figure out why I got rejected?
I have a 34 ACT, 1470 SAT, 3.7 weighted (thats my guess), I’m president of pretty much everything, have won national awards for MUN, various other awards, outstanding recs, visited twice, attended two info sessions, showed interest, wrote essays that my counselor and my english teacher wanted personal copies of, for example’s sake, was even scouted by Coach Al Bagnoli for Penn football…any other guesses?</p>
<p>My stats are slightly lower than yours and I got deferred. I don't have extensive leadership either, as you do. But, I'm a legacy.
I did get into UMich, though, with $60,000 merit scholarship and I just might go there, even if Penn accepts me in April. I don't know what I'll be getting at Penn for $18,000 more per year..not much. And Michigan has more name reconition in my opinion.</p>
<p>optimist...college admissions is honestly the most random process anywhere....so no one could really answer why you got rejected</p>
<p>I guess I have to agree with that last post, a girl who applied from my school to the same Huntsman/Wharton combo was deffered, and she had lower EVERYTHING than I did. Crapshoot...</p>
<p>And I also applied to Mich, but after the rejection, I do feel less confident...</p>
<p>No way, how did that happen? You should have at least gotten a deferral. My condolence man</p>
<p>How strong is the 3.7 GPA? Are there lots of 4.0s in your school? Would 3.7 make you top 5%? Even if your school does not rank, Penn can estimate what your rank would be. Maybe Penn just did not want you? I cannot see any real reason why you would be rejected. Maybe instead of applying to Wharton, you should have had CAS as your Huntsman backup. Also, I find most of the deferred are legacies.</p>
<p>thanks pearfire, how did you fare? Venkater, the 3.7 is around the second decile i'd say. This, I think killed me. But with test scores, national recognition, a guidance letter that the counselor professed was the best she had written in 5 years, one Huntsman-specific letter from MUN advisor/English teacher, the other an incredible one from history teacher, athletic recruitment for football (literally, coaches calling me, emailing me, mailing me, visitng me at school, pulling me outta class), can you or anyone see a blatant turn-off or outright cause for rejection? is the gpa THAT bad? (considering I took 9 APs and balanced ecs, AND football? Im just wondering why, when compared to the ONLY other Penn applicant from my school, who was much weaker by the numbers and the ecs, not a legacy, was deferred and I was flat-out rejected?</p>
<p>optimist6--I guess they don't like smart athletes because recruited athletes get in with really low grades and test scores. Yours on the other hands are excellent.</p>
<p>Optimist> Tell me about it. I have an internship where not a single Penn student made through this year and was the youngest dude they ever took, ran my own business, researched and collaborated with basically the pioneer in the hottest field of finance. Elected in various school posts (Pres. of a club, student government). My academic stats are basically the same as yours (1470 SAT, 3.7 GPA UW, no rank) with 8 APs in total. Flat out rejected. </p>
<p>In retrospect, my fault was not to show off my activities. Never talked much about them or how difficult they are. Did you not collaborate on your activities?</p>
<p>that just shows that high school transcript is the most important thing
gpa does matter alot</p>
<p>we are going for an academic school; not a school for ECs differentiation</p>
<p>gpa reflects how you do in classes...and your attitude toward school.</p>
<p>UPenn is known to be more stats-oriented than many of the Ivies. My guess is that, unless you're in the top 5% of your class, you don't have a chance.</p>
<p>The good news is that MANY top notch schools would love to have a student like you!</p>
<p>3.7 with 9 aps and football and mun is solid. I dont know why the rejected you, especially if you were recruited to some extent. Maybe you should have applied to CAS. Maybe they only have Wharton for top recruits,and CAS for all others.</p>
<p>I was rejected also and no one can figure out why- any thoughts? My stats are at <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=3327997&postcount=38%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=3327997&postcount=38</a></p>
<p>The only thing we can think of was essay #2 about the risk I took. Basically, 2 years ago my school had a small drinking problem on one of the overnight trips. I was going to a MUN trip right after that, and they decided that they wanted to check our bags. As a card-carrying ACLU member, I didn't like that very much and I decided to write the vice principal a very professional letter explaining my concerns. I 'won', they didn't check bags, and they haven't had problems since. </p>
<p>So the question is- did they horribly misinterpret my essay and think that I'm a druggie and a troublemaker or something? That definitely wasn't the point (I'm neither) and I hope they didn't do that. It really shows my attitudes... but it was definitely a professional essay. If people could give their thoughts on that (I can PM my essay if you want), I would really appreciate it.</p>
<p>I really think that admissions is based on luck if you really have strong everything. Maybe your personality wasn't reflected well in your essays. Maybe they didn't think you were a good fit. It really depends on how well you put together your application. I got accepted, and I think that something I did well was that I focused my application around only 2-3 extracurriculars that take up a lot of time, and that I am dedicated to. You really can't just write every single thing you've done in high school, because they won't see what your passions are.</p>
<p>heres my take: you probably didnt write good essays, period. for me, even though i am a legacy, i sure as hell know that isnt what got me a deferral instead of a rejection. i wrote essays that were heartfelt and that conveyed exactly what i wanted them too. i spent a hell of a long time on my short answers also. i think penn is a school that looks at the character of the applicant and weighs it against the academics and EC's of an applicant. my guess is that you showed zero character to them, and thus didn't seem like you would add diversity to the class.</p>
<p>btw, my legacy is weak: my mom went to penn-vet, that's all. that is why i dont think i got my deferral based on my legacy status -- in my eyes, it amounts to pretty much nothing more than an added bonus.</p>
<p>Those are some impressive stats optimist. Like some other guys said a lot of their decisions are random as they go through so many kids apps in such a short amount of time. I don't think a 3.7 got you rejected because that isn't all that low (I had bout the same with 15/250 rank). I wouldn't really sweat it much if I was you because you can obviously get into many top tier colleges. Why don't you have your guidance counselor call and ask why.</p>
<p>but I wrote AMAZING essays too.. seriously I spent forever on them and all my teachers were moved to tears. And I have great leadership/grades/sats.. arghhh the only thing I can think of is the fact that I'm asian and I live in philly (where everyone applies to Penn)</p>
<p>got deferred..</p>
<p>all you can do is to shake ya' tailfeather before April 1</p>
<p>3.7 Weighted? I'm not sure thats all that high. At Penn, average class rank was top 2-3% and most of the kids come from above average schools to begin with. Even if you are up there, plenty of people still get rejected, it's sucks we know but its just bad luck. </p>
<p>Penn really really cares about your GPA, moreso than the other ivies. Likewise, they're less SAT oriented, so don't feel so bad. Again, you have a great shot at so many schools.</p>
<p>Plus, most of the people I know here, they didn't have that many ECs but one that was truly unique. For instance, I had a skateboard resale company that I think got me in. Afriend of mine here made 700-800 dollars a week making balloon animals at parties (150 dollars/hour!). The point is you need to be something that the admissions guys think they wont be able to get otherwise--something they'll actually remember. (Trust me, I've talked to my regional director so many times now...)</p>
<p>people keep saying gpa is everything. but my gpa really wasn't high, and i still got in early. so they do look beyond just your numbers...</p>