<p>Hi everyone. So my SAT score is pretty good, except for the 640 in critical reading. Do you know any unhooked applicants that were accepted to Penn with a low critical reading score (with 700s in the other sections)? My critical reading score always makes me feel so paranoid </p>
<p>I forgot to mention that I would be applying to CAS </p>
<p>While I think the SAT and ACT are pretty stupid and worthless tests (being in college really shows you that they mean nothing), I think you should retake it. Critical reading is very likely the most important section. While a 640 does not completely prevent you from getting in, it is in the threshold where it could potentially raise some issues since it is in the bottom quartile of the scores of accepted students in the past few years.</p>
<p>ORM = def. retake
Majority = Keep unless its below 2200
URM = don’t worry, you are getting in </p>
<p>@WhartonnotHYPS, that’s a really condescending view towards underrepresented minorities. The reason they accept minorities with lower SAT scores is because the SAT is culturally biased and many times does not accurately measure their abilities. They deserve to be there just as much as the other students. When I attended Penn, I did not notice a difference in intelligence and many of the most vibrant students and leaders on camps happened to be underrepresented minorities.</p>
<p>@Poeme you really have something against me, relax dude. It should be like UC system. If you’re qualified you get in, if not, you don’t get some artificial boost. You know, for every URM that gets it, a deserving student with better stats is left out. Because you see affirmative action is reverse discrimination. I’d love to have a debate with you on this topic.</p>
<p>@WhartonnotHYPS That is not true. URM status isn’t an instant acceptance to the world’s greatest universities. They still have to have phenomenal stats to get them in. Some URM have better stats than the over represented minorities. It is unfair true, but so are legacies, sports, and from several studies money. So stop acting as if every URM in the higher education world didn’t earn it like everyone else. </p>
<p>@gtownhopeful2016 </p>
<p>I really don’t have anything against URMs. My favorite teacher is a URM, and one of the smartest people I know. I just hate the affirmative action policy. </p>
<p>I was simply commenting that it would be unnecessary for OP to retake the SAT if he/she was a URM, and probably has better things to do with his/her time. </p>
<p>Sorry about any confusion that caused you. Best of luck on your college applications. </p>
<p>@WhartonnotHYPS, I do have something against you because your comments show that you are a shallow, conceited, and entitled high schooler who thinks they know a lot more than they do. </p>
<p>You can debate with me all you want, but I have four years of experience at Penn that you don’t. I know how all of these issues play out in the large scope, and looking down on people because you perceive their SAT scores were lower than yours is incredibly close minded. Once you get to Penn, no one cares what you got on the SAT. The only ones who still care do so because they turned out to be mediocre at Penn.</p>
<p>I just hope you either change your attitude or do not attend Penn as I do not want my alma mater to be associated with such immaturity. </p>
<p>The attitude bothers me that someone would give a student different advice based on race then claim to be against affirmative action. If you are against affirmative action, don’t perpetuate it by holding different people to different standards solely based on race. Nobody told you to come in here and discriminate. You chose to do it yourself. The OP didn’t ask for any preference yet you chose to stratify your answer. How are you doing anything different than what you purportedly “hate.” You are viewing things through the lens of skin color even when skin color was not invoked by anyone.</p>
<p>Maybe the student is white, low income or male, first gen or from Idaho or a stellar athlete or from a politically connected and wealthy family. If you really are going to be that way, don’t forget all these other folks who seem to get some boost in consideration which, by the way, seems to negate the whole idea of preferences anyway.</p>
<p>Exactly. You can argue all you want about how affirmative action gives underrepresented minorities an unfair advantage, but what about legacies and athletes? There was an athlete who was recruited from my high school my year who was in the bottom half of the class! And this is in a wealthy area. This student had all of the advantages there were but still did not get the grades. You should be complaining about that.</p>
<p>Affirmative action is not perfect, sometimes the people who really should benefit from it (middle/working class minorities and all who come from a lower socioeconomic background) do not because there are other motivations involved. Why do you think the Ivies accept so many kids from private schools? Do you think that being able to pay full tuition has to do with it? </p>
<p>What I’m basically saying is you should take everyone seriously and stop blaming affirmative action. Underrepresented minorities provide a valuable perspective on campus and academically. I have seen this very clearly in several of the humanities classes I have been in.</p>
<p>@Poeme were you at Wharton or CAS? I’d like to know what you majored in.</p>
<p>I did physics in CAS. I am a science person, Wharton never crossed my mind. Wonderful department with fantastic professors. Professors from the physics department have won the Lindback Award (the highest teaching award) for the past three years. Five of us are going to top ten grad schools with three out of five going to top three grad schools.</p>
<p>@Poeme not sure what you have against Wharton. Wharton and Penn are not the same, though both are great</p>
<p>@WhartonnotHYPS, Wharton is a part of Penn, they are not just affiliated schools.
I don’t have anything against Wharton, I am simply stating that it doesn’t define Penn. It’s a phenomenal business school, but there have been a few years where Penn med is actually ranked higher than Wharton. </p>
<p>Undergrads at Wharton generally have a pretty distinct personality that is related to what it takes to be successful in business. They are very a self selective bunch but that doesn’t mean they are smarter or better than the other Penn students. They just have a different skill set than students studying subjects like history, physics, chemical engineering etc.</p>
<p>I don’t get the sense from this thread or others that @poeme has anything against Wharton, but when/if you get to Wharton, you’ll realize that the entire Penn student body is pretty amazing and students in SAS/SEAS are not going to cater to you or be impressed with you because you are one of the 400 in Wharton. Whatever got you into college just doesn’t matter once you’re there – so you’ll be pretty unpopular if you intend to talk all the time about how Wharton students have better gpas/SATs or whatever else.</p>
<p>And yes – I went to Wharton and am also an ORM. When I think about Penn – frankly I think about Wharton AND the med school/health system which is pretty damn amazing AND the law school which can hold its own.</p>
<p>@Poeme what I’ve heard from investment bankers such as my dad and cousins (who went to Wharton) is that Wharton students don’t usually consider themselves Penn students. Correct me if I am wrong here, especially in the professional world. Not sure about the rankings, but I’m sure they are true in context. </p>
<p>@aj725 Congrats for graduating, would love some tips. I’m not saying it’s something I would take about 24/7 if at all. I just get the feeling that Wharton students are respected more. Again, correct me if I am wrong. </p>
<p>@WhartonnotHYPS, there are plenty of students in CAS and SEAS who get the same jobs as the students in Wharton. Even students in political science and classics for example. I’m even talking about places like Goldman Sachs among other finance and consulting firms. Sure Wharton students are more likely to go for these jobs, but that is because CAS students overall have a much wider range of interests and goals. A fair number of CAS students will go to grad school for example or take a year off to apply.</p>
<p>The overwhelming majority of Wharton students consider themselves Penn students. The ones who don’t are the ones who have self esteem issues and need to feel superior to others. This pushes people away.</p>
<p>Undergrads at Penn are all equally respected. I have a few friends I kept over the years in Wharton and they respected me a lot for my dedication to science. People at Penn generally just do their own thing, no one is held on a pedestal for what school they are in. What’s more important is what you do while you are at Penn that makes you stand out.</p>
<p>@WhartonnotHYPS I am going to be a freshman at Wharton starting this fall. Most of what you have been saying on this thread is BS. Either you’re a ■■■■■ or an extremely closed minded high school student, but I want to make sure high schoolers interested in Penn/Wharton don’t stumble upon this thread and get the wrong idea. </p>
<p>OF COURSE Wharton students consider themselves Penn students. From what I’ve heard from RL alumni, and from reading on CC from actually Penn alums, “investment bankers” on Wall Street always tell people they went to Penn, not Wharton. Your posts seem to imply that Wharton students are inherently better than CAS/SEAS/Nursing. If you do end up at Penn, you’ll realize how childish and foolish this idea is. From what I’ve heard and experienced so far interacting with my classmates, no one has such a mindset. We all know how difficult Penn as a whole is to gain admission to, and just because Wharton is smaller and seeks a specific skill set doesn’t mean its students are smarter or more talented. I know MANY students in SEAS and CAS who are intellectual powerhouses and would breeze through the Wharton curriculum, and vice versa. Everyone at Penn, no matter the school, is very smart and has accomplished incredible things in high school to gain admission. </p>
<p>And most importantly, Penn seems to attract the down-to-earth, friendly type of student that would never bring such a closed minded, childish view that Wharton students are inherently “above” other Penn students. Penn students (from any school) consider themselves Penn students first and foremost. We love our school, and understand that even though Wharton is the top undergrad business school in the world, many programs in CAS and SEAS are equally amazing and Wharton students really just see Wharton as simply a line of study (and a community) not unlike choosing a major at any of Penn’s peers. </p>
<p>Thanks for the input everyone haha</p>