<p>**Stats: (retaking SATs)
[ *] SAT Verbal: 760
[ *] SAT Math: 730
[ *] SAT Writing: 710
[ *] SAT Total: 2200
[ *] SAT II: World History- 770, US History- 780, English Lit- 700
[ *] ACT: N/A
[ *] AP/IB taken/scores: European History(5), World History(5), English Language(5), US History(5), Comparative Government (4- self study)
[ *] GPA weighted: 4.13
[ *] GPA unweighted: Dont give. Approx 3.7high
[ *] Rank or % estimate: N/A
Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs and a religion class</p>
<p>[ /list][ b]Location/Person:[ /b][ list]
[ *] State or Country: PA
[ *] School Type: Independent- Catholic leaning- usually 3 or 4 in Penn every year ED
[ *] Ethnicity: Asian
[ *] Gender: Male
[ *] Important ECs: Forensics (District Champion, State Quarterfinalist, National Qualifier (top 65), several top finishes at large tournaments), Drexel's Honors College Visiting Scholar, Varsity Swimming (9-12, All District Team, Captain), Violin (Assistant Concertmaster at my orchestra, VP, All Catholic 1st chair), Varsity XC (9-12), NHS Vice President, Co-Founder of a school service trip to Toronto</p>
<p>Awards: AP Scholar with Distinction, NMSQ Semifinalist, several school awards</p>
<p>Yale: High Reach
UPenn ED: Reach (What school are you applying to within UPenn?)</p>
<p>Overall, you have a relatively low GPA, but a rigorous course load and decent SAT scores. You also have great ECs, and if you emphasize this in your essays, you will be a much stronger applicant.</p>
<p>@raider1999: Looking at the posting times, I beat you by one minute : ) haha</p>
<p>Yale admission can get really crazy at times; its a high reach for almost everyone. I think you will be a strong applicant to UPenn though. Just make sure you package your application together with some sort of direction/passion.</p>
<p>@ballpoint and idont joke- thats really what I was worried about, will they take my school’s grading system into consideration? (94-100 A, 90-93 B+, 86-89 B, etc)?</p>
<p>UPenn (ED) - Low-Reach
Georgetown - Reach
Yale - A bit out of range, Extreme Reach
Schreyers (PSU Honors College) - Match
Haverford - Don’t know anything about this college, sorry.</p>
<p>Your 3.7 is not a loss, not ehhh, if your hs is rigorous. (Adcoms will know.) Thing is, IMO, the ECs are beyond the ordinary this-club and that-club listing. It’s a nice range- forensics, honors coll, concertmaster. I’m guessing you also have volunteer work. I am guessing you are on-target with your list. It looks like you’ve backed yourself up with Haverford and Shreyers. Only thing is: admissions is so compeitive these days, be sure your list is long enough. Sure, go for ED.</p>
<p>@lookingforward thanks a bunch! but do colleges really look at volunteer hours that much? (I have 200+ hours at a hospital and through a service trip to West Virginia), I never really thought they gave it much consideration?
and my school is pretty competitive at the top 15-20 students (out of around 125) with around 10-15 going to top tier schools</p>
<p>Yale is not looking too hot my dude. Your grades and SAT plus the profile are looking at the medium low end, and if your ECs aren’t up to par, I’m saying high reach. Penn is a little easier, but not by much. The ECs are what will push you through in all honesty, but I believe your transcript’s rigor is very attractive(Don’t know much about the High school).</p>
<p>Raider, re your question to me: there’s no magic formula. But, community service/volunteering, service trips, mentoring, etc, are all things that take us out of our comfort zone. Colleges notice.<br>
When they put the whole picture together, they’ll see a kid who can aim high, manage his time, climb out of the comfort zone, persist - and more.</p>
<p>As for Yale, just look at their very nice description, “What Yale looks for,” on their admissions site.<br>
And, to all- colleges, especially top ones, know quite a bit about rigorous/competitive hhigh schools. One of the responsibilities of those travelling regional reps is to keep abreast of academic and other trends at various schools and issues in various regions, etc. Add to that, GCs usually send a detailed school profile along with their reccs</p>
<p>Penn:
Testing Means for the Middle 50 Percent of Enrolled Students
(25th-75th percentiles)
Test Range
SAT: Critical Reading 660-770
SAT: Math 690-780
SAT: Writing 680-770
ACT Composite 30-34</p>
<p>I don’t know much about any of the Ivys, but I do know that PSU Honors does not look much into GPA and SATs (if at all). I went to a program over the summer and they emphasized essays and recommendations… So if those are good you should have a good chance with your ECs!</p>