Shaping up so far...

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>So I am a junior and the whole college thing is creeping up really fast! Penn has always been my #1 (both of my parents graduated from there) and now that I will be applying in less than a year, I'm really worried about what I feel is a subpar high school transcript.</p>

<p>Let me begin with that my freshman year of high school, I royally screwed up, in that due to laziness I only took 2 honors courses, and ended the year with a 4.0 weighted GPA. </p>

<p>World History - A-
(H) Geometry - A-
English I - A-
P.E. - A
Italian 1 - A
(H) Biology - B
Concert Band - A-</p>

<p>Sophomore year I stepped up my game, and took 5 honors courses and ended the year with straight A's ( a 4.64 weighted for the year).</p>

<p>(H) Italian II - A-
(H) U.S. History I - A
(H) English II - A-
(H) Algebra II with Trig - A
(H) Chemistry - A
Financial Literacy (Half-year required course) - A
Technological Design (Half-year required course) - A
P.E. - A</p>

<p>So at the moment I'm sitting with a 4.32 GPA during my junior year and my grades this year are much lower than I had anticipated. Right now my current grades from this year look like:</p>

<p>P.E. - A
AP Chemistry - A-
AP Language and Composition - B
(H) Physics - B
(H) U.S. History II - B
(H) Pre-Calculus - B (The common consensus in my school is that this is by far the most difficult course offered)
(H) Italian III - A-</p>

<p>I want to go to school for Computer Science (Currently I am taking Harvard's Comp. Sci. intro class online) and plan on taking the AP Java course my school offers next year (along with AP BC Calculus, AP Physics, and AP Stat). In terms of extracurriculars, I am a two season athlete, soccer and spring track & field. I belong to the Environmental Club, the Math League team, the Science League team, and the Chemistry Olympics team. I also plan to join the NHS when I am eligible next month. I am taking my SAT's next week and based on a recent practice exam I am likely to score between a 2150-2200. I would like any opinion whatsoever to improve my chances to getting into Penn before it gets too late. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Leadership. Lead something.</p>

3

<p>Oh, and don’t lead like you’re a robot doing something that someone posted on the internet because it sounds good.</p>

<p>It’s about putting yourself out there, going all in, for something that you really enjoy or are passionate about.</p>

4

<p>Lead in soccer and/or track and friend if you can. Don’t join any more clubs, you have just enough to be dedicated. Having 2x parents from Penn is a plus. Stay in the top 5% of your class and get atleast a 2250</p>

5

<p>Lead, lead, lead. Something - it doesn’t matter what. It’s a check-box-esk prerequisite for admissions officers, so make sure that you have it. Also: make sure you work extra hard on your essays this summer, and that your junior year grades end strongly. For Penn, transcripts and essays seem to beat out test scores when it comes to the importance. Smarty99 is right- 2250 should get your foot in the door just fine.</p>

<p>Your legacy status will be a huge boost (at Penn more so than many other schools) - IF you apply early decision. If you don’t, it won’t help you much.</p>

<p>Edit: maybe HUGE isn’t the right word, but if your other stats are up to speed, it can beat out others in a tiebreaker.</p>