If you wanted Penn I can’t see how you will be happy with NYU. NYU is NY centric. It does not provide a traditional campus based experience. I have not met one person looking for a school like Penn who went to NYU who was happy. NYU i s a great university but it is a good college for only a certain group of students. It is great if you want to be in NY for something specific NY offers (like if you are performing while attending college) but students wanting a more traditional campus based experience complain about its absence. With your credentials, I can’t imagine you’ll have to go to a generic (non-flagship) public school. Go all out for top schools. Explain your competitive skating well enough for non-skaters to understand the commitment it takes to compete. Use words like “train” “compete” rather than talking about getting all the tests done so you can be featured in the magazine. Talk more about competing against others and about achieving at the highest level possible. Those are ideas that anyone can relate to.
OP- know that it is illegal in the state of California to practice affirmative action, so being of asian status will not compromise your admissions decisions at the UCs (it could at USC, however)