Sorry to bother you guys.. but if you have time.. i need a little input

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
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<p>Hey… I’m 90% sure on applying ED to Wharton / Huntsman (can’t hurt to try… I figure)…</p>

<p>I’m an asian-american (parents from taiwan) living north of boston… senior this year…</p>

<p>Cumulative Unweighted GPA - 3.57
Cumulative Weighted GPA - 4.21/4.49
Cumulative Weighted GPA (used for rank) - 8.54 / 9.5-10 ish?? (we are the first class that they are using this new gpa system on)
Rank-in-Class - 8 / 307</p>

<p>My school only allows seniors to take AP courses. I’ve taken all honours courses so far and pulled a few strings freshman year, so I completed AP French this year (This gives me a significant weighting boost which accounts for my low unweighted and high weighted GPAs). I really like foreign languages so I skipped French 2, Spanish 1 and my schedule is really packed so I didn’t have time for Spanish IV but I studied Spanish 3 over the summer…</p>

<p>Senior Year Courses:</p>

<p>AP European History
AP Physics
AP Chemistry
AP Calculus
Honours Idea of Man (12th grade English, no AP courses offered)</p>

<p>SAT:
M-770
W-720
V-610 (definitely retaking… my friend who scored perfect in verbal is tutoring me one on one so im shooting for at least high 600s)</p>

<p>SAT II E. Bio - 640 (freshman year)
SAT II Chem - 710 (sophmore year)
SAT II French - 740 (junior year)
SAT II Physics - 730
SAT II Math IIC - 760</p>

<p>AP USH - 4
AP French - 5</p>

<p>I speak English, Mandarin, Taiwanese (Hakka Dialect), and French fluently (or close enough). And I’m studying Spanish currently (not fluent at all… I know the grammar… but I speak Spanish about as well as Bush does… and that’s not saying much)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>National Honour Society - 11,12
Cross Country- 9,10,11,12
9 years of Piano at the New England Conservatory of Music
9 years taking Chinese
Tutoring Two Chinese Girls Adopted by American Parents in Chinese- 9,10,11,12
Tutoring Chinese to an American Middle Schooler (just started this summer… plan to continue next year)
Founder / President of Young Republicans - 11,12
Republican Advisor to Current Events Club - 11,12
Community Service Club - 10,11,12
International Club - 11,12
Spanish Club - 11,12
Elected Delegate to Student Gov’t Day at State House - 11
Campaigned for local GOP candidates
The Young Republicans also put out a bi-weekly conservative publication (i’m the editor). </p>

<p>About 120 ish hours of volunteer work at the Chinese school?</p>

<p>I work at a coffee shop and during the school year I work about 6-12 hours / wk… </p>

<p>I also got the Colorado School of Mines Award for Math & Science… random… but thought I’d mention it</p>

<p>Recs are pretty good. History teacher (us and european history) / French teacher (AP) who went to Penn (she asked me if I wanted her to do my interview or formal rec… and I chose rec… is that better?)</p>

<p>Interestingly enough, because of the newsletter, some teachers were a little peeved and my application to join National Honour Society was rejected due to “character flaws.” I brought it up with the administration and the decision was overturned.</p>

<p>I’m really interested in the Huntsman program at Penn (for French) and am planning to apply ED (with my single-degree school choice as Wharton). For the international perspective, I’m an ABT (american-born taiwanese… never heard that one before I bet…) and for the longest time I hadn’t been interested in anything really… but after visiting Taiwan before I started high school, I became fascinated with foreign languages and international affairs. I’m a strong advocate for Taiwanese independence, and I write articles / attend rallies / try to call attention to Taiwan’s plight… etc etc</p>

<p>Do I have an alright shot? What if I can get high 600 / low 700 on verbal (retaking it in 2 weeks)… </p>

<p>Long post… but thanks in advance for your input!</p>

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<p>Another question. How important are verbal scores for Wharton in relation to the other schools @ Penn.. </p>

<p>like my brother got into Cornell Engineering with an 800 in math but a 600 verbal</p>

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<p>Verbal is less important at Wharton than at the college, but a 650+ (ideally 700+) would improve your chances greatly.</p>

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<p>I don't think the ABT is that special of a trait. I have plenty of Taiwanese American friends who are hardcore independence advocates even though they are American citizens. I mean I don't know how admissions percieve it, but to me that trait seems to pretty common.</p>

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<p>I was also planning on writing about how I learned French. It's a long story, but my neighbor (who is my age) moved here from France during the 7th grade. He could only speak French and Cantonese and I could only speak English and Mandarin Chinese. In the beginning, it was like a wild charades or pictionary game, where one of us would have to decode what the other was saying. Eventually, I picked up on French and Cantonese and he learned English and Mandarin. Once we became friends, he admitted that initially, he thought I was an obnoxious, fast-talking Yank (the stereotypical image of an American in France.. naturally) and I told him that I thought he was an arrogant European (he had and still has a terrible habit of criticizing American cafeteria cuisine). We laugh about it now, but I think I learned more about French culture and customs from him than any French class I've ever taken.</p>

<p>Would this be a better / more unique / compassionate essay topic?</p>

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<p>I heart Taiwan.</p>

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<p>I've decided to just copy and paste the following response to those that it applies to...i think it will be helpful though:</p>

<hr>

<p>As the thousandth person who’s asked their chances at a school, and who is met by a bunch of kids the same age saying responses that have no judgment to them, I say this. There are very few times when someone can realistically look at someone’s profile and say "automatic acceptance". In the last few months, there have been enough "chances" threads with kids who have near perfect stats to fill most of an Ivy League class. The rest can be filled with those on this board who haven't made a thread but still possesses the same stats.</p>

<p>After spending a rainy weekend going through about 200 of these "chances" threads, I see a common trend that is broken only by a handful (either in a good or bad way). You have the grades, you have the SAT scores, you have the claim that you're essays and recs will be great, the class rank, all that stuff.</p>

<p>But so many people have that....there has to be more. Nobody is going to say "damn, all the things I've done in the last four years haven't been good enough" - and I'm not saying all your accomplishments aren't good enough. But what I am saying is that they are, generally, commonplace. Just change President of [club name].</p>

<p>There is a distinct difference between listing all your accomplishments and formulating them into something presentable. Applying to college is like selling yourself to an employer. Here is a good example. You got 10 photographers in a line. Each one has been in some photographer magazine, won an award, had plenty of experience, did great at Photography school. Each one gave me a pretty good "Why I want the job" statement. But I can only pick one. I already have a photographer who can take action shots and one that can take still shots. All ten photographers are great at those. BUT, one of these ten sent me an awesome portfolio of underwater photography that really seems to be his specialty. None of the other ten can do that...so I pick him.</p>

<p>Why did I pick him? Because he possessed something unique and showed it to me. He didn’t focus on the fact he was great at all the types of photography – all the rest were too. I later found out that one of the other photographers was awesome at environmental photography – but I didn’t really know, because some of his best shots were mixed in with all his other accomplishments.</p>

<p>Hopefully you got the gist of that story without an explanation, but those that need it, here it goes. Pick out the thing you’re best at…and shine on it. Don’t lose someone in a plethora of sports and music awards while your passion for biology is hidden.</p>