Hey guys,
So I’m an international student from New Zealand and I’ve applied to Penn CAS 2020. Would greatly appreciate it if anyone could take the time to offer their opinion on my chances of getting in. Here goes:
SAT I: 2270 (720/750/800 CR/M/W)
SAT II: Maths L2: 760, Phys: 730, Chem: 720
GPA (Unweighted, school doesn’t do weighting): 3.92
Class rank: Approx top 1-3%
APs: Our school teaches New Zealand’s national curriculum (NCEA) so I didn’t take any AP subjects so to speak, but I took all the honours courses that I could have taken (Calculus, Statistics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English)
Extracurriculars:
Scouts
Taekwondo
Model UN
Three choirs
Took a first semester of university mathematics at University of Auckland
Student Librarian
Maths Tutor
Volunteer Work (~420 hours):
Peer Support Leader
Part of a program for helping students with additional needs. Involved tutoring an under-performing 8th grade English class and mentoring a disabled 8th grade student
Various volunteering for Scouts. Helped run an activity base for 3 weeks at the last scout jamboree. Other community fundraising activities.
Helped build two sheds for an organization that collects and maintains old military equipment.
Awards:
1x Qualifier for NZ Math Olympiad Camp
2x Qualifier for NZ Informatics Olympiad Camp
Choir has won numerous regional awards and won four gold medals in an international competition (topping one of our categories)
Several school-level academic awards and a service and leadership award
Some awards in math and informatics olympiad styled competitions
Income bracket: ~$90k
Cheers 
!
Being an Anglosphere applicant helps a bit; your ECs are strong but average.
What is your intended major?
@aBitOfLuck how can ECs be both strong and average?
@stressinsteph I meant that they are average for Penn but strong overall.
The Olympiads are a big deal, though.
Obviously you are very smart and have done some great EC’s… but I don’t quite get a sense of what your “passion” is in your EC’s… I think thats what others mean when they say strong/average and what is your intended major? So my advice to you (since you obvi have what it takes for admission) would be to keep in mind its not what you do so much as why you do it…
When you are writing your essays and listing your EC’s make sure to do so in a way that an admission officer can clearly see what your passion/ intentions for your Ec’s are and hence your fit for the college… so they have a good idea about who you are and what you will bring to the school … does that make sense? Not what the activities so much as why the activities…
Cheers for the advice. Yeah, I definitely see what you’re getting at and I’m aware my EC list looks sorta motley. The ECs I’m most passionate about would be my choirs and the mathematics and programming competitions/olympiads I did. My intended majors are also mathematics and computer science, so I talked about that in a lot of detail in my essays.
Re: runswimyoga “… but I don’t quite get a sense of what your “passion” is in your EC’s… I think thats what others mean when they say”
Say what? runswimyoga, I think you are misunderstanding what college admissions counselors mean when they say “passion”. They don’t mean only enthusiasm or talking about them with tons of adverbs. And it isn’t a matter of necessarily discussing them in the essay. They mean a combination of being driven by the student and achievements. In other words, they are looking for achievements/successes/innovations/win in the EC that were initiated by the student rather than having been organized or forced/encouraged by an adult. They want students who have been successful at their pursuits and who will continue to be active and successful once in college. The word “passion” is simply a euphemism. The OP did not discuss the awards in the Olympiads so I don’t know the level of success for the OP but they are a big deal-one the American students are often clueless about.
@Ihazmuffin Then I think you have an excellent chance!
@lostaccount I think it is you who misunderstand the concept that I was trying to convey… please read straight from Admission counselor- scroll down to where she talks about EC’s it reads: (and that part is underlined!)
" She said that when listing activities, it is not about the what, but about the why. Why did a student do these activities?..That will give readers a chance to see what is important in that student’s life, because chances are, students will continue those activities in college."
“Passion” is the sense of it is a big interest for you that you will continue in college so the school can have a good idea of what activities you will continue to participate in because they are very meaningful to you…
http://www.boarddocs.com/pa/cmdvsd/Board.nsf/files/8ZMHX34A8EDD/$file/College%20Admissions%20Summary%20Fall%202012.pdf