To those who think that low scores/being an ORM will kill your Ivy League chances.

Applying to College Admission Stories
1

GPA: 3.7 GPA, almost had two Cs, both on Chemistry. For the record my public school is ranked around 80th out of over 300 in the state.
Two SAT II scores under 740+, which are considered to be not competitive enough for Ivies here.
Ordinary letters of recommendation.
Asian American male, so I’ve been stricken by the affirmative action curse.

I’m attending UPENN in the fall.

Don’t ever give up because you’re not a CC poster child. Market yourself. Express your character in your essays. Be different. Don’t be a high SAT score. Be a person.

Good luck, kids.

2

thank you.

3

Every at my school needs to see this.

4

I give you my thanks as well, for our confidence will lead to our success in college.

5

Just out of curiousity, was it a 3.7 weighted? Either way, thanks for posting this. As a fellow ORM, I’ve always felt like my favorite schools would never accept me because of my subpar academics. You have no idea how suddenly and how much this post has raised my confidence. Thanks.

6

This gives me hope, and I’m a URM!
Congrats by the way!!!

7

This gives me hope!~

8

Congratulations! I am also looking to apply to UPenn for the fall of 2012. Just out of curiosity, what school did you apply to? Was it Wharton? And how were your extracurriculars? Were they out of this world? I ask this because every time I read an application that was accepted by an Ivy League school, I see things like “tutor at orphanage”, or “help disabled children”. It just seems like if you don’t save lives every other day, you don’t have much of a chance at these schools.

9

Applied to CAS.

And I never saved a life, nor do I have great ECs. Most important EC was marching band where I had my own share of awards.

10

It’s all about the %es.

For “normal” kids the chances are above 0 . . .

but they still are low . . .

but some still get in!!!

e.g.,

  • for students not in the top 10% at their school Brown admitted 2%
  • Brown admitted 4% of applicants with SAT Math of 550-590
  • Brown admitted 2.3% of applicants with an SAT CR less than 590
11

In that case, this is very encouraging. Hope to see you next year at UPenn!

12

As a parent I’m going to second Excavlier’s advice. Turn a potential problem into a strength by making yourself highly visible to the school. If at all possible, attend jr. or sr. visit day and follow it up with a personal note of thanks. Arrange an interview (on campus, alum in your hometown, or via skype) and again send thanks. If you have a question that cannot be answered by the school website, query your designated admin officer via email. Investigate courses and majors online and correspond with professors, always sending a copy of the email to the adm officer. The lesson? Get in the school’s face - in a nice way - and don’t leave. AND, be sure your essays reveal who you are. The point is to give the school a reason to say “yes.” Showing extraordinary interest in them is one way to do this and is what Excavlier means, I think, by marketing yourself. Good luck to you all.

13

Your small and simple post just inspired me. Thanks for that!

14

That’s called anecdotal evidence and is only worth so much.

15

even if only anecdotal, this is still quite motivational. thanks for sharing.

16

I bet you had some really awesome extracurriculars.

17

I appreciate the inspiration, Excavalier! Congratulations on your Penn acceptance.

18

This is what I was thinking. OP, congratulations, but students need to create realistic college lists–reaches included, but not by any means depended on.

19

Congrats!!! I’m so jealous :stuck_out_tongue:

What state do you live in?
And…what rank are you?? I’m only in the twentieth percentile…but I really want to go to Upenn!

20

OP
You were benefited from Early Decision and you got extremely lucky.
Go through EA results from top colleges and pay attention to RD results in late March.
You will see how rare your case is.