<p>hey guys, so here's my background so you can help me out better:</p>
<p>I'm a freshman at a renowned california community college, known for its students who transfer to top universities. I'm taking tough classes and am in the Scholars Program. I'm taking 16 units and working part time.
My dream is to transfer to UPenn. It's been my dream since HS. I applied while in HS and didn't get in. I want to transfer there for my sophomore year. If I get a 4.0 my first year here, while working, dancing ballet (my hobby since forever) and getting involved on campus (student gov), do you think I'd have a shot at getting in? </p>
<p>I know they look at my HS record as well because its for sophomore year.
here's my stats on that: SAT 1950, GPA 3.9, took a lot of APs, involved with community service and editor on school newspaper, danced ballet on the side. </p>
<p>my mom called penn after i got my rejection letter and the dean said that i didnt get in because i didnt have straight As. i'll make sure i dont get any this time.</p>
<p>You'll make sure you won't get any straight As? lol...</p>
<p>I think you would only have a shot if you were very borderline before, and your desire to attend UPenn shows that way, or you did some amazing stuff in CC. Not just classes, but meaningful ECs. It sounds like you did some work, ballet, and student gov, but I don't know how hard the work was, what level the ballet was at, or what accomplishments in student gov.</p>
<p>hey, not wanting to sound rude or anything, but i'm just curious, seeing as how i will be applying to colleges this fall.</p>
<p>if you had a 1950 and 3.9 and were aiming for Penn, you probably could have gotten into other great universities. why/how did you end up deciding to go to a community college?</p>
<p>The OP said that her dream was to go to U Penn, so i'm guessing that the OP decided to go to a community college (that was renowned for sending its students to ivies via transfer) and save two year's of tuition at some national university because she wanted to eventually go to Upenn.</p>
<p>i meant i'll try and make sure i do get straight As. sorry for the typo but i think u understood what i meant.
to hannahmontana, i actually didnt get in anywhere else (not even my match schools like UCSB, UCSD, and BostonCollege). well unless u count the schools i didnt even apply to. uc merced offered me admission w/o an application, saying that if i spent 2 years there, i would be guaranteed admission to ucsb. forget that. i also got offered admission without an application to uc riverside. i hate that school so i opted for a community college closer to home.<br>
i have been doing meaningful extracurriculars. but i wasnt president of anything. i'm intermediate in ballet. started when i was 7, and have been doing it on and off. i'm dancing right now in college. i wasnt involved in gov. in HS but i want to in college. </p>
<p>I'm in a similar situation as you (I just started PCC as a freshman today and I'd like to eventually become a competitive applicant for Yale or Columbia.)</p>
<p>If I can give you any advice it's make sure your ECs stand out significantly. Doing ballet is fine but it's not going to make you stand out. I actually had to give up dance to make room for my ECs.
(I've been helping out w/ neuropsychological research at the City of Hope this summer and I'll be interning for the LA Times but even those aren't significant enough ECs for the ivies IMO) </p>
<p>Furthermore, do something creative w/ your ECs that no one has ever thought of before. For example, I'm a violinist but merely listing that on my application is not going to help me, so I've been thinking about playing my violin as community service for patients in hospitals and stuff.
Colleges like to see dedication in your extra curriculars though (quality over quantity) so don't just make a laundry list of ECs.</p>
<p>Your high school ECs aren't going significantly to help you if you apply as a junior. For you college stuff, do something more significant that merely getting involved in campus; why don't you intern somewhere? </p>
<p>Also getting straight A's doesn't mean you're a shoe-in; it only means you're qualified enough to apply.</p>
<p>I'm not sure what the cut off for UPenn's SAT scores are, but you should check that out. For example, Stanford's website lists how high your SAT score needs to be if you wish to be considered as a transfer applicant.</p>
<p>Make sure your recommendations are the best recs your professors have ever written if you want UPenn to take you seriously.</p>
<p>I'm actually slightly fuzzy about the importance of the scholar's program, so can you do me a favor and tell me why you think it'd help you? What is that, anyways? I only started PCC so I don't know anything about that yet!</p>
<p>"my mom called penn after i got my rejection letter and the dean said that i didnt get in because i didnt have straight As. i'll make sure i dont get any this time."</p>
<p>I don't think that's right. The dean probably told your mom that because they get tons of phone calls from rejected students' parents and it was the quickest way to deal with the issue. Most (including me) of the people that get into Ivies do so without straight As (I had Bs every semester except senior year of HS)... the fact that you didn't get into your match schools tells me that it wasn't your grades but some other glaringly large issue with your application.</p>
<p>Unfortunately transfer admissions to the Ivies are more competitive than freshmen admissions (as impossible as that may seem). The 4.0 (really anything above a 3.7) is only a qualifier to be taken seriously, it doesn't help you much after that. Work hard at ballet... try and get into big productions (or competitions?). Show them in your application how much time you devote to it. Find some research, work for a professor.... these are very impressive short-term measures you can take to boost your application. Don't collect a laundry-list of awards and activities... that'll dilute your application. Focus on 2-3 of your strongest suits and really sell them on it.</p>
<p>i'm not at PCC, i actually never even heard of that.
I'm at Santa Monica College. i just heard an SMC student was one of the 20 students that got in as transfers to Stanford.
the scholars program is basically an honors program. honors classes are offered as well as more counseling. it's a transfer alliance program for UCLA as well.
i wonder what was wrong in my originial application... maybe my essays werent heartfelt enough. i dont know.. and never will.</p>