U Penn - what's my chance?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello everyone, this is my first post here. This looks like an interesting and very informative place.
Anyway, I'd like to know what my chances are for getting into the University of Pennsylvania. Penn is my first choice, and I would like to apply for Early Decision.</p>

<p>Here is my info:</p>

<p>PSAT Selection Index: 222, 99th percentile
SAT I: 2240 (Math 780, Verbal 710, Writing 750)
SAT II: Biology M: 730, Math Level 2: 720
AP: Biology, English Language, US History, Calculus AB: 5
GPA unweighted: 4.148
Estimated rank: top 5-10% maybe? My school doesn't rank
Scholarships: $3500 scholarship awarded to top performing freshmen for four years</p>

<p>Essays: written but still need fine-tuning
Teacher Recs: don't have those in hand yet, but I think they will be good, both teachers liked me very much
Guidance Recs: don't know, should be pretty middle-of-the-road</p>

<p>Next year's courses:
AP Calculus BC
AP Physics
AP French Language
AP English Literature
Astronomy/Fundamentals of Electric Circuits (1 semester each)
Religion (required)</p>

<p>Personal data:
Location: near Philadelphia, PA
School: private Catholic
Ethnicity: Asian
Male
Legacy: None
ECs: Trumpet in band (concert band, grades 9 and 10; jazz band, grades 11 and 12)
National Honors Society membership
Some volunteer service (nursing home and Easter Seals)</p>

<p>I hope that wasn't too long. So, based on your experience, would I be able to be accepted to Penn at all? Also, what do you think my chances are of getting into other universities, such as Princeton, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon etc.?</p>

<p>Thanks very much,
Nick</p>

2

<p>Are you applying to CAS, CES, or Wharton?</p>

<p>What's your unweighted GPA? (No, 4.148 is not an unweighted gpa)</p>

3

<p>^ actually it could be his unweighted...at my school, it's possible to have over a 4.0 GPA because our scale is really weird. what we have is 95= 4.0 , 94 = 3.9, 96 = 4.1 and so on</p>

<p>but to the OP, although academically you have great stats, you have listed only 3 EC's which don't seem to be very significant...</p>

4

<p>this is sort of a tangent, but i doubt your psat score will be very significant (well...actually, you can probably put National Merit Semi-Finalist/Finalist as an award)</p>

5

<p>Everything looked great till' I read "Asian Male". Sorry bud, but you don't have a chance (especially with those ECs and that rank).</p>

6

<p>haha what? you have only 3 EC's...and none of them are significant. sorry, i doubt it's going to happen.</p>

7

<p>Here is bad news.</p>

<p>UPenn: REJECT
Princeton: REJECT
Cornell: Maybe
Carnegie Mellon: In</p>

8

<p>^ i don't know about Cornell...his EC's are very lacking.</p>

9

<p>True.</p>

<p>Cornell: Unlikely/REJECT</p>

10

<p>gaffe, always brutally honest. i have to agree though. scores are good. EC's are lacking to say the least. ap load looks good.
penn-CAS, reach
princeton-uber reach
cornell-reach
CMU-likely</p>

11

<p>Hmm, thanks for the replies everyone. Any other opinions? I had a feeling that the extracurricular activities would kind of torpedo my chances.</p>

12

<p>well i was accepted ED this year with a SAT score of 2130 and GPA of 3.75UW, so i think my EC's really helped me out. like all these top schools, Penn's probably looking for a complete package considering their applicants
generally already have high quantitative stats. about the asian male thing, i have really no idea how much that affects you although everyone on this website seems to freak out about it...theres nothing you can do about that haha so just focus on your essays and what you can control.</p>

<p>Will</p>

13

<p>you have band and NHS, neither of which are really an EC. Band is during school and NHS is basically a BS requirement to get in. Although you're EDing Penn; you won't get in. What did you do with all your time in high school?</p>

14

<p>His unweighted GPA is above 4, so I'm guessing that's where he invested his time.</p>

15

<p>lol Gaffe I like how you capitalize every letter in "REJECT" </p>

<p>But, like everyone else said, your EC's are very lacking and that will keep you from getting into top20 schools. I dunno, try to look for schools that focus more on scores. My friend had a 1510, but very few ECs and he got into NYU Stern, Notre Dame, Carnegie Melon, and Uchicago, so try those schools maybe.</p>

16

<p>Whats the hardest to get into for UPenn ? CAS, CES, or Wharton?</p>

17

<p>wharton by far</p>