University of Pennsylvania Class of 2013 Official RD Thread!

<p>Accepted into Wharton. From New Zealand. Applied for Aid. :D</p>

<p>God, has it really been four years already… </p>

<p>It feels like it was not long ago when I was posting my own decision in the 2009 RD thread. Time flies by SO fast once you get to Penn.</p>

<p>I’m really not kidding… the transition from freshman to senior year is like the blink of an eye. As anxious as I am to move on from Penn and venture into life after college, I’m really sad to be leaving.</p>

<p>So, to all those who didn’t get in… please do not worry. Things will be fine. Believe me, I used to be one of the biggest skeptics of the notion. I always used to hear that “You’ll do great no matter where you go!” statement, and I’d just scoff and call BS on it. Now I realize that I was totally wrong, with countless examples to prove it! Do what you love, and do it well… you will truly be successful if you stick to your guns in this way, no matter where you go. Promise. </p>

<p>As for those that were accepted… I really hope you all love it here. I wish you all good luck :D</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted at Wharton</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2330: 750 V, 800 M, 780 W
[</em>] ACT: N/A
[<em>] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Physics, 800 Chem, 790 USH, 790 Bio-M
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.13
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 out of 333
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): 9 APs, all 5’s
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Spanish, AP Eng Lit, AP Envi Sci, AP Human Geo
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Scholar, Siemens Awards for AP, 2008 US Physics Team Quarterfinalist
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout with Bronze Palm), XC and Track, Etc…
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Worked for Cornell Prof, Local Catering Company
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Led Service Proj, Flood Relief, Tutoring
[<em>] Summer Activities: Worked for Cornell Profs
[</em>] Essays: Excellent
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Excellent
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Excellent
[<em>] Additional Rec: From two Cornell Profs, Excellent
[</em>] Interview: Good, lol
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[</em>] Intended Major: Economics
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): NY
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): USA
[<em>] School Type: Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>] Gender: M
[</em>] Income Bracket: 200K+
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nope
[/ul]**Reflection ** [ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Grades (All A’s), Academics, Awards, Extracurriculars
[<em>] What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: Siemens Award, Flood Relief
[</em>] Weaknesses: Listed Harvard as National Merit Scholarship first choice school
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Academics, Extracurriculars
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at P’ton, Wharton, Duke, Cornell; Waitlisted at Harvard and Columbia; Rejected at Yale, Stanford, MIT
[/ul]
Wharton or Princeton?</p>

<p>^ Wharton…i got into Harvard but I will most surely be joining Wharton.</p>

<p>Seriously for all the kids who applied to wharton with SATs of lower than 2200, what a wast eof your money. Seriously what were you thinking? I mean I understand blind hope but hope when you have at least a SLIGHT chance! Poor admissions officers wasting their time looking at applications from ■■■■■■■ (SAT<2200)… Oh well they get what they deserve anyway…</p>

<p>hey a-hole above. I got into the M&T program with a 2040. and im white</p>

<p>hahaha @pahka0709. glad to know people like you will be in wharton’s class of 2013. i am hella excited.</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted! Wharton, Here We Come!</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2350
[</em>] ACT: 34
[<em>] SAT II: 780 760 690
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.5
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 15%
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5545
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: 3 APs, 1 Honors, Two Languages
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Democrats Club (President), Crew Team (Captain)–hope to walk on Penn’s team, Volunteer for Obama Voter Registration Drives
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Intern for a few years at congressman’s office
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Lots. My passion.
[<em>] Summer Activities: Travel, Domestic and International Community Service, Couple of Selective Academic/Research Programs
[</em>] Essays: Spent the most time on them out of any other school’s essays.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Both were awesome–got 5’s on the APs and straight As in their classes.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Quite good–I meet with my counselor every couple of weeks so I’d say he knows me fairly well.
[<em>] Additional Rec: No
[</em>] Interview: Nope
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[</em>] Intended Major: Econ (what else?) w/ dual degree in international studies or poli sci
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): NJ
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Private
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: 200k+
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Essays, Leadership/ECs, SAT Scores, Bilingual and Learning Chinese and Spanish
[<em>] Weaknesses: ORM, GPA
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Essays
[/ul]General Comments: Only Ivy I was accepted to. Only needed one.</p>

<p>@ honey bunny : i got in with a SAT of 2190 (super-scored) and I am an international applying for aid…it’s better not to draw such conclusions…</p>

<p>wow genius! 2190 is SOO UNDER 2200! hey mind using your brain for once?</p>

<p>^nice come back.
What a wanker.</p>

<p>Decision: Rejected</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1410/2010 (Math 800, CR 610, Writing 600)
ACT: N/A
SAT II: 800 Math I, 790 Math II, 670 Chemistry, 620 U.S. History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/117
AP (place score in parenthesis): Statistics (4), World History (3), English Lang (3), U.S. History (2), Chemistry (2), Phsyics C Mech (2)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Psychology, AP Calculus BC, AP English Lit, AP Physics B, Journalism, Drafting 2, AP Micro/Macro, Earth Space Science Honors
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): idk what counts, I got a few National Mu Alpha Theta awards and Eagle Scout.</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Boy Scouts (Various Leaderships, Eagle Scout), Math Team (50+ Awards/VP), NHS (VP), NTHS, Science Team
Job/Work Experience: Bookkeeping and Kumon Instructor
Volunteer/Community service: appx. 100 hours
Summer Activities: LeadAmerica Conference, National Mu Alpha Theta competition
Essays: They were teh ebst out of all the ones I wrote, though I didnt do the pg. 217 one.
Teacher Recommendation: Not bad, pretty average in terms of recs though.
Counselor Rec: Standard
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: It went fairly well, nothing too special though.</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Nope
Intended Major: Architecture/Minor in Mathematics.
State (if domestic applicant): Florida
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Magnet Public School
Ethnicity: Asian-Indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: High
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation college.</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Extracurriculars, Essays, Math Scores.
Weaknesses: SAT/AP Scores
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Probably my scores, and my GPA isn’t perfect. </p>

<p>General Comments: Congrats to everyone who did get in/waitlisted :slight_smile: I would’ve liked a waitlist at least. lol</p>

<p>Waitlisted </p>

<p>800 M, 680 CR, 760 W (2240)
33 ACT
4.27 GPA, Top 5%, 8 APs
2 varsity sports… other than that, not many amazing ECs </p>

<p>I didn’t have Ivy-level ECs, which is why i think i was waitlisted. Penn was my dream school, but I wouldn’t have been able to afford it anyway. I’m off to Pitt Honors… for free. Congrats all!</p>

<p>Accepted SEAS! 32 ACT, 4.0 GPA, varsity tennis, some awards, 5’s on AP physics, Calc. I’m really surprised i got in… i applied on jan. 1 and wrote the why penn essay in about an hour. sorry to the rejected, you’re all very qualified.</p>

<p>Pick one:
Decision: Accepted to M&T</p>

<p>**Objective:[ /b][ list]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): First time: 740 M 710 CR 590 W Second time: 700 M 750 CR 680 W
[</em>] ACT: 35
[<em>] SAT II: 760 Math II, 790 US history, 720 Lit
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.99
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5,5,4
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load:
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
[/list]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):car restoration, backpacking, XC, Soccer, the usual
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: a little
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: like everyone else
[<em>] Summer Activities:
[</em>] Essays: worked hard on them
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: hope they were good
[</em>] Counselor Rec: probably not good
[<em>] Additional Rec:none
[</em>] Interview:none
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: oh yeah
[</em>] Intended Major: M&T
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): UT
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: private catholic
[</em>] Ethnicity: white
[<em>] Gender: m
[</em>] Income Bracket: not too much
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): don’t know
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: maybe essays
[<em>] Weaknesses: scores
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: i really can’t believe it
[/ul]General Comments: Good Luck!!
It’s not my style to post stuff like this. But I’m doing it so people can see that I actually got into M&T without 800 math scores and that USAMO stuff</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted- Wharton</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]</p>

<p>[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 1430/2210 (700 Reading, 730 Math, 780 Writing)
[</em>] ACT:33
[<em>] SAT II: 700 US history; 690 Math II (I thought this would be my downfall)
[</em>] Weighted GPA (out of 4.0):4.19 (don’t know unweighted)
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 5%
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): 1 class somphomore year, 3 junior year, 2 senior year with 2 dual enrollment classes
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: 2 dual enrollment clasess, 2 APs
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Dual enrollment scholarship
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Steady job since sophomore year
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: volunteer at local middle school with various sports teams. over 300 hours of services
[</em>] Summer Activities: work
[<em>] Essays: i don’t want to go to penn and tried to sabatoge it through my essays but apparently it didn’t work
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation: great
[<em>] Counselor Rec: great
[</em>] Additional Rec:
[<em>] Interview: problems scheduling which i thought would help in my quest to be denied. but it eventually happened and went well. i can’t be mean in person
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
[<em>] Intended Major: Business
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): PA
[<em>] Country (if international applicant):
[</em>] School Type: Private</p>

<p>[/ul]Reflection[list]</p>

<p>[*] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Penn is very familiar with my school and I think that had a lot to do with why I got in. They generally like kids from my school and even if they aren’t the strongest in the overall applicant pool (like me) will accept them because they know my school produces top quality students who are overall good people.</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted SEAS</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): M: 740 CR: 770 W: 730
[</em>] ACT:
[<em>] SAT II: Math II: 800, Physics: 710
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9/4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): English Lit (4), Spanish Language (5)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Spanish Lit, Humanities, AP Calculus BC, AP Music Theory, AP Biology
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Unified Sports (a partner of Special Olympics) for 2 years, community action club (3 years), soccer (non-varsity) 3 years, Spanish honors society, latin club, marketing club
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: None
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Under extra-curriculars
[<em>] Summer Activities: Working on music/ games
[</em>] Essays: Good enough
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: No clue, but I think they were good
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Probably great
[<em>] Additional Rec: none
[</em>] Interview: none
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[</em>] Intended Major: Digital Media Design
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): CT
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: 100+
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): My twin brother and I made a whole website devoted to our work. This includes my many electronic music compositions and a flash game we made called Two Rooms. All are extremely high quality works, especially the game which has received 1,500,000 + hits online. All this work makes me stand out.
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Website, solid academics overall
[<em>] Weaknesses: Not enough leadership
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Because I have a strong drive in the digital media field, plus good academics
[li] Other colleges: Denied: Dartmouth, MIT. Waitlisted: Carnegie Mellon School of Comp. Sci. Accepted: WPI, Cornell, UPenn[/li][/ul]General Comments: Good Luck!!</p>

<p>[color=green]Decision: Accepted<a href=“Wharton”>/color</a></p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): CR: 610; M: 770; W: 670 - Total: 2050
[</em>] SAT II: Math II: 630; Physics: 720
[<em>] TOEFL: 653 (PBT)
[</em>] Rank: School does not rank (although probably top 1 or 2 of 60)
[li] IB: Diploma candidate (predicted 42 + bonus)</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars: Non-varsity tennis and golf; classical guitar; student government/class spokesman
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Summer internships; Self-employed web designer
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Editor/committee work in my golf club; wide array of other activities (as part of the IB CAS program)
[</em>] Essays: Apparently better then I thought!
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Very good
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Excellent</p>

<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[</em>] Intended Major: Economics (B.S.)
[<em>] Country: Norway
[</em>] School Type: Large, public
[<em>] Ethnicity: Norwegian, white
[</em>] Gender: Male
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: IB Score
[</em>] Weaknesses: SAT Subject test scores
[li] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Good Penn Essays; Predicted 7 in IB Math Higher level[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Decision & College: CAS DEFERRED/REJECTED</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT Reading: 700
[</em>] SAT Math: 780
[<em>] SAT Writing: 730
[</em>] SAT Total: 2210
[<em>] SAT II: Math II 710, Lit 680, Physics 660
[</em>] TOEFL (if applicable):
[<em>] ACT (if applicable): 32
[</em>] AP/IB taken/scores: 5’s on BC Calc, English Lang, US Gov
[<em>] GPA weighted (if applicable): 3.9ish
[</em>] GPA unweighted: 3.6ish
[<em>] Rank or % estimate (if applicable): 10th percentile-ish out of 400
[</em>] Academic Awards: Nope</p>

<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: Good, had plenty of people read and like
[</em>] Teacher Rec #1: Good
[<em>] Teacher Rec #2: Also good
[</em>] Additional Rec: Employer rec – quite good
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Good, I assume? It’s public school…
[</em>] Hook (if any): General artsiness with a bit of part-time jobiness</p>

<p>[/ul]Location:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: CT
[</em>] School Type: Competitive public
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Legacy Yes/No: Nope
[</em>] Recruited Yes/No: Nope
[li] Important ECs: Creative writing, theater, chorus, part time job making smoothies!![/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted: Vanilla-ness</p>

<p>General Comments/Congratulations/etc: Penn was a bit of a shot in the dark for me, like the rest of the Ivies. I was a big fan, but hey, it’s nothing personal. CONGRATS ACCEPTEES, best of luck waitlistees, and fellow rejectees, we’ll deal. :)</p>

<p>Also, I went into a bit more detail on these stats on my ED deferral if any of you are so interested as to look. ;)</p>

<p>Decision: Waitlisted (Applied to Vagelos LSM, with CAS ‘Back-up’)</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 800m, 780w, 740cr, 2320
[</em>] SAT IIs: 800math2, 770chem, 730bio-e
[<em>] WGPA: 98.139 (+5/honors, +8/AP)
[</em>] Rank: 9/315 (not disclosed)
[<em>] AP’s: 2 US History, 4 Physics C E&M, 5 Physics C M, 5 Chem, 5 Calc BC, US Gov, Psych (self-study), Bio, English Lit, Stats
[</em>] Other stats: MAT 215 at Princeton (did poorly), 350+ hours volunteering at hospital, astrophysics research, varsity tennis, NHS president, etc.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: Decent
[</em>] Teacher Recs: Good
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Good
[/ul]Location/Person:[list]
[</em>] State or Country: NJ
[<em>] School Type: Public, some grads to top schools
[</em>] Ethnicity: Indian
[<em>] Gender: M
[</em>] Staying on the Wailitst: Yes</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): R-750 M-760 W-750
[</em>] ACT: 35
[<em>] SAT II: Chem-780 Lit-740 Math-760
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7-8 ish
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 19/119
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Chem(5) Calc(5)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: [Ind.] AP Phys C both parts, [Ind.] AP Comp Sci AB, AP US Hist, AP Lit, Deutsch IV, College-level Organic Chemistry
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): n/a
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Bot Scouts of America Eagle Scout, Marching Band(treasurer), Concert Band, Top Jazz Band, Piano, Guitar, Violin, Persussion, Mandolin, Interact, Yearbook(business manager), Varsity Soccer, Varsity Tennis, Head A/V Technician, HS Musical, Jr/Sr Class Play
[<em>] Random: Made a hologram for fun. Built a 7 foot tall medieval siege engine for fun. Made a high end headphone amplifier for fun. All were done starting with little or no knowledge of the subject beforehand.
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: YMCA/Community Pool Lifeguard
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Relay for Life, Eagle Project, 'bout 150 hours with Scouts
[</em>] Summer Activities: Calculus II, PSU, Grade- A; Comp Sci 101, PSU, Grade-A,
[<em>] Essays: Ridiculous good. Best essay I’ve ever written. Ambitious rhetoric and tasteful humor in one neat package.
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation: Wrote about how while grades weren’t that important to me, my motivation and personal ambition were the best he’s ever seen in his career.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Good, just wants to be able to say “heh heh i got a kid in *fill in good school</em>”
[<em>] Additional Rec: nope.
[</em>] Interview: n/a
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yep
[</em>] Intended Major: Computer Engineering, Robotics focus
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): PA
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: Iranian and Western European, put down Caucasian
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket: Rather not say. Not anything ridiculous, just not sharing that info.
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Made all my own opportunities.
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Motivation, optimism, worldview, and drive, coming from a unique kid in a backwoods redneck right-wing-nutjob ultraconservative small town.
[</em>] Weaknesses: Class rank, grades.
[li] Why you think you were accepted: Motivation, optimism, worldview, drive to affect humanity in a meaningful way[/li][/ul]General Comments: Gimme mah money</p>