UPenn ED '26 - Chance Me

Chance Me / Match Me!
,
1

*Demographics- Household income 100k-200k. Both parents not born in U.S. (immigrants but now citizens). They both have grad school educations. Brother is an oral surgeon.

  • US domestic- US citizen
  • State/Location of residency: Southern New England e.g. MA, CT, RI (being vague so I don’t reveal anything too personal)
  • Type of high school- Public
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity : Male, Asian-American

**Intended Major(s)- Biology

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
1520 non superscored : 730 EBRW, 790 math

  • Unweighted HS GPA: mid 3.7 to low 3.8 (I don’t actually know, my school only gives weighted gpa)
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.2/5 (The highest possible gpa you can get at my school is a 4.4, this is confirmed by Naviance data and I’ve asked people in my grade)
  • Class Rank: School does not rank, I am easily within top 5% (Class size of about 380)

Coursework
All possible honors courses taken in 9th/10th grade

AP Classes I have taken:
10th grade - AP Bio (5), AP Gov (4)
11th grade - Calc BC (3, yikes, I got an A in class though), AP Chemistry (4), AP Lang (5), APUSH (5)

Senior year- AP Physics C, AP Economics, AP Statistics, AP Literature, Orchestra
Awards
volleyball varsity letter gpa scholar thing (I have no idea what it’s specifically called, obviously on my application I’ll make sure I do)
bronze medal in a volleyball tournament that has a few hundred teams compete annually
Honor Roll 4 yrs
NHS
ap scholar with distinction

Extracurriculars (this is really WIP at this point, I’ve been working on my supplemental but this is just a list of what I’ve done, not necessarily what I’ll put on my app)

  1. revised grant proposals and also revised published research for a neuroendocrinology professor (grammar, typos, diction, making sure the stuff makes sense)
  2. captain of the volleyball team (organized out-of-season practices, sportsmanship team award (conference award), mentored younger JV players with serving, passing, etc.)
  3. volunteered at the VA, ~60 hours (I haven’t been able to do this since 10th grade because of covid)
  4. captain of my team’s club volleyball team (won a bronze medal, made the best club team since 8th grade)
  5. ran an online tutoring service along with tutoring some people (made like $700 on the tutoring service thing, tutored people on Algebra 1, 2, and pre-calc)
  6. Founding member of the first e-sports team (officially affiliated with my state’s athletic conference which is under NFHS, varsity player)
  7. volunteered for a democratic primary mayoral candidate of NYC (if you know you know)
  8. ran an ebay business where I sold online game CD keys and GPUs (made a profit of like $200, happened during the recent cryptocurrency boom in 2018 and 2021)
  9. built my own computer rig, mined ethereum (cryptocurrency, made like $800) on it
  10. manager of the girls’ volleyball team
  11. weight room club (probably not gonna include this)

Essays/LORs/Other
LORs:
One was my geometry/pre-calc teacher who I had 9th and 10th grade. I would say a 6.5-8/10, he had my brother as well.

The other one taught me standard gov in 10th grade and I currently have her again senior year teaching me AP econ. I would say a 5-6/10 as she doesn’t really know me but she had my brother, and I really didn’t have any other options because all my 11th-grade teachers were virtual learning.

Essays/supplementals:
These will in my opinion be fire asf. I actually wish they did a “Why UPenn?” prompt because I had this super good idea for it. However, Ima still crush the supplementals. Commonapp essay is personal so I’m not gonna talk about it but I’m going to have my AP lit teacher and a friend read it and let me know what they think.

Cost Constraints / Budget
No cost constraints
Schools
I don’t like LACs, I go to a ~1600 size high school and want a larger school.

Note: Brother went to UPenn, I am aware that it gives a slight boost but nothing like a full-on legacy boost. I’m not applying to UPenn ED just because he went there although that’s part of why I like it, I just need a large school and it’s also known for being a very social school.

Note x2: My gpa would be way higher if my school didn’t calculate health, gym (I got like 2 b’s in gym). I’m pretty sure Upenn recalculates it tho but I could be wrong. This is actually why the highest gpa attainable is 4.4 even though it’s out of 5, because my school/state mandates a lot of standard classes, and it’s unheard of for a freshman to take an AP. Also since orchestra is a standard-only class it’s probably lowered my weighted gpa.

Note x3: I took Geometry and Alg 2 (both honors) my freshman year and got b’s in both classes. However, I got an A in pre-calc and an A in calc BC so I got dat beautiful improving trend.

2

No one will know who you are by saying your state. I wouldn’t know you if I saw you at Wal Mart - nor would anyone else. In New England you have the tuition exchange, and lots of great schools there.

If I were to guess, I’d say low on the admit chances. But it’s just a guess and it’s worrisome you wouldn’t know your GPA. You could certainly figure it out.

Class doesn’t rank means it doesn’t rank - so don’t say you’re in the top 5%. That is untrue - you don’t know.

If you say that and the HS says it doesn’t rank you will be eliminated.

Good luck.

3

Please self-calculate your unweighted GPA. A=4.0; B=3.0 etc. And post here

What college within Penn are you applying?

4

I am most definitely in the top 5%. I’ll calculate my unweighted right after this but top 5% would place me within the top 18 people in my class.

5

My self-calculated UW gpa is 3.78, discluding gym and health. If you include it, it’s 3.79.

I am applying to CAS.
My high school is around top 500 according to US News.

It should also be noted that when I wrote this it was at 3 am and I was making a very very rough list of my ECs. I’ve finished my actual commonapp EC list and it’s much more descriptive, I’ll put it under here.

Career Oriented
10, 11, 12
Year
1 hr/wk, 52 wk/yr
Mentored by Neuroendocrinology professor, removed
Revised grammar for grant proposals and published literature. Personal interest project and reflection paper on brain-estrogen function.

Athletics: JV/Varsity
9, 11, 12
School, Break, Year
18 hr/wk, 10 wk/yr
Volleyball, Volleyball Co-captain, Varsity,
Putting equipment away, mentored JV players. Set up out-of-season practices and recruited future players. Regional academic and sportsmanship awards.

Student Govt./Politics
11
School
2 hr/wk, 15 wk/yr
Volunteer for Andrew Yang’s 2021 Mayoral Campaign, Yang for New York
Online (clerical) work, such as organizing mailing lists, contacting New York voters.

Computer/Technology
11, 12
School
4 hr/wk, 30 wk/yr
Founding member (co-founder) of E-sports Club, (state athletic conference)
Partnered with redacted (under NFHS). Won sponsorship donation of ~$12,000 worth of computers from National Guard, Asus, Intel. Made the local newspaper.

Community Service (Volunteer)
9, 10
School, Break, Year
2 hr/wk, 15 wk/yr
Veteran’s Affairs Volunteer, United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Wheelchair escort service for veterans. Distributed donated goods. Helped a state-level politician distribute donated food items.

Research
11
School
12 hr/wk, 6 wk/yr
Project leader for science competition, Toshiba Exploravision
Team of 3, consulted Cell Biology professor at redacted_. FGFR-3, achondroplasia treatment. Pan-tyrosine kinase inhibitors, vosoritide.

School Spirit
11, 12
School
8 hr/wk, 10 wk/yr
Manager for the Girl’s Volleyball Team,
Did record-keeping during games, helped run practices, support the team during games. Co-ran social media account for the volleyball team.

Other Club/Activity
11, 12
School, Break, Year
3 hr/wk, 52 wk/yr
Cryptocurrency Mining and Online Business
Built two computer rigs with RTX2060, GTX1060 to mine ethereum. Unrealized profit of ~$800. Re-sold GPUs, CD game keys online for total ~$1200 revenue

Athletics: Club
9, 10, 12
School
6 hr/wk, 12 wk/yr
Volleyball, Starter, floor captain (9th grade),
Did not participate in 11th due to COVID. Won a silver and bronze medal at 2 regional (northeast) tournaments with ~300 total teams participating

Other Club/Activity
11, 12
2 hr/wk, 52wk/yr
Co-founder of online tutoring business, Homework Help
Online tutoring service that has made ~$400 since its creation. Learned to manage employees and delegate tasks. Tutored schoolmates for free.

6

Also hate to reply twice but given my high school’s rank both nationally and in the state, you could most definitely find out where I went if I told you my state.

7

humble yourself, bigdog63. we don’t care about you. your chances are mid to low.

1 Like
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Congratulations on your achievements.

I can’t chance you, but don’t see enough that will make you standout at Penn, where admission is a reach for all.

Make sure you have a balanced list of schools including at least one affordable safety.

You say budget isn’t a concern….does that mean you aren’t applying financial aid and your parents are willing and able to pay $80k/year?

1 Like
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I wouldn’t pay much attention to people who tell you that your chances are low. Nobody know. You have some impressive things in your profile. Focus on the essays. Good luck.

10

low gpa, weak ECs/awards

big reach and low chances for admission but again, UPenn is like that for 95% of applicants

11

Thanks for posting your unweighted GPA. Being top 5% is good. Your grades and scores look fine. Having sibling legacy and applying ED will certainly help. I think you have a decent chance.

Only major suggestion for you is to trim down your ECs. You have a lot of activities, but there is no need to fill all 10 spots on your common app. Portray a picture of yourself that conveys a consistent theme. You want the admissions reader to have a clear message of you, and especially how you fit as a future CAS student.

Your ECs are currently all over the place, and I don’t see a consistent message among everything. You need to package yourself. The average admissions reader will spend less than 5 mins reading everything. So only include the essential elements in that narrative. Having extraneous stuff in the app is detrimental. Good luck.

1 Like
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Thanks for the input

13

Yes, budget is not a concern for me. I am applying for financial aid but when my brother went there he only paid like 25k/year. However, and thankfully, my parents are willing to pay 80k/year if it comes down to it.

14

Strong extracurriculars (congrats!), weak GPA. Your SAT scores look pretty standard for Penn admits. The thing about schools like UPenn is that it’s hard to tell whether you can get in or not, as even the strongest applicants have a big chance of getting rejected. Your brother’s admission will definitely help. Also, don’t be discouraged, responses on here tend to skew too negative rather than too positive. Good luck with your application! :slight_smile:

(also, sorry to self-promote but I have a Chance Me thread too: no pressure at all, but I’d like it if you’re not too busy atm and you could chance me back)

15

I suggest trimming and refining your EC list, and as pointed out by sgopal2, there is no need to fill all ten EC slots in the common app; in fact, 5 to 6 should be enough. Most people (including the AOs) would become lost in glancing down a list of ten items. Your three separate listings for volleyball can be condensed to one, and the political and community services can be stated as one.

Your stats suggest that you are competitive for Penn ED. Be accurate, reflective and modest in the tone of your essays and description of your ECs, and you will have a chance.

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