If I had a 33 ACT, decent subject test scores and strong Extracurriculars (but nothing unusual/atypical of students who would apply to UPenn), would I have a shot a decent shot at applying ED? I’m trying to decide between UPenn CAS ED and Cornell CALS ED (bio major)… any opinions? I’ve toured both schools and liked them both, so it really just comes down to which one I have a better/decent chance at. I can list Extracurriculars if anybody really thinks thats necessary.
There is a lot more in an applicant than what you listed. No one can chance you without the detailed info.
33 ACT, 4.3 weighted GPA, haven’t taken subject tests yet but I have no reason to believe they wouldn’t be decent scores
Sophomore year: Anatomy & Physiology (most people failed but I had an A), AP English Lang
Junior year: APUSH, Honors Trig/Pre-Calc, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP spanish lang, honors English
Senior Year: AP Euro, AP Calc, AP English Lit and either Bio 103 or A&P 2 at a local college
Key Club treasurer for 2 years
Teaching assistant for an English teacher
World Language Club Executive Board
NHS
Piano (8 years total… competitive through freshman year and now I just take lessons)
Tennis (not on a team, just take lessons)
Various community service totaling at least 25 hours
Art club (freshman year only)
Pennsylvania Governor’s school for Healthy Careers (now run through Pitt, but same curriculum) - month long camp
Spanish Language Camp (week long this summer)
And I’ve worked every summer in high school
Statistically speaking you have a better chance at Cornell.
Do you think I’d have a half decent chance at penn?
are you legacy?
Not legacy at either
I feel like a majority of your extracurriculars are on the weak side, as they are a bit generic. Maybe you should retake your ACT so you can raise it up to a 34-35.
Do you think a 34 ACT would give me a good chance at Penn? I’m not sure that a 35 is feasible
Yes it would.
I recommend giving more thought to the kind of environment you’re looking for. Penn has an urban campus and is in a less than desirable area of Philadelphia (though it’s improving slowly). Cornell is very rural with a gorgeous campus that’s quite far out of the way. Penn is very pre-professional and the culture can be competitive. I don’t know the culture of Cornell.
In order to get into either school, you’ll need to demonstrate passion for something and improve your extracurricular/employment activities as well as your ACT score. Fortunately you’re starting early and you’ll have plenty of time. I recommend an internship in a field of interest or volunteer work that ties into your passion. The ACT people have a fairly new website where you can upload your score and it will create a computerized practice schedule for you based on the areas in which you need to improve. Best of luck!
I’m really passionate about health science and that’s what I plan on writing my essays about. I figured the governors school would help with that since it’s health related. There’s also a place that works with sending lightly used medical supplies to countries in need… I was thinking about volunteering there a bit this summer. I thought this would especially be a strength for Cornell since in CALS I’d be applying specifically to the bio major. I’ve toured both schools and both have positives and negatives to the point that it’s basically a toss up between which I want to go to. I want to apply ED tho so I need to pick one. I just worry that if I apply ED to penn and don’t get in it might be harder to get in RD at Cornell, and so I may not get into either. I know they say ED has the same criteria as RD which I’m sure that it does but I also think the odds of getting in when compared to 6k applicants is far better than when compared to ~50k.
You are a competitive applicant. Your stats and ECs are good. Write amazing essays and you could get accepted