UPenn ED Class of 2023

looks like i’m taking a tylenol before checking my decision… @elena719

in response to does the video open on your phone, no when I opened my decision last year the video didn’t play on my phone, but like you can just read the letter it’ll say clearly if you get in or not

Also I would not worry about each other’s chances and stats. srsly since ive got here nobody has asked about gpa or sat scores any more, nobody cares once your in the school

i feel like stats dont matter as much as your passions do

@bichon_frise99 I partially see your point but there is a massive sense of security in having super high stats, and I doubt Penn would take a student with a 3.0 GPA and 1300 SAT but with a lot of “passion” (unless they were black/hispanic).

High stats corroborate your ability to act on your passions. You can’t claim to be passionate about an academic area without being high achieving academically.

I’m not sure it’s “massive” bc many of the applicants have stats just as stellar as you (or me, or anyone else)

What if the applicant has like a midtier GPA, like 3.2-3.5, but with like 1550+ SAT score, high subject test scores, and amazing ECs? like basically if everything about the application was damn near perfect except for their GPA.

Like my unweighted academic is like 3.6, weighted 3.95, but everything else about my application is great I think. It’s just the GPA is the one sore spot. This isnt a chance me per say, just thinking about it

@kungfukenny idk how you choose to interpret this, but this is from upenn.edu:

“Performance in high school is the single most important factor in the student selection process at Penn. However, because grading and ranking policies are different around the country and the globe, it is difficult to pinpoint one metric for a student’s success in the classroom. The most competitive applicants have pursued a rigorous program of study and achieved top grades in the context of their school.”

And if ur asian, then with the GPA you say you have, it may be a slim-decent shot. But if your black/hispanic you should be good.

@bichon_frise99 true, I agree that many of the applicants have stellar stats, but keep in mind that the stellar stats that you see are gonna be the top cadre of applicants (typically the ones who actually decide to open a college confidential and post to this thread). I wouldn’t be surprised if a big chunk of applicants were not qualified, and I think that having true perfect stats (kinda like urs from ur chance me or mine or anyone else that does have them) is a slight subconcious edge in the mind of the admissions readers.

@collegeboi2023 I think that’s where the counselor stuff and class rank come into play

elegiggle didnt achieve the top grades in the context of my school, time to pray to amy gutmann

would having passions that aren’t connected to the major of your choice be important? like i applied for a biochem major, but the bulk of my EC’s are violin related. A bunch of state/national competitions and placing in them, musical volunteering, basically everything and a lot for violin. but i dont have much for chem and stuff other than my grades for it. got a 5 on ap chem exam, good grade in the class, 790 SAT II score in chem (800 in math II). i explained my passion for it and how i wanted to go into healthcare really well in my why penn essay (i played violin at a cancer institute every summer for the past 3 years, so i guess that’s kind of healthcare related, like musical therapy type stuff). would this be alright for me or not? because the optimistic side of me tells me that all this commitment and dedication to penn shows my drive and how im able to work towards a goal really well, and since im good at stem stuff and have a passion towards it, penn can see that im suitable to be a biochem major. but the pessimistic side of me tells me that i dont have enough EC’s that are directly related to healthcare/science. any thoughts??

tldr; my EC’s are mostly violin, but they’re really good violin achievements. im good at chem/stem stuff bc my grades/testing for them are good. would penn see this as good because of my dedication? or would violin be kind of useless towards the major i applied to? i really talked about my passion for it and how/why i want to pursue healthcare by being a biochem major in my why penn essay

@reeeeee1 i think it’s not necessarily bad, it just helps if ur app is cohesive. but i dont think it not being cohesive will kill you lol, esp if ur violin achievements are top tier and u show academic strength in chem

@reeeeee1 it won’t hurt at all. this one kid from my school was the #1 violinist in the state and one of the top in the country, wanted to pursue bio/biochem, and turned down Penn for Stanford. Applied to both RD too

@bichon_frise99 i’d say im one of the top few in my state so thats good for me I guess. i just need all the validation i can get for these next few days bc thursday 7pm is making me SO anxious. i hope u understand LOL

y’all need to find a hobby or something cause your anxiety is only gonna get worse over the next few days

guys go bake a cake or smth
calm down we will all be fine

The anxiety sucks. I know everyone says you shouldn’t be stuck on a single school, and I’m not, but I’m definitely in love with Penn. I can’t help but feel like I’m setting myself up for major disappointment. Life is just so stressful rn with other college apps + winding down on the semester + family stuff. Without even thinking about it, I’ll go to the common app and start rereading my essays. Never felt so insecure as an applicant.

I guess here’s to thursday

@collegeboi2023 I think they will view your application in terms of the resources available to you. A poor Asian is obviously at a disadvantage compared to a rich Black person and they will take that into account. And an AO said a 1510 from an Asian was “trash”?