UPenn - ED Nursing/CAS chances

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Hi, I'm applying to the University of Pennsylvania's Nursing program, and I would like to see how I size up with the other applicants.</p>

<p>PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Gender: Male
Race: Asian (Chinese)</p>

<p>TESTING SCORES:
SAT: 2040, 2140 (700 Reading, 720 Math, 720 Writing)
SAT Superscore: 2140
SAT II: Chemistry (760), Math II (790), Biology (760)
ACT: 34 (35 English, 33 Math, 34 Reading, 35 Science, Combined English/Reading 32)
AP: Chinese (5), Biology (5)</p>

<p>SCHOOL:
School Rank: #70 on US News Rankings, #2 for Open Enrollment Math and Science
School Location: California
GPA: 3.82 Unweighted 9-12 (Upward trend, 4.0 Junior Year)
Percentile: Top 25% (top 20 is 3.83)
Rank: School does not rank
APs and Honors: Chemistry Honors (10), AP Biology (11), Precalculus Honors (11), Chinese 4 Honors (11)
Senior Year courses: AP Calculus BC, Physics Honors, AP Government, AP Macroeconomics, Chamber Orchestra, Teacher Assistant, Contemporary Literature</p>

<p>AWARDS:
National Merit Commended</p>

<p>LEADERSHIP:
Forum leader (includes organizing international projects)
Captain on quiz team
Co-Principal Keyboardist for MVCO (does this count?)</p>

<p>VOLUNTEER:
Local hospital (150+ hours)
Sunday School teacher (200+ hours)
Teacher assistant at summer school for autistic children (85 hours)
Tutoring at low-income housing area (30+ hours)</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS:
Tri-M Music Honor Society (service club)
Chinese Honor Society (service club)
Psychology Club
Piano for 12+ years</p>

<p>My test scores are pretty good, and I think my volunteer experience is pretty good. However, my Leadership/Extracurriculars are on the weak side, and my GPA is only OK in a super-competitive school. Also, I am worried that affirmative action may leave me way behind other asian males.</p>

2

<p>Is there really no one applying to Nursing?</p>

<p>Does being a male increase your chances of getting into Nursing?</p>

3

<p>this makes me sad :(</p>

4

<p>Don’t be sad! You’ve had an excellent high school career. I don’t profess to be an expert at Penn Nursing’s admission criteria - my only experience is that I have a child in the program.</p>

<p>Penn Nursing gets many, many outstanding applicants with excellent test scores and high school grades. Consequently, I believe they focus on a real commitment to nursing, your essay and teacher recommendations. I believe they want to see that you have the right temperament for nursing but also have high post-graduate aspirations. I think Penn sees its mission as producing nursing leaders - which is what you would expect for the top-ranked nursing program in the world.</p>

<p>You have a lot to offer and should focus on your outstanding volunteer activities.</p>

<p>I can also tell you that the program is run by a wonderful group of professors and administrators who really want the students to succeed. I was concerned that we would confront the “large school/faceless administration” syndrome at Penn but that has definitely not been the case. My child loves the atmosphere at Penn. The nursing students are a friendly group and as for the University at large, when a place has the throw-weight to shut down the Philadelphia Art Museum for an orientation party, you know you are playing in the big leagues.</p>

<p>Good luck with your application and with your future.</p>

5

<p>My daughter is a freshman in the nursing program. I agree with the previous poster’s observations. So far my daughter loves the program. She has met some great people and loves her professors. It is a lot of work but they are learning so much so early in the program. My daughter did a lot of volunter work and shadowing which I believe helped her the process. It showed the admissions committee that she really thought about what she wanted to major in and that she was serious about nursing.</p>

6

<p>bump 10char</p>

7

<p>bump 10char</p>

8

<p>bu-bu-bump</p>

9

<p>these threads go real fast :/</p>

10

<p>I think you have an excellent chance of being admitted. Being male helps and your volunteer time in a hospital and with kids helps. They really want students who have exposure to health care - less likely to transfer out of the program!
Have you visited Penn and made an appointment with the Nursing Dept? This could really make a difference.</p>

11

<p>@ShanghaiMom: I went visited the Nursing school over the summer and talked with some students. However, I didn’t get the chance to make an appointment with them :(</p>

12

<p>badump badump</p>

13

<p>I think you have a good shot at the nursing school. Good ACTs + overall good package (nothing seems to be lacking!) + less competitive pool = positive chance!</p>