<p>After going through several pages of this thread, I realized that many people were curious of whether or not they will be accepted for Upenn. I saw high SAT scores and a huge amount of extra curriculars and these caught my attention because many people I know who got accepted to UPenn got a lot lower whether in SAT 1 or SAT 2 and some or most, hardly did any extra curricular activities. The question then is, how did these people get accepted?
I’m living in Philly so the people i know who currently at Penn are also from Philly and they attended the top high school in Philly. Does living in Philly held any advantage in getting accepted?</p>
<p>Yes.</p>
<p>But college admissions is largely a crapshoot.</p>
<p>dolphie4lyf3, do you live in the suburbs or the actual city of Philly?</p>
<p>At my school, I'm assuming a handful (more than 5, less than 10) of kids get accepted each year, but about 5 actually matriculate. I don't know if this is necessarily how many kids from your schools get admitted. I have also found that a good chunk of people I know have gotten into Penn but not necessarily matriculated. Any thoughts? (BTW, I live in the suburbs of Philly)</p>
<p>dolphie4lyf3:</p>
<p>A couple comments to put things in perspective:</p>
<p>Profile of Class of 2009:</p>
<p>Penn does tend to favor Philly (and PA) residents a bit.
The average SAT of admitted students is about 1400 (old system)
Be in the top 10% of your class.</p>
<p>Note too:
A huge list of ECs tells the adcom you spent 4 years padding your ECs
Not everyone who posts stats on CC is telling the truth.</p>
<p>Admission to any given school is a bit of a crapshoot as Gold Duck commented. But if you fit the profile of admitted students academically, don't worry about your ECs - they are what they are. Everybody gets good reccs from their teachers so...</p>
<p>Make contact, write good essays and you'll get in somewhere good. (And don't forget about grad school! Once you have that PhD nobody cares where you went for your BA.)</p>
<p>How about great supp. recs?</p>
<p>I've got a UPenn doctor and Congressmen Rob Andrews.</p>
<p>To KRabble88,
I live in the city in Philly, about 20 minutes drive away from UPenn, and like your school UPenn accept about 10 people from my school yearly and only about half attended. I'm currently a senior and plan to apply to UPenn for the class of 2010. Are you also planning to apply to Penn also?</p>
<p>To William C,
A lot of people that I knew accepted to Upenn probably didn't meet up to 1400 on the SAT, perhaps mid 1200s or at most 1350s. But in the past few years, I noticed that Penn accept all the one who ranked number 1 to 10 in my school.
I was a bit worried because I didn't participate in a lot of activities and I don't know if by ranking number 5 in my school would get me in disregard the limited activities I participated in. </p>
<p>As I browse this forum, I saw people get like 2200s on SATs and 700s on SAT 2s, why would these people still worry about admission to Penn if they have such high scores? I understand why I'm worried cuz I got much lower, that's why looking at those scores make me realize I have smaller chances of getting in.</p>
<p>I personally think what everyone thinks matters a lot doesn't matter that much at all.</p>
<p>I think the admissions have to get a good feelings about you. The scores help but perfect SATs don't mean much about a person except that they study, a lot.</p>
<p>That's what I thought too, especially since Penn doesn't really look at scores from students attending my high school. I think high school's reputation matter somewhat in the admission process and knowing that a certain person rank a certain number in that high school mean better chance of getting in.</p>
<p>:-</p>
<p>Unfortunately that doesn't help me at all.</p>
<p>My school was on the Warning list for No Child Left Behind.</p>
<p>However, I recently found out that one of last year's seniors was accepted to Penn.</p>
<p>Of course I don't mean that high school's reputation means everything in the admission process, and plus I don't mean to say it in a negative way. If last year's seniors got accepted to Penn from your school that mean that you got a better chance now since you have representations already in their college. Are you applying for the class of 2010?</p>
<p>Yes.</p>
<p>The girl who got accepted did not attend though.</p>
<p>dolphie4lyf3,
I go to a public school in the suburbs of Philly (30 minutes away from Penn's campus). I plan on applying to Penn ED, but I don't seriously expect myself actually being accepted. You may call me negative or not confident, but that's truly how I feel unfortunately. I can tell you this though: if I were to get an e-mail from Penn in December saying that they have accepted me, I will literally faint..</p>
<p>Anyway.. do you go to a public or private school? Roughly the top 5% of the graduating class has about a 1400 (M + CR) or so. The top 1% normally has 1500+ SAT (between M + CR). Unfortunately for me, I know at least 15 other people applying to Penn (approximately 10 who are applying ED). The only thing that could remotely help me is that I'm an Asian male. I'm not an URM per se, but there are not many Asian males in suburban Philly schools that are academically motivated (I'm the only Asian male in my grade who is in the top 5% of his class-- I know it doesn't make a difference, but it makes me feel better everytime I tell myself this..:o). However, I do know a good handful of Asian males from private school that work hard and get into nice Ivies, etc.</p>
<p>I supposed Penn considers schools of the Greater Philadelphia area as being a part of Philadelphia as well (or maybe it's because we're all a part of Pa?). The Penn admittees from past years were not super duper spectacular, but they had at least one distinguishable aspect about him or her that stood out (no Olympic gold medals or Nobel Prizes, but an activity that he or she stuck with for all 4 years of high school).</p>
<p>So as I have said before, I wouldn't be surprised if I got flat-out rejected from Penn. The only problem would be telling my parents and all the kids who ask at school.. :( </p>
<p>Sorry for making you read all of this! I hope you found it insightful or interesting in a way.</p>
<p>By the way, I'm sure it's nearly impossible to find these types of statistics for admissions, but does anyone happen to know what the % admitted for each minority group happens to be? I'm particularly curious of this..</p>
<p>You have to keep in mind that for the most part, all applicants roughly have identical GPA's and EC's. With all things being equal, it's just a crap shoot or "throwing darts" after that.</p>
<p>To KRabble88,
I attend public school in Philly, and my public school consider one of the top 3 public schools in philly but I don't think that stand out or anything when it comes to admission. I'm asian as well but different from you, I'm a female. Most people that I knew who got accepted to UPenn are mostly Whites and Asians maybe cuz the school I attend constitutes of whites and asian majority.
I was invited to visit Penn in April when I was a Junior and I fell in love with its campus and environment. I never know that down center city of philly lie a great university such as penn. Are you thinking of Drexel or your idea is fixed on Penn?
I don't agree with your assumption that if you rank a certain number in your class, you should get a certain number on your SAT. There are people who don't do well in school yet did exceedingly well when it comes to test such as SAT. It just show that these people did lots of preparations and that's all.
What would you major if you do attend Penn?</p>
<p>Our school curriculum may be structured differently from yours. All sophomores are required to take a "Standardized Test Prep" class, where we essentially prepare for the PSSAs but also PSATs and SATs. I guess it just works out that the top %s of our class usually get around a certain SAT score, but I do agree with the fact that lazy kids can score well on the SAT by just preparing well for it. Although, I think Penn would be more forgiving when it comes to SAT scores from an urban school. I would assume that not as many from your school attend college or higher education compared to suburban schools, so they would definitely take that under consideration.</p>
<p>Yes, I also fell in love with the campus. I had been to Philly so many times, and I felt that the school was way too close to home. After visiting the school and talking to friends who attend, my view of the school has changed completely. Instead of what I initially thought Penn was like (streets, sidewalks, etc.), it was actually very suburban-like with gorgeous buildings. Of course this isn't the only reason, but the scenery was not what I expected and the facilities are no doubt world-class.</p>
<p>I will not be applying to Drexel, and Penn is the only Philadelphia school that I will be applying to. If I am lucky enough to be admitted to Penn, I would go to the College and probably major in chemistry or biochemistry. You?</p>
<p>Like your High School, my high school also prepare us well for the PSSAs and the PSAT. We took the PSAT for 3 years including freshmen year and another one for Sophmore year and up until Junior year and by Junior year, we are required to take prep class too. Not all urban schools are like what you have assumed it to be. Public schools such as Masterman, Central High, and Girls' High in the Philadelphia school district did better than the a lot of suburbans school and if not all, 99% of their students attend college for higher education. It is as competitive for us as it is for suburbans school when it comes to admission to the Ivy.
If I do get accept to Penn, I will go for Wharton majoring in of International Business. I have taken 4 years of Mandarin Chinese in HS so I might as well go with it too in college. If I don't get accepted, I will try to get into USP or Drexel majoring in pre-med if not Pharmacy.</p>
<p>Ahh.. my perception of urban schools is definitely different from what I suspected it them to be. I was at Overbrook High School and Benjamin Franklin High School before, and the facilities seemed to be definitely sub-par. To tell you the truth, your urban school definitely seems better than my suburban school. Approximately 60% of our graduating class goes to a 4-year college and the remainder either work, go into the service, or attend community college.</p>
<p>It seems like your interests are kind of spread out. Why don't you study pre-med at Penn or International Business at Drexel?</p>
<p>I'm kinda (not too much) freaking out about admissions though. I know it isn't the world if I don't get into a particular school, but I still can't help but worry about my chances at Penn. At best I'm the average applicant and at worse, I'm a boring person with boring EC's. Ugh..</p>
<p>Your best bet is to be from west philly. Penn lets their kids in as a courtesy for gradually forcing the poor out through gentrification.</p>
<p>(which, by the way, I am all for)</p>