What about me? Rejected also

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Caucasian Male, California</p>

<p>GPA: 3.74UW / 4.26W
Rank: 33/705 (top 5%)
SATI Composite: 800 M / 800 CR / 730 W = 2330
SATII: 800 IIC / 730 US
AP: Euro 5 / US 5 / Calc AB 5 / Eng. Lang 4
Senior APs: Lit, Gov, Psych, Stats, Calc BC, Macroecon, Microecon </p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>Fundraising is my strong point ($$$ donated generally 1/2 to HS senior class & other 1/2 to help w/ China’s orphanages - my family adopted & I am really involved w/ that):
*Ran a golf tournament & silent auction fundraiser. Raised $11,400. 51 golfers, 96 dinner guests. 360 personal volunteer hrs; other volunteers put in another 450.
*Ran a Bowl-A-Thon Fundraiser. Raised $1,600. 160 participants. 80 personal volunteer hrs; other volunteers put in another 90
*Ran a Luncheon Fundraiser. Raised $1,100. 65 lunch guests. 25 personal volunteer hrs.</p>

<p>Also:
*Started a small business at school that sells aids that make graphing easier for students. Made $350 last yr. Not sure about this yr, but profits are going to Hurricane relief.
*Volunteer as an assistant teacher in a program that helps children recently adopted from China keep in touch w/ Chinese language/culture (my family adopted my sister 2 yrs ago). Also started a program to donate a box of essentials to a different orphanage in China each month.
*Cross Country & Track 9th - 11th
*Boys Scouts (Life Scout)
*Math tutor
*Religious School & Service
*Freshman Mentor</p>

<p>Work Experience
*Worked at McDonald’s since end of sophomore year (18 months). 13hrs/wk year round
*Peer Tutor 3hrs/wk yr round</p>

<p>Awards (nothing special):
*AP Scholar w/ Honor
*Finalist in ROP Business & Management Program
*Finalist in SoCal Leadership Contest
*“Most Likely to Change the World” - maybe means something in class of 700
*Honor Roll & CSF</p>

2

<p>Wow. It's hard to believe you weren't at least deferred. Have you called your regional rep to get insight(even for your RD apps)? But your biggest problem may have just been the huge increase in apps to Wharton and from California this year. You may have just been unfortunate to be in both categories. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>gpa is to low/rank is to low</p>

4

<p>his gpa/rank isnt that bad
in a class of 705 being 33rd is still pretty good</p>

5

<p>that's only thing i could see with this app... i think the rest is great</p>

6

<p>Stambliark, I truly can not imagine why you were rejected, and I would sure like to know. You appear to be an amazing candidate. Is there anything with the relationship between Penn and your school?</p>

7

<p>Maybe too many Asians applied? Only thing I could see.</p>

8

<p>wait.....i thought reeze and stambliark were the same?</p>

9

<p>no, reeze = skierdude</p>

10

<p>essays could make a difference, i'm not saying this was you, but i know people that should've been locks for other ivies, legacy, good grades, good sats, good ecs, good awards, that were rejected for bad essays or coming off as arrogant*</p>

11

<p>maybe you making that useless "who got 800's on their SATs" thread turned your luck around</p>

12

<p>stambliark isn't Asian</p>

13

<p>im gonna go with your rank being too low.</p>

<p>and you have zero leadership positions within the school</p>

14

<p>yeah, but a finalist in a leadership competition?</p>

<p>btw, what is a leadership competition?</p>

15

<p>btw both of my teachers told me that that their recs were the best they wrote for any of their students.</p>

<p>Everyone - I am speaking w/ my regional director Monday.</p>

<p>Reeze - I agree w/ you on the GPA/rank. That was my bet too. BUT, I do have an upward trend & am taking 7 APs this year. I thought if grades were the issue my upward trend & my tough senior year schedule would warrant a deferral.</p>

<p>MomofWildChild - no relationship w/ Penn. Two kids got in last year; one attended. I was the only who applied ED, but we did have like 10 or so apply EA to Stanford.</p>

<p>CuJoe - looking back on it they mave interpreted that my essay was arrogant. It was in the future and it was supposed to start off as arrogant giving that impression and then go back to my charitable soul. At this point I am actually willing to PM/email you my essays if you would like. :)</p>

<p>AJ42288 -</p>

<p>my leadership is running fundraisers. like the golf tournament was pretty insane. it was 30hrs/wk for 3 months during school. i supervised about 20-25 student volunteers that put in combined just short of 500 hours. this included coordinating press coverage, getting businesses to donate 75 lunches, gift bags, donuts, coffee, balloons, and i dont even know what else. on top of that we got 80 sponsors to donate either cash or silent auction items, including $2,500 from Taco Bell Corporation (I talked extensively w/ their PR Director...and their #2 guy who makes $6 million a year played in the tournament).</p>

<p>In over 2,000 tournaments run by the club over an 18 year period, the one I put together was run by kids. </p>

<p>All of this was included in the app (e.g. all the stats, our program, the front page newspaper article, etc.). That, with my other fundraisers, was my "hook." I think that's a lot more leadership than "National Honor Society Secretary."</p>

<p>Sorry if that sounded cocky, but I just wanted you to know what all that was. 1/2 the money went to the school and it was put together by kids from my class, but anyway.</p>

<p>26e - the leadership competition isn't significant. It was only like a county competition, and I was only in the top 6.</p>

<p>Anyway, keep it coming. :)</p>

16

<p>I wish you got recomendation from that Taco Bell guy</p>

17

<p>hmm yeah i dunno. what i figured was he wouldn't be able to add anything, and it says not to send them if they can't add anything. maybe their PR director though...I wonder if it'd be too late to give that a shot.</p>

18

<p>i don't have the slightest idea y u were rejected.. seriously.. my stats are very very much weaker than urs, and being an intel asian further decreased my chances.. yet, surprisingly, i got deferred..</p>

19

<p>any other ideas?</p>

20

<p>pool, maybe?</p>