What are my chances with this GPA and SAT?? Will chance back!

Hey guys, I’m a rising senior potentially applying ED to UPenn! I know this is a reach for everyone, but I’m especially worried because of my average GPA. I am hoping to boost it up by first marking period senior year. Here are my stats:

GPA: ~3.7 UW / ~4.2 W
SAT 1: 2370, 770 M 800 CR 800 W (1st sitting)
ACT: N/A
SAT 2: 790 USH, 790 Lit
PSAT: 231 (NMF qualified in the state of NJ!)
AP: AP Lang (5), APUSH (5), AP Calc AB (4), AP Physics 1 (2 lol not reporting)
Top 10% because my weighted GPA is 4.0+

I’d just like to note that my unweighted ALL COURSE GPA is around 3.65-3.7. If it is just strictly unweighted CORE COURSE GPA, it is around ~3.5. (I got a C+ in Pre-Calc H that messed everything up, and just a couple B+'s…). However, every year I have taken a very rigorous schedule; for core courses like Math, Spanish, English, Science and History I have always taken Honors or AP, never regular. In freshman/soph years I took 5 Honors classes, in junior year I took 4 APs and 1 Honor, and in senior year I plan to take 6 APs (pray for me…). I go to a medium-sized competitive public HS in NJ and I’m an Asian female.

I realize I am not a straight A student, but I believe my GPA is just enough to make me competitive, and hopefully my high standardized testing makes up for it. As for UPenn ED, I hope ED will greatly help my chances, and I also plan to get recruited for my creative writing by the Kelly Writers House (they say they recruit similarly like athletes). I have one several writing awards and I am published in a pretty well-known literary journal (Adroit Journal). I don’t know if I will get recruited (though I have spoken to the head of the house and know someone currently in there) but I know writing is probably my main “hook”. In addition, I am also an All-State Orchestra level violist and an active speech/debater with just a couple small-ish awards. I have a few leadership positions, like Editor-in-Chief of my HS literary magazine and more.

What do you think my chances are for UPenn ED (pooossibly Columbia ED but I favor Penn b/c Kelly Writers House) and other top schools like UChicago (EA), JHU, Cornell, UCLA/UCB (OOS), Northwestern, NYU? (Don’t worry, I have some safeties!). Thanks guys!

@pennlove It’s hard enough to chance someone for an Ivy, and it’s even harder to chance an applicant like you. Obviously, your standardized testing is strong as so are your ECs. But a GPA represents four years worth of day-to-day work and a 3.7 is obviously lower than the average at Penn. GPAs are taken with some extent of a grain of salt, as not all schools grade equally and grades are – let’s be honest here – rather subjective. My school’s CGC recommends that students only consider Ivies if they have a 95+ UW avg. (my school does it out of 100, but I assume a 3.7 would be a 92 on our scale), but your other factors are quite strong. If I were you, I would show off my writing abilities in my essay and go ED. Best of luck!

Penn - low reach
Columbia - reach
(don’t be discouraged – those two institutions are reaches for almost everyone)
JHU - high match
Cornell - high match
UC Berk - match
NW - high match
NYU - match