<p>Just curious, and thought I might start a discussion here.</p>
<p>What exactly does Penn value the most?</p>
<p>Is it GPA? Test Scores? Or perhaps just how well you fit into the college/program's values?</p>
<p>GPA and rigor of transcript.</p>
<p>@theSarcasm: good luck! I’m ED too ;)</p>
<p>@T26E4, how rigorous does your transcript need to be in order to excuse a bad GPA 
The rest of my application looks great IMO, except I have an unweighted GPA of 3.62 -__-</p>
<p>Anyways, I thought Penn valued how well a student fit in as well.</p>
<p>Oh, so theSarcasm decided to finally make that group for low GPA’ers? What’s up guys xD</p>
<p>According to the College Board:</p>
<p>Very important admission factors:</p>
<pre><code>* Character/Personal Qualities
- Rigor of secondary school record
- Standardized Test Scores
</code></pre>
<p>Important admission factors:</p>
<pre><code>* Application Essay
- Extracurricular Activities
- Work Experience
- Academic GPA
</code></pre>
<p>Considered:</p>
<pre><code>* Alumni Relation
- Class Rank
- Geographical Residence
- Interview
- Racial/Ethnic Status
- Recommendations
- Talent/Ability
- Volunteer Work
- First generation college student
</code></pre>
<p>A note about the college’s admission requirements: Transcript indicating rigor of course work and achievement/evaluation most important criteria. Co-curricular involvements and testing strongly considered, as are counselor and faculty recommendations. Personal commentary (essays) and interview considered as well.</p>
<p>That’s clearly false because Class Rank is generally an automatic cut-off factor; if your school ranks, and you’re not top 10%, then you’re screwed.</p>
<p>96% in top 10th of graduating class
100% in top quarter of graduating class</p>
<p>What sucks is that I am 11.4%…</p>
<p>Is that an official ranking, or unofficial? If it’s unofficial (not reported), you’re fine. Otherwise… :(</p>
<p>Question for EuroAzn:</p>
<p>So I’m ranked in the top 10% and my guidance counselor is placing me into a “decile” of top 10% on the secondary school report sheet as an estimate but we don’t officially rank. Will that still count “for” me per se?</p>
<p>urghh i’m doing ED too and while i have the “considered” criteria nailed…the rest…not so much</p>
<p>now i need to write those damned essays cuase i was smart enough to procrastinate on them until the day before they’re due. fanfreakingtastic.</p>
<p>@daretorun I’m not the authoritative source but… that certainly won’t hurt you. Obviously it won’t make you stand out… since 96% of all quakers were in the top 10% of their class :p</p>
<p>Consider it a “checkmark” on one of the unofficial, but very real, requirements in Penn admission.</p>
<p>Thanks! I know it definitely won’t ‘help’ but at least it won’t work against me as might happen if my school gave no ranking or something :/</p>
<p>If your school gives no ranking, that’s not a bad thing. If you’re a valedictorian, this will be noted in the counselor letter. Otherwise, your odds actually may increase…</p>
<p>is 9 AP’s enough?</p>
<p>^^Are you ■■■■■■■■? Yes.</p>
<p>^ no i’m not ■■■■■■■■, it was a serious question. thanks for answering haha</p>
<p>Hahaha I wasn’t sure! But yes, that’s definitely good enough as long as it’s enough that your guidance counselor checks that box that says “hardest curriculum taken”.</p>
<p>What exactly is an ‘official class rank’? Are we talking about the one which our counselor fills in the secondary school report?</p>
<p>Or does it have to be featured right ON our transcripts for it to be considered an official class rank?</p>