sarvarox12

Ok I am the most distraught person in the world right now. I always wanted to do engineering from U Penn and with a very good science academic record and 2400 SAT Subject Test Scores in Science(Math, Phy and Chem), I thought I was doing fine. But I have never won any science awards or done some research work in science! I always pursued ECs like writing, debating, Model UN because I loved them and these are the ECs I have done well in. But at the end of the day I always wanted to get an engineering degree. Now suddenly I find out on this website college confidential that there are loads of people who have won so many science laurels and done great research work and I ask myself 'why would they I be chosen over them if I wanted to pursue engineering?'. I know I am a good person who is really passionate and zealous but a good person never got anywhere. As I realized today that I am way behind others on the engineering track. Guys advise me what to do, please! I beg you! Should I quit my aspirations for engineering and try pursuing some other degree which matches more with my profile so I get into a top choice college? Or should I keep trying for engineering and hope to make it? God bless you if you help me....

jessiehl

Don't freak out. C-C is a bubble. If I had been reading C-C when I was applying, I would have been afraid that I wasn't going to get in anywhere.

Did you take advantage of the opportunities offered at your school? In general, elite schools are not going to penalize you because you didn't do competitions and such that nobody at your school has heard of, or because you didn't do research at a school where nobody does research.

Your scores definitely suggest that you have the aptitude for engineering at a top school. I don't think your activities are going to screw you over (I knew people at MIT with similar high school ECs). The one catch is that you might want to convey your love of engineering through an essay or something. Or, even better, how your ECs will make you a better engineer (trust me, writing and public speaking are important skills for an engineer, and most engineers are terrible at them).

Mr. A

WOW thanks jessiehl, you've given me a lot of reassurance when I go to college. Did you ever get chanced?

Djokovic

Mr. A has a good point,
Schools will judge you based on what was made available. Now you could have made yourself a great candidate had u maybe started your own science competition or participated in one/won ins one that no one else in your school has. But assuming that you did some/most the science opportunities that your school offered, then I guess you are fine.