UChicagoHopefull

Hi, so I really like Penn but my guidance counselor told me that my GPA is too low and that since Penn views your GPA as paramount, I shouldn't even bother applying. Based on the stats below, is this really true? I love Penn but don't want to waste eighty dollars if I don't have a realistic chance of being accepted.

SAT 2350 (800 CR, 780 M, 770 W)
SAT IIs: 720 English Literature, 730 US History, 700 Bio
APs; US History- 5, English-4

GPA: 3.65 (Unweighted)
Extra Currics: Varsity Baseball (Captain)
Model UN
School Newspaper (editor in chief)
220 hours of community service
Debate Team

Please be honest- if you don't think I have a shot just say so.

Excavalier

your stats are really similar to mine last year, 3.65 gpa, 2340 sat, almost the same scores for SAT IIs.

that said, if you look to the left of this post you'll see how i fared with admissions

bigbusiness

Your scores are excellent, and while your GPA is on the low side, I certainly wouldn't count you out of the pile if I were admission. That's just my opinion though. I can't actually speak for admissions obviously.

UChicagoHopefull

Excavalier, did you apply early? Also did you have any hooks? Thanks for your response- its certainly encouraging

Excavalier

yea i did apply ed, no hooks. i'm going to guess that you didn't after reading your first post haha. and i'm chinese so i guess i had an anti-hook working against me

but still that's not the point. ok so I should probably give you tips. after enduring half a semester here i realized that not everyone here is a genius. sure everyone is smart here but i think that anyone who earned at least a 3.55-ish with a strong courseload in high school has the mental capacity to get at least a 3.0, or at least students in the college of a&s can get that. for example, since im premed i thought i'd flunk all my courses, instead i'm looking at probably getting a 3.5-3.6 my first semester even though im really lazy hahaha. also i know a girl who went to high school with me - she is in wharton and had a lower gpa than me in hs, now her gpa is currently competitive enough to net herself internships at jp morgan and other fortune 500 companies.

basically dont listen to your guidance counselor. because of the charisma of penn's name i can understand why he/she said that but that doesnt mean you shouldnt apply. i dont know you but i already know youre smart enough to do well in penn. what you do now is to prove to penn WHY they should accept you.

at this point you cant change your ec's (which are strong already) so i think whether you get in comes down to the essays. i think people dont give enough credit for how influential they are to your app. they represent /your/ personal voice. essays are your opportunity to intertwine your achievements in high school with your personality to justify why you deserve to be in the class of 2017. so essentially what im saying is, dont take what your gc said and apply because the very worst thing that happens is that they say no~