Clich

TylerJC · April 14, 2006, 9:02pm

I’m an upper middle class white male junior from an excellent public school in Massachusetts.

SAT(I) Writing section: 670
SAT(I) Reading section: 730
SAT(I) Math section: 740

(I haven’t taken my SAT IIs yet)

GPA: 3.8-3.9

My school doesn’t calculate class rank, but I know I’m in the top 5%. :)

Junior year I took (I am taking) AP US History and AP Chemistry. I’ll probably get a 5 on the AP History test and a 4 on the AP Chemistry test.

I’m in the National Honor Society.

I’ve been in Boy Scouts since 6th grade and will be getting my Eagle Scout Rank within a month. (I’ll be an Eagle Scout by the time I start filling in the college application)

I’ve been the vice president of Junior Statesmen of America (debate team, essentially) for 2 years running. I’ve won several best speaker awards

I’ve been in four school plays including a musical and I’ve had a leading role in most of them.

I was elected class treasurer in sophomore year and have held the position since then.

I’m in the Young Republicans Club but considering the current climate, perhaps I should omit this one :).

I held a part time job at a restaurant for 8 months and then moved on to a better job working for my mother’s accounting firm. That is, if you call a home office with 3 other employees a “firm”.

I spent some of my summer time going to a summer camp at Haverford College. I took some classes in business and public speaking there.

I’m not sure if it helps but my dad is good friends with a semi-famous Wharton alumni.

I also recieved a few teacher’s awards. One in history and one in Spanish.

I have a couple of other random hobbies that might be helpful. I have a SCUBA license, I’m doing crew in this spring, etc.

For senior year I am signed up for 3 AP classes and the rest are serious classes too. I don’t plan on slacking off.

So on a 1-10 scale (1 being no chance, 10 being high chance) can I get in?

I know this website has probably hundreds of threads just like this one, but humor me. It’s my third post. :p

raghavp · April 14, 2006, 9:59pm

Your EC’s/awards are pretty good. Stats could be better.

You are probably a “reach” candidate. You could however improve your chances drastically by upping your SATI’s and doing really well on SAT II’s. You should also probably study for AP’s.

bongo23 · April 14, 2006, 10:06pm

if Penn is your first choice, then ED helps

Aretsuya · April 14, 2006, 10:46pm

Did you search this forum for other “chances” threads and then compared them to the list of admitted students on CC (look on the decision threads for those)? To be honest, I think you have a decent shot but giving a numerical rating makes me uncomfortable because the ivies are…weird. If you want, look up some of my threads with my stats and compare them to yours 'cause I got in. But you also have to think about other things that adcoms are thinking about (ex: region, ethnicity, involvement, “uniqueness” and because of this I say go ahead and say you’re a Young Republican, etc.). Anyway, good luck next year and truly, I think you are competitive. Just write awesome essays, get an good interview, and try to get teacher/counselor recs that make you stand out! Oh, and I’d also try to up the SATs…then again, I shouldn’t be talking…(^_^)

Klogon · April 15, 2006, 4:48am

My SAT’s were exactly the same as yours, except switch Math and Reading - and I got in. My EC’s were similar as I had tons of leadership positions (senior pres, senate pres, mun pres, etc), except I used my extremely heavy involvement in my church as my “hook” (going into national convention as an elected regional delegate). Yeah, my SAT II’s were 770, 740, and 680… my APs were 4,4,4,4,3. my GPA was 3.9. For more info, go to my profile.

Yeah, test scores aren’t everything. You stand a chance. Just write good essays and get good recs.

robotFOOD · April 15, 2006, 5:19am

focus on other things and you’re in! raise scores if possible though.

sweetnsarah · April 15, 2006, 10:04am

Your stats are better than mine, and I got in. Just make sure you write kick-ass essays and get freaking awesome recs, which is what I had and what probably got me in.

12041987 · April 15, 2006, 3:37pm

You’re borderline. I don’t think you’ll get in.

raghavp · April 15, 2006, 4:23pm

Well, you can get in, you just need to raise your SATs and write really good essays.

Good luck :)

TylerJC · April 15, 2006, 11:39pm

So even though my SAT I scores are almost at the 75th percentile for UPenn I should try to improve them?

I wasn’t thinking about taking them again, statistically I’ll do worse (according to the little blurb they gave me along with my SAT scores).

Would it hurt if I took the SAT again and did worse?

raghavp · April 15, 2006, 11:45pm

Wharton generally has a higher 75th percentile SAT than the rest of the school.

BTW, the little blurb is really stupid. Statistics don’t matter in this case, really. If you study a bit more you will probably do better. If you do worse, you don’t really lose anything (except the fee for the SAT) because Penn takes the score from the best sitting.

kevin_tennis72 · April 15, 2006, 11:46pm

Don’t over stress on your SAT scores. They are not everything. I repeat they are not everything. I’m assuming your applying to Wharton since it looks as though you have taken some business classes and you worked for your mom’s accounting firm. My biggest advice is spend a good amount of time on your essays. Next year Penn is moving to the common app so some kids are going to be working for hours on that one essay and Penn is really big on good essays.

sweetnsarah · April 15, 2006, 11:48pm

I went down everytime I took the SATs, and still got into Wharton. I took them 3 times, by the way. And your SATs are already higher than mine were. If I got in, there’s hope for everyone, as I’m relatively incompetent.

penn_2010 · April 16, 2006, 12:07am

Don’t worry so much about SAT scores. No one is really going to care if you get a 740 or a 770. As long as your scores are in the ballpark, which they are, you will be fine. That said, scores in the ballpark certainly do not guarantee admissions. Writing good essays, showing your interest in Penn, and describing honestly what interests you on your application will be much more important than some SAT points. From what I’ve seen, Penn wants interesting, well-rounded individuals, not test-taking robots.

vieuxtemps · April 16, 2006, 12:32am

There is absolutely no predictability in getting into Ivies. So the advice you get may work for Brown but not Penn, Columbia but not Cornell. Anyways, I think that your scores are a bit on the low side, but don’t worry - the essays are really the most important factor. As long as you REALLY show your passion for Penn (and they would appreciate ED), you definitely have a good chance.

One note, though: don’t emphasize the “I also received a few teacher’s awards. One in history and one in Spanish.” No offense, but colleges don’t really care about school awards. A state or national award would be a good thing.

Good luck!!!

Xrylon · April 16, 2006, 12:38am

Don’t worry about SATs really. I got into Penn with pretty horrible SAT scores (Writing and CR in mid 500s, Math in mid 600s). Just write really good essays, be well rounded and be sure to get good recs.

TylerJC · April 17, 2006, 10:57pm

Thanks for the advice people.

At the very least, it was a morale boost. :)

I’m actually flying down to Philly to vist UPenn in a couple of days.

sweetnsarah · April 17, 2006, 11:05pm

Cornell’s weird. It’s the only school that rejected me. I don’t understand what they’re looking for.

Clich

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