Did I shoot too low?

throway1620
Mon, 07 Mar 2016 03:48:18 +0000

I want to preface this by saying I mean no disrespect to Penn’s College of Arts & Sciences in this post, and I am grateful to have been accepted.

That said, this is something that has been bothering me for a while now. Back in the fall, I had a great deal of difficulty deciding where I would apply, and eventually settled that Penn was my favorite all-around school, specifically their Huntsman program, and I decided I would apply early decision. When applying early decision to a dual-degree program, Penn offers the option for an applicant to select their second, single degree choice should they not be selected for the program, since admissions are extremely competitive for Huntsman. After selecting their second choice, students also have the option to decide whether they would like to be considered under early decision or regular decision for this second choice. After much thought, I decided to ED my second choice, The College (I decided I wouldn’t be happy studying just business for 4 years), resolving that Penn was my favorite school regardless, and that I may not have had a shot to get in RD. I was accepted to CAS but rejected from Huntsman, and since, I have feared I shot too low and robbed myself of other RD options by binding myself to my second choice. I really don’t know what to do or why I’m making this post, other than to hear your honest opinions if I may have had a shot at some of my other top choices, like Yale, Stanford, or UChicago, for example. Here are my stats for reference:

SAT I: 2320 superscored - 770 M 750 CR 800 W
ACT: 33
SAT II: 800 Math II, 780 US History, 770 Literature
GPA: 3.98 UW 4.44 W
Rank: 5 out of ~300

Leadership -
Student Council Secretary
President of Mock Trial w/ multiple awards
FBLA Regional Secretary
Captain of Math Team
Captain of Science Olympiad
Varsity Field Hockey
NHS

Work-
Worked for a local Newspaper over the summer after junior year / before senior year. Field reporting + 4 articles published
Intern at local Community Organization in Fall/Winter of junior year (Paid)

Service-
Volunteer at state congressman’s office for 6 months this past fall/winter

Essays-
Common App - 8.5/10,
Why Penn - 8/10
Huntsman - 8/10
Senior year courses: AP Psychology, AP Stat, AP Comp Sci, AP Lit, AP Gov + Macro, Hrs Chinese 5, Hrs Accounting
AP’s (will have 14 by the end of the year): Calc BC - 5, English Lang - 5, APUSH - 5, AP Physics C: M - 4, Chemistry - 5, Euro - 4, Bio - 4, APHG - 5

White Female Suburban Pennsylvania Public high school, ~250k income no hooks