Hi! I’m an international student, and I want to know my chances of getting into UPenn or UChicago.
I have a SAT score of 1450, SAT subject score 1350 (bio and math 2) will take another one. And a GPA of 3.8. I have a few ECs: I’ve volunteered outside of my home country, volunteered in my local dog shelters for 2 summers, started an initiative at school for recycling and using less waste, I’ve learned german alone and have gotten to the B2 level (level required to apply for most colleges in Germany). If you’ve gotten this far,thank you, I’d like to know my chances and what I can improve or add. (I want to be a business major and I can get a letter of recommendation from the principal of my school).
Major? 3.8 did not get my son into upenn but then again it was engineering. He is also international
3.8 and the scores are low. Vol at a dog shelter is nice but not the sort of community service. Nor school recycling or self learning a language. You need to learn what Penn and Chicago look for. And imagine the competition.
Does Chicago offer a major in business?
Chicago does have a business school, but graduate only.
To be honest, I don’t think your chances at Penn or UC are great (noone’s are). It’s finw if you want to apply as a reach (and ED), but don’t get your hopes up. Some similar schools you might want to consider:
Brandeis
CAse Western
Rochester
all are excellent, but not as hard to get into.
Your SATs will be your downfall. Sorry to say
Actually a 1450 is not a bad SAT score. Solid 90+ percentile. It’s not Ivy level but good enough for a lot of schools.
OP hasn’t mentioned finances though and that might be the big issue.
UChicago has a Business Econ track… thats the closest it has to a business major
Business for UPenn and economics or psychology for UChicago.
Other people have told me volunteering at a dog shelter is good community service but volunteering outside of my country is much more impressive obviously. I thought starting the recycling at school thing would be a good Motive for leadership. I’m also going to take an internship and choir outside of school. I want to major in business for UPenn and for UChicago psychology or economics. What do you think
What impresses top schools is working to benefit people (and the responsiilites you took on, having some impact, even small) and preferably not on the level of playing with younger kids or seniors, etc. Volunteering outside your own country is often less impressive than rolling up your sleeves in your own community. (There’s a real distinction made between paying for quick trips vs committing locally. Depends.) More kids than you can imagine do recycling programs and it’s usually very little true leadership (which isn’t about titles.)
What business-type experiences, with others, adults? Any math or sci team? For schools like Penn or Chicago, the competition is fierce and kids will have leaned in.
In effect, you have 6 months to refine this.
But Penn will be looking for SAT of 750/750 and up. Same for subject tests. It’s that crazy. Which is why it’s often good to expand your list to schools that aren’t the “most competitive.”