Two questions
One: UPenn says they “recommend” a science and math II subject test for engineering applicants. If I am a qualified candidate who took math I and US history, how much will this hurt me? Is it worth it to apply to the regular college and switch?
Two: If I wrote a really good essay that I am very proud of and would help my application (the quirky essay at UChicago), can I make it some kind of “art supplement” or “academic supplement” to other colleges on the common app? (Of course it shouldn’t be obvious that it was for UChicago.)
- Why not go take math II and a science? You should have time, right? I took my subject tests in late September, I think.
- Yay for good essays! I'd recommend re-using it, but NOT as a supplement. This is main advice coming from my girlfriend, who had really good help with college admissions and was accepted into a few great schools (Yale, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford). Even after 4 years of astrophysics research, she didn't feel like she had enough content to put into a good research supplement. She advised me last year (I'm an incoming freshman, she's incoming sophomore) to try to stay away from supplements unless you feel like they are essential to your app.
My son actually reused his artist statement for his “why Penn” essay, so yes! Reuse those essays. Save the world by recycling essays. 
Re. SAT II: agreed you have time to take SAT IIs this fall. It’s only an hour out of your day. My son took Math II and Lit for Penn (he’s attending Penn after a gap year), but didn’t apply to engineering, though he might move into DMD later.
I think you should apply to wherever you feel you’ll be the strongest candidate. My son would have been a weak engineering candidate, and being that he’s not sure what he wants to do (animation, game design possible), we figured Fine Arts was a better fit for his creative background. Don’t think he would have gotten in if he’d applied to DMD.
Re. suppplements: My son submitted two arts supplements to Penn, cello (very strong) and animation (probably weak, but what the heck). Agree supplements should be strong compared to others in the applicant pool.
I’d like to clarify. I’m shying away from the science test because I haven’t taken any AP science courses at my school and feel I would need to put many hours into studying. I want to major in computer science, which is only within engineering at Penn, even though fine arts is infinitely more attractive to me due to my creative background. Maybe Penn isn’t for me.
As for reusing my essay, the question is how? It is not a “why school x” essay nor is it a “about me” essay. It is answering the question “where is Waldo really?” It is a great essay that I would love to use for other schools but how?
I would not send a supplemental essay. Admissions officers have plenty to read already and aren’t looking to read an essay you wrote for another school. If you can utilize parts of that essay for a Penn essay that is fine, but don’t send an extra one.
I’d consider taking a science SATII.
When they recommend something, I would strongly take their suggestion. Math 1 tests Algebra 2?, while Math 2 tests Pre-Calc which is what colleges like to see.
I would recommend that you take Math 2 and a science. You don’t need AP science for subject tests, they only test high school (not college level) knowledge.
Classes like Honors Chem, Physics and Bio are generally enough (with some brushing up and studying) for a good score on the subject test.
Supplements are generally for research abstracts and musical supplements and they have to be extraordinary to help you. I don’t think an essay would help your case, in fact it might hurt it.
OP,
A couple options to consider at Penn. You can double major in Fine Arts and CS while being in the College. They have a lot of dual degrees. You could major in Fine Arts and minor in either CS or DMD. Or, you could take your chances and apply to CS without Math II and a science SAT II and see what happens.
Yes, you can apply to the College and then apply to transfer into CS. You just want to be sure you’re on top of the game so you can graduate in 4 years.
As far as reusing the essay, just take the parts you like and try to fit them to whatever prompt you’re working with. I don’t know how else to tell you to do this, but you need to be creative and think out of the box about this.
sbjdorlo, I visited Penn today and discovered the double major option. This is what I intend to do. Good advice!
Don’t submit this. Just.don’t.do.it.
I’m a big fan of taking parts of essays and reusing where appropriate. The challenge here is that this is a UChicago essay prompt, which are well-known for their uniqueness. Every year, people just wait to see what quirky prompts UChicago is going to come up with this year. You can rest assured that every Penn admissions officer has the UChicago prompts memorized and will smell a recycled essay from a mile away.
I’m sure your essays for UChicago were fabulous, and I hope you get accepted. However, if you also want to get accepted to Penn, focus on the Penn prompts.
Totally agree.