Unsure of Where to Apply As Well, Chance Me?

Colleges & Universities University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>I’m very interested in Penn, but I’m also not quite sure what school to apply to. Honestly, I can see myself pursuing my interests in both the CAS and Wharton, but I feel my extracurriculars are extremely insufficient for either of the two.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.97/4.67
Class Rank: 1/3500ish (ranked county wide)
IB Diploma Candidate
SAT I (superscored): CR 800; M 730; W 670 (1530/2200)
SAT II: USH 750 (have a bunch of crap scores, Lit 590, Bio M 630, ML1 690 – retaking Bio M, Lit, and ML2 in Jan)
Asian Male
Florida</p>

<p>AP Scores:AP Euro Hist (4), AP Gov & Pol (4), AP Microecon (4), AP USH (5), AP Eng. Lang (5), AP Bio (4), AP Calc AB (4), AP Spanish Lang (1)</p>

<p>HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM
Most rigorous available in county
Freshman Year - 6 Honors
Sophomore Year - 4 Honors, 2 AP
Junior Year - 5 AP, 1 IB
Senior Year - 6 IB</p>

<p>ACHIEVEMENTS
National Honor Society: 2007, 2008, 2009
National Spanish Honor Society: 2007, 2008, 2009
National Honor Roll: 2006, 2007, 2008
Academic Honor Roll: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
AP Scholar: 2007
AP Scholar with Distinction: 2008
Commissioner’s Academic Challenge (Brain Bowl – 6 students each school, countywide academic competition; only junior selected from my school) Participant: 2008
Junior (IB) Marshall (give to top 3 of junior class): 2008
Tentative Co-Valedictorian</p>

<p>VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Metropolitan Ministries (local relief organization) (10 hrs total)
Assisted Living Facility (120+ hours total)
Junior Statesmen of America (Debate Coordinator) (approx. 1-3 hours per week) (10-20 hours total)
Teen Trendsetters Reading Mentors (approx. 1 hour per week) (20+ hours total)
Primary Care for Younger Sibling (approx >15 hours per week) (A hell of a lot of hours)</p>

<p>WORK EXPERIENCE
Inside Chef/Cook
Marco’s Pizza.
June 2008 – Present (approximately 20 – 25 hours per week) (500hrs by this point)</p>

<p>RECOMMENDATIONS
Teacher Recs: Good-Great
Counselor Rec: Good
Essays: Hopefully they’ll be okay</p>

<p>WEAKNESSES
I know that my extracurricular activities will be my greatest obstacle in trying to obtain admission into Penn, and I am worried that this challenge may be insurmountable.</p>

<p>This is a note I put on my resume when I gave my teachers my recommendation forms:</p>

<p>My mother gave birth to my sister in March of 2006. After her six month maternity leave, I assumed a large responsibility in the primary care of my younger sister. My mother, who worked the night shift, necessitated adequate rest during the day hours – the same time in which my father was at his job. Thus, in the summer and even into the school year (for both sophomore and junior years), caring for my sister became a primary responsibility. I know that this may not function as an excuse for a decrease of participation in extracurricular activities, but it is important to cite this reason as my interpretation of the primary circumstance for the condition of my extracurricular activities. The care I provided managed to teach the ideas of responsibility and sacrifice.</p>

2

<p>don’t worry about the ecs, talk about helping your family, more important than some club anyway. don’t apply to Wharton unless you are very sure that you want to study business. (also think your math score is a bit low for Wharton) Others can disagree if they think I am wrong there.</p>

3

<p>Hmm…I know Wharton really stresses leadership. I am kind of in the same dilemma myself.</p>

<p>I think you have better chances at CAS due to your lack of leadership positions (unless family counts?) and just the fact that CAS is less competitive.</p>

4

<p>I think you sould apply to CAS… it seems u are not completely sure u wnt business anyways.</p>

<p>your essays should kick ass - make sure u dont emphasize what you didn’t do any why; instead u sould focus on what u did within ur fam and how u were able to balance school and raising a sibling.</p>

5

<p>1/3500!!1 holey moley. apply to wharton, you seem like a fit. if you dotn lie kit than switch into CAS< switching into wharton is harder so just go in first.</p>

6

<p>he/she says he would be happy in either wharton or cas, thus it seems like the main goal is to get into penn first. and applying CAS first makes that A LOT easier (at least that’s what I’ve heard)</p>

7

<p>Apply to CAS</p>