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After some lurking and the occasional post I venture my stats:

(international student.)

SAT I : 1460 - taken only once and I'm quite sure it will go up when I retake it in Nov, or I'm a rotten pumpkin. 710V 750M.

SAT IIs: just done 'em in Writing, Math IIC and Physics. Not too sure, but should be above 750 each.

Grades: err, just ok. I take A levels - equivalent to AP, or thereabouts I gather - and 'S' Papers which are kinda like challenging A levels. Will only send predicted grades to colleges since we don't get our results till March next year. The grades should be all, or nearly all, As.

ECs: I've done relatively a lot for anyone from my country. Not sure about how important this is, though - it seems like most college forms de-emphasize ECs, giving little space to list them. Can a resume be attached if the instructions don't say additional materials should not be sent?

Reccs: One good, rest probably mediocre. (Bugger.)

I'm a relatively good writer (have poetry published) and will probably churn out decent essays.

I'm intending to ED to Penn. Given that I had a passing dream of Stanford/Yale and will probably to apply to one or both of these RD, does it make sense to apply ED to Penn? I'm hoping for Wharton. To ask the unanswerable, what are my chances at Penn ED? I understand being 'international' makes any predictions difficult, but I was hoping someone would be able to provide some useful information.

Thanks in advance, and have a good day.

By seeker on Tuesday, October 15, 2002 - 07:11 am: Edit

Bump. I hate myself.

By Dumbuket (Dumbuket) on Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - 06:13 pm: Edit

Don't. You certainly have more style than any of the robotic posters on these forums. Your pretty cryptic with your posts, though. What country are you from? And what are your extra curriculars?

If you write with the same sense of humor that you have on this post, then you should do pretty well.

This is kind of tangential, but when a college sees that you've "banked" X hours of community service, what exactly do they think? Do the admissions officers say to themselves, "Gee, this is a concerned young person. He sure must like helping the less fortunate."? Doesn't it occur to them that you've been keeping a running talley of the hours you've spent "helping" people? I mean, it's so blatantly self-serving when people are like "I've logged 25 hours spooning corn-mush into the mouths of invalids." Sorry, that was blunt. Nevertheless, does anyone agree?

By JaneLane on Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - 07:42 pm: Edit

Dumbu, I've volunteered in many different places (hospitals, County fair, local animal shelter, tutoring, library, etc.) Basically, all of these places have required me to sign in and out on some type of form, I wasn't tracking the hours. Colleges know that most service organizations keep time cards... so they won't think less of you as they would assume that after all your happy-dappy days at the local nursing home where you don't even count the hours because you are having bundles of fun, you go to the nursing home director and ask them how many hours they estimate (or recorded) that you've been there. Also even if colleges do think you are shallow(which they won't) its still better to know that you have donated 500 hours than 3.2!

By seeker on Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - 11:31 pm: Edit

Dumbuket: Thanks for the comments. Frankly I don't see much difference between my 'style' and some of the other posters here, except I'm a bit more sparse with the words. I think it pays to be a bit self-deprecating too.

In the ECs department I have debating/model UN, student council, an engineering attachment at a university and some arts involvement as a young writer. There's some more but essentially it just shows I've been pretty spread-out - a potential pitfall it seems. Is this the case? (BTW I'm from Singapore.)

You had best list out the actual charitable activities you've been involved in with perhaps the number of hours a week and number of weeks of involvement. Maybe even a line or two explaining what you did for each one if you feel explanation's needed. This would probably require an additional sheet but it might be appropriate if you're really into community work and want to show it.

I think giving the number of hours clocked is standard practice and will probably not reflect badly on you, so long as elsewhere you (preferably subtly) demonstrate that you have a genuine concern for the community and the underprivileged.

By seeker on Saturday, October 26, 2002 - 08:39 am: Edit

I've heard on the PR board that it's apparently more likely you won't get into Wharton if you apply for the Jerome Fisher M&T dual degree program and don't get it. Is this true?

I've just gotten my SAT II scores - Writing, MathIIC and Physics - all 800s. I'm wondering if I should just go ahead with ED to Penn for the Jerome Fisher M&T program - do I stand a good chance, my lousy SAT I score notwithstanding?

Thankya all.

By Dumbuket (Dumbuket) on Saturday, October 26, 2002 - 07:27 pm: Edit

Your SAT isn't lousy, and you should give Wharton a shot... unless it is in which case I'm pretty screwed.

Anyway, I like words like pumpkin and bugger.

Also, your SAT IIs are pretty spiffy. Also, your extra curriculars will only make you look spread out if you let them. If you sell yourself (and I'm well aware of the implications of that verb) as a person with passion, then involvements can't hurt. It's that typical list of

Debate (Captain)
JSA (Captain)
FBLA(Captain)
SBD (Captain)
Tug-Boat (Captain)

that bothers me, if not admissions officers

Believe me, with what you have to offer, an application to Wharton wouldn't be wasted, Fisher program or not.