Strange UPenn admission

[Anonymous]

Kid at our school got into UPenn RD. 1200 SAT scores and 3s and 4s on APs (although probably test optional, since this was the last year Penn allowed that). Straight As but avoided many of the hardest classes offered at school, not close to highest rigor. Very mid-level ECs. White girl, no hooks. The only minor "hook" we can think of is that she's an artsy humanities major, which they maybe don't get a lot of due to how pre-professional Penn is. She got uniformly rejected by other top tier, mid tier, and low-mid tier schools. She is really unexcited about going to Penn but committed due to lack of other options. Were Penn admissions strange this year?

[Anonymous]

If you think Ivy League colleges admit the smartest kids, you're misinformed. It's too bad but as a society we've decided that intelligence is not highly valued. You can see the results in our test scores.

[Anonymous]

An AO liked something about her application. And of course diversity of major matters. That's all there is to it.

[Anonymous]

There is probably a rich donor in her family you don't know about.

Though she did have a fantastic GPA, so there is that. And maybe her teachers wrote glowing letters of rec.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is probably a rich donor in her family you don't know about.

Though she did have a fantastic GPA, so there is that. And maybe her teachers wrote glowing letters of rec.

+1 and maybe she had a fantastic arts portfolio

[Anonymous]

Just to follow up, rejected at BU, NYU, Northeastern, Northwestern, and many others. Definitely not a secret rich family member. I guess it comes down to having the right AO see something that no one else does.

[Anonymous]

This whole thread is creepy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid at our school got into UPenn RD. 1200 SAT scores and 3s and 4s on APs (although probably test optional, since this was the last year Penn allowed that). Straight As but avoided many of the hardest classes offered at school, not close to highest rigor. Very mid-level ECs. White girl, no hooks. The only minor "hook" we can think of is that she's an artsy humanities major, which they maybe don't get a lot of due to how pre-professional Penn is. She got uniformly rejected by other top tier, mid tier, and low-mid tier schools. She is really unexcited about going to Penn but committed due to lack of other options. Were Penn admissions strange this year?

Opposite of someone I know who got in. 4.0, clubs up the yazoo, community involvement, perfect scores. her linkedin reads like she 30.

[Anonymous]

Is it possible that she has activities and/or initiatives outside of school that you don’t have visibility into? At our private, all the Ivy admits had true portfolios of activities outside of school, ranging from research with outside professors, non profits they started, writing a piece of legalization, etc. I’m am sure this is going to trigger the expected diatribes from the usual suspects. But if the question is how did someone get in, need visibility on the totality of the package.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid at our school got into UPenn RD. 1200 SAT scores and 3s and 4s on APs (although probably test optional, since this was the last year Penn allowed that). Straight As but avoided many of the hardest classes offered at school, not close to highest rigor. Very mid-level ECs. White girl, no hooks. The only minor "hook" we can think of is that she's an artsy humanities major, which they maybe don't get a lot of due to how pre-professional Penn is. She got uniformly rejected by other top tier, mid tier, and low-mid tier schools. She is really unexcited about going to Penn but committed due to lack of other options. Were Penn admissions strange this year?

Why would a kid like this even bother applying to an Ivy? A 1200? 3s on AP tests? Makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid at our school got into UPenn RD. 1200 SAT scores and 3s and 4s on APs (although probably test optional, since this was the last year Penn allowed that). Straight As but avoided many of the hardest classes offered at school, not close to highest rigor. Very mid-level ECs. White girl, no hooks. The only minor "hook" we can think of is that she's an artsy humanities major, which they maybe don't get a lot of due to how pre-professional Penn is. She got uniformly rejected by other top tier, mid tier, and low-mid tier schools. She is really unexcited about going to Penn but committed due to lack of other options. Were Penn admissions strange this year?

Opposite of someone I know who got in. 4.0, clubs up the yazoo, community involvement, perfect scores. her linkedin reads like she 30.

Same at our school, for the 5 admitted and attending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is probably a rich donor in her family you don't know about.

Though she did have a fantastic GPA, so there is that. And maybe her teachers wrote glowing letters of rec.

+1. It is impossible to know which students have non-visible hooks.

[Anonymous]

Maybe the student thinks that U Penn is the same as Penn State.

[Anonymous]

How does the OP know this kids school stats and classes? And if she knows them why does the OP care?

[Anonymous]

Her parents made her apply to every top 20, regardless of fit. I guess this shows that this approach sometimes works, if prestige is the goal. But she doesn't like the school and is not excited to attend (it's a terrible fit). Family doesn't care and is making her attend because it's an Ivy/the only good place she got in.