Hi, I’m currently a junior in high school looking to apply to Wharton ED in the fall of 2020. I will likely finish junior year with a 4.6 weighted GPA, 3.83 unweighted, and a 1550 on my SAT.
On top of this, I’ve started a nonprofit based in Africa to spread educational opportunities to underprivileged kids and raised over $30,000, I am the captain of my school’s track team and rank in the top 5 fastest sprinters in the state, I founded the Investing club at our school (now the largest), and run a personal blog with over 10,000 email subscribers. I’ve also had various internships at local startups and started my own business this year with a peer.
I know no one has a “guaranteed” chance at acceptance, especially at this level, but can I compete with other applicants? Are my academics strong enough? Thanks a billion in advance.
To clarify, I’m mostly concerned that 1) my academics aren’t up to par for a school like Wharton, and 2) I haven’t really actively sought out awards for my work besides state awards in Science Fair or Conrad-type competitions. I’m applying to what few are left but ideally would have started sooner.
No, you're academics are in admissable range. Calculate your AI, find an Ivy League AI calculator online, and consider retaking the SAT to compensate for the slightly non ideal UW GPA. It is also crucial that you take at least 2 SAT IIs (Math II, and some other area of interest for you) and get 750+.
You lack national awards, but that is fine. You have several well-developed ECs. The only problem I see is a lack of coherence. Discuss what inspired you to address African education in the essay and connect it to your current business/newsletter if able. If you don't do this well, you run the risk of coming off as solely a competitive resume padder. Wharton loves students who use business to better something else. If you can articulate that some common goal is the object of your business applications thus far and that Wharton/Penn is uniquely the best place for you to progress that, you can create a fairly compelling narrative.
Hi, thanks for the informative response. I started the nonprofit as a means to use business and my interest in technology to give back to the community. For the same reason, I created the club to spread my opportunities to others and my blog promotes other causes I care for. In essence, I’ve found motivation in my projects to give back to the community through business, usually with touches on technology. Would community work fit the narrative for my applications you describe?