<p>ecs:
2nd degree martial arts black belt (was going to compete in world championships, but conflicting schedule)</p>
<p>indian singer (playback singer for indian movie, 30 minute performance on tv shown in 3 states)</p>
<p>president of largest DECA in california</p>
<p>president/founder of investment club</p>
<p>internship under president of large non profit organization in third world country during summer</p>
<p>volunteered abroad to teach lower-income children self defense during summer(students and parents loved program so much, decided to hire full time self defense teacher as my replacement)</p>
<p>Hate to break it to you, but that low 10th 1st semester grade is going to look bad. Especially since the only explanation you have is that it was your “experimentation” time. That was supposed to be during 9th grade… So unless you have a very sad and compelling sob story (I am serious it works) you might have to consider other options.</p>
<p>movie playback singer, internship under president of large NGO (first internship he EVER offered), my self defense summer program loved so much, decided to hire full-time replacement, and a pretty good upward trend.</p>
<p>i understand i do have a bias towards myself, but r these not unique at all? (ok, yes they r not SUPER unique…)</p>
<p>honestly, i’d say that you don’t stand much of a chance. penn has to sort through thousands of applications, and they value your transcript above everything else. this is especially true at wharton. a 2.5 gpa would be definitely frowned upon, especially if you aren’t a URM or an athlete. Also, there are other people out there with amazing internships and experiences, but they have the grades as well. Don’t get your hopes up.</p>
<p>why would you need other people to confirm that your case is super unique?
i say this is more of a self confidence booster thread gone wrong…because this is not “super unique” at all.
sorry to break it to you, but that GPA is more important than your ECs. like ChoklitRain said, your priorities were out of place.</p>
<p>your ECs sound pretty cool though.
but i doubt penn’s going to overlook your flaws so they can get an indian movie playback singer. they can get plenty of talented singers (youtube Off the Beat)</p>
<p>@all,
agreed. sorry if my title mislead you guys, but i just wanted some readers. and yes, i certainly do not have the right to get my hopes up especially with my gpa. can anyone recommend some good schools with a strong economics program that seem do-able for me?</p>
<p>Sorry for this otherwise useless post, but LOL at “super unique”.</p>
<p>There is no such thing as unique in the college apps process. If you’ve done something, someone else has done it bigger and better. If you won the nobel prize at 15, someone else has already won 2 at 13. If you have no arms and no legs and 5000 community service hours under your belt, there’s still a blind, deaf, and mute quadriplegic with twice as many hours. If you try to convince (or even attempt to slightly insinuate to) an ADCOM that you think you’re unique, you will be laughed at.</p>