Am I clutching at straws here, or do I have a chance at Wharton?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
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<p>Asian male, I'm thinking of applying for early-decision for Wharton if I have a decent chance (or should I just apply early for Cornell, which I'm sure I have a much better chance at getting into?)</p>

<p>All A's as soph/fresh, 4 honors classes in each of those grades</p>

<p>Junior
AP Comp Science -A
AP US History - A
AP Stat - A
AP Calc AB - A
Honors Physics - A
Honors English - B (yeah..i know, but 11th grade honors english in my school is the hardest course, even harder than AP english)</p>

<p>Senior
AP Chem
AP Physics
AP Gov/Econ
AP Calc BC
Honors English (cant do AP english with a B in honors last year)</p>

<p>Sat's
Math: 770
Reading: 760
Writing: 780
Total: 2310</p>

<p>PSAT: 224</p>

<p>Activities
Fresh:
Swimming
Republican Club
Outdoor track</p>

<p>Summer: Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth</p>

<p>Soph:
National Honor society
Cross country
Indoor track
Outdoor track</p>

<p>Summer: took a course at community college Intro to Math (waste of time, i know)</p>

<p>Junior
National Honor society
Cross country
Indoor track
Outdoor track</p>

<p>Summer: I'm going to the Penn. Gov. School of Excellence (5 week program thats pretty competitve to get in)</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a finalist with my PSAT score of 224.
I have some other minor awards like winning the debate tournament at CTY, age group awards for local races, but nothing spectacular</p>

<p>I'm in PA, medium-level competitive school, not many Asians around here (good for me), I know I'm in the top 3% of ~400 kids. I'm very intelligent (my SAT score is w/o studying), I've slacked off a lot and managed to get all A's except for English this year. I've often felt contempt at the whole college application process and I'd rather have a few hours to chill every day instead of filling up every waking hours with extracurricular activities that i didnt ENJOY. I've often had the attitude "OK, I think it's stupid to show that you're a caring person by volunteering when, in actuality, you are only doing it to put an extra line on your resume". </p>

<p>There are three things about me that might set me apart from the typical math/science/academic/piano Asian, but I'm not sure if it's enough to give me a chance at Wharton.</p>

<p>I'm thinking that if I do apply, these would make good essay topics?:</p>

<p>e Bay - For the entirety of my sophomore, I ran an online business selling items for a multiplayer RPG game (I had to build massive connections to do this sort of thing single-handedly while spending only 2 hours a day on it).
Basically, I was an e Bay level PowerSeller with my own e Bay store and around $25,000 PROFIT in one year. I regret stopping after a year, but e Bay no longer allows the selling of virtual items. So.... this is the big IF: how much weight would my entrepreneurship carry?</p>

<p>Running - I'm not good at all, but I love it. I'm a LONG DISTANCE runner, so the amount of time I put into it is often underestimated. I run 30+ miles a week almost year-round. I have 2+ hours of practice pretty much every weekday of the school year, I run by myself every weekend, I train over the summer (last summer I logged over 300 miles). Now I'm naturally not a good runner, so I haven't won any awards except for local road races... whereas if I had spent all this time on an instrument, for example, I would probably be very, very good. Would colleges care about the extraordinary amounts of time and passion that you put into an activity that you're not that good at?</p>

<p>Bodybuilding - Again, this is an activity that dedicate large amounts of time to for its intrinsic value, not how well it would look on a resume. I started half a year ago, but it takes far more than the 3 hours a week that I put in at the gym; I've spent 10+ hours a week for the past few months reading up on bodybuilding topics. Anyone who has done it knows that bodybuilding is not as simple as it sounds. Should this even be on my resume? I know it would probably make a good essay topic, as I've almost doubled most of my lifts. This is completely on my own initiative and on my own time, which is probably a disadvantage for me, because there's no school bodybuilding club, competitions, etc. that would make my efforts "official".</p>

<p>Sorry for the long thread. I just want an honest assessment so I know whether or not I'm wasting my time. I am not very knowledgeable about the whole college app. process at all.</p>

2

<p>Looking at your stats, you have a pretty good chance. You're very committed to running which is a plus and your academics are on point. just keep up the good work.</p>

3

<p>Honestly, I'm impressed by how dedicated you are.</p>

<p>Dedication on one thing > 10 pointless ECs to pad your app</p>

4

<p>Ew...Republican.
I hope you don't get in ;)</p>

5

<p>So how much of a chance do you think I have? Is it worth it to spend my one early-decision application on Wharton?</p>

<p>And how would I communicate my dedication in my application besides the essay? I cant exactly write "Ran 300 miles in the summer of 06" on my resume can I?</p>

<p>And my one year in the Republican Club was actually a major reason why I'm not a Republican anymore :)</p>

6

<p>Can you give me one good reason not to apply ED.... I dont know of one as info as presented looks pretty solid and you want to go there</p>

7

<p>You want a good reason why I'm extremely doubtful, and therefore posting about it here?</p>

<p>Well... the only solid extracurriculars I have are sports, and I'm not even good enough to be captain.</p>

<p>I have no leadership or community service (does 50 hours volunteering in the a library in middle school count??), since I never actively pursued these things. No math tournaments, no newspaper editing, no jobs, no internships, no debate tournaments, no musical instruments, no clubs, no charities, no major awards, etc.</p>

<p>And also my GPA and courseload are both lower than others who got rejected (I know at least one other girl in my class that is applying to Wharton and she is taking 3 more AP's than me)</p>

<p>My SAT's are solid, though.</p>

<p>I put college in the back of my mind until recently, and I hadn't actually taken college admissions that seriously. Pretty much everything I've done has been accomplished off of talent (SAT's) or natural interest (running, e Bay).</p>

8

<p>Bodybuilding? Send them pics of your ripped muscles. lol</p>

<p>Seriously, if Wharton is your first choice, just apply ED and see how it goes.</p>

9

<p>Just apply you never know. If you decide to apply to Cornell to increase your chances (and get accepted), you'll be asking yourself for the rest of your whether you would have been accepted to your first choice if you had give it a try.</p>

<p>The lack of leadership might hurt you but maybe you're a leader in the classroom? Your recs would help in this case! In addition, I like your e Bay activity, this is also some kind of leadership isnt it?</p>

10

<p>Pennfan: Haha yeah, I wish..</p>

<p>But really, I'm sure it took more "hard work" to build a great body than it takes to form a club or sell brownies for charity</p>

<p>But I'm just wondering: will my efforts in a subject that is not traditional resume-material be appreciated by admissions officers? If so, how should I communicate it besides with the essay? If not, oh well at least I have a great body and I can still probably go to a different Ivy</p>

<p>Rister: I know that early-decision acceptance for Cornell is significantly higher than regular decision acceptance</p>

<p>Is it the same for Penn?</p>

11

<p>Yes!
Furthermore Penn is one of the few topschools which admit that ED round is a tad less competitive than RD round.</p>

12

<p>Do you have a link to the early vs. reg acceptance rates?</p>

<p>Anyways, a little off topic but do you think I have a good chance at getting into cornell AEM with regular admissions?</p>

<p>If so, I might apply early for UPenn. If I dont get in (early decision results come back in mid December right?) then I'll apply regular to Cornell, UVA, Carnegie Mellon, few others</p>

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<p><a href="http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/applying/profile.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/applying/profile.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Maybe you find some numbers for the Class of 2011 if you search through the DP.
Note that Penn fills almost half of its Class with ED applicants.
If Penn is your first choice definitely apply early! (Yes, results come back in mid December.)</p>

14

<p>Thanks for all the info</p>

<p>But as expected, my grades are fairly average for acceptees and my SAT's are pretty high</p>

<p>I'm just unsure of how much weight my other activities will carry</p>

<p>I guess I just wont know until I apply</p>

15

<p>never mind</p>