Apply Early to Princeton, Harvard, or Penn?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>Hello,
So I am trying to decide between applying early to Princeton, Penn, and Harvard. I really like the Huntsman Program and Wharton at Penn, but I don't like the campus/student life as much — I just don't think that there's enough of a structured sense of community and intellectualism (and a really nice campus) as there is at Princeton and Harvard. However, the practical business education I'd get at Wharton trumps what I would learn at Harvard or Princeton. I really want to go into management consulting after graduation because it would allow me to use a wide variety of skills. If I (somehow) went to Princeton, I would major in History and get a certificate in Linguistics, and if I (somehow) went to Harvard, I would major in Linguistics. Also, I absolutely LOVED the Princeton campus when I visited it. Like, there was no comparison to anything I had seen before.</p>

<p>I understand that I'd have a better chance of getting in early at Wharton than at Princeton or Harvard. I would also have few to no qualms about accepting a binding early offer from Wharton. I would like some advice about where to apply, and whether "using" my early application on Princeton/Harvard is "worth it" based on my stats. I also understand that Penn doesn't let me use score choice, and I retook a score above 750 so I'm not sure whether that will hurt me.</p>

<p>Academics:
Large public school in suburbs of NJ
SAT: 2310 (800M, 760CR, 750W)
ACT: 34
SAT 2s: 800 (Math 2); 800 (US History); 790 (Spanish)
GPA: 4.7 (W); 3.97 (UW)
Rank: in my class of 400, I think I'm 3rd, 4th, or 5th (school doesn't rank)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP Calc BC, APUSH, AP Art History, MicroEcon AP, English 4, International Politics, Independent Study in Spanish
AP: Have taken 6 tests, 5's on 5 of them, 4 on one of them
Major Awards: AP Scholar thing, National Merit Scholar, top 20 in nation in National History Bee, other regional quiz bowl awards, top 10 in quiz bowl national championships </p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Quiz Bowl (9,10,11,12) — 5-man team placed in top 10 at National Championships; individually, I was in the top 20 in the nation at the National History Bee national finals and have won many regional history bees/bowls; numerous nationally-competitive team awards for quiz bowl, as well)
Field Hockey (9,10,11,12) — less popular sport in America for males. I play on my region's "select" team (we've won 1st and 2nd in a few tournaments), co-founded a club at my school, and last year I was a weekend coach for the U12 group at my former club.
Town's Youth Advisory Board (9,10,11,12) — Vice-President in grade 11, President in grade 12.
ASB (9,10,11,12) — Frosh Rep, Soph Class President, Junior Rep, Treasurer right now</p>

<p>Summer Activities: volunteered at a camp, went to leadership camp, took a Global Studies course, history research at local university
Teacher Rec 1: Should be good, but there were a lot of smart kids in that AP class
Teacher Rec 2: Should be amazing. Said last year that I was the best student she had taught in a long time; I was the only person in her career to get a 5 on the AP test for that class. She's taught me for all 4 years of high school (ind. study this year)
Counselor Rec: should be good, but then again, there are a lot of smart kids in my grade
Essays: I think my common app one is really good/unique, but I'm still trying to cut it down to under the word limit. The Huntsman essay is good as well, haven't started the Penn or Princeton supplements.</p>

<p>Other:
State: NJ
School Type: large public
Income Bracket: 180K
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Hooks: None</p>

2

<p>Does your high school have Naviance? Where do you fall in their matrix for P, H and P?</p>

<p>Just looking at your post, I think you might be a better fit at Penn, even socially.
The Princeton campus is probably the most beautiful in the world, but that doesn’t make the school a good fit. If your stats take put you in the running for Wharton ED and you’d take it happily, why not go for it. If your goal is consulting, you could hardly do better. If you’re deferred you can apply RD to Princeton. And don’t think that a deferral would automatically mean you wouldn’t get into Princeton RD. You actually might have just as good a chance being accepted and P or H RD as ED, being that you don’t have a real hook. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the feedback, moonchild!
Yes, my high school has Naviance — there were a LOT more accepted in my general area on the Princeton and Penn graphs than on the Harvard graph. Princeton/Penn had about 33% acceptance rates in my “area” compared to like 10% for Harvard.<br>
What makes think that I’d be a better social/academic fit at Penn?
And I understand that Wharton is awesome for the ibanker types — is it really that way for consulting as well?
And okay, so H and P RD would be quite similar to EA for admissions chances.</p>

4

<p>Harvard and Princeton SCEA don’t do much except show your interest. Penn, however, doesn’t like that it has, to some, the reputation of the “HYP Reject” school. Your chances ED there would be more increased than your chances SCEA at Harvard and Princeton because of those two things.</p>

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<p>The reason I think you’re a better fit at Penn is because of this. The vast majority of students at H and P couldn’t care less about “practical business education.” At Wharton, you’d find a lot of comrades.</p>

<p>And I agree with Ruprex about your chances ED at Penn vs EA at H and P.
I also suggest you apply to Stanford RD if you don’t get into Penn. It’s a little more business-y than H and P undergrad.</p>

6

<p>I think that it is a mistake to base a decision where to apply based on where you might be accepted. Do you want to wonder if you could have been accepted at your first choice?</p>

<p>If you want to major in History and obtain a certificate in Linguistics why would you study business at Wharton? Wharton provides a very good business education but if you do not enjoy the business courses you may not do well in your education. </p>

<p>Many Princeton alumnae choose careers in business after concentrating in a liberal arts subject. For example, Heidi Miller '74 was a History major and later became the CFO of Citigroup. Carl Icahn '57 was a Philosophy major. </p>

<p>Consulting and finance are two of the most popular jobs for graduating seniors. Look at the number of Princeton graduates going into services (mostly consulting) as shown in this article. <a href=“Out of Harvard, and Into Finance - The New York Times”>Out of Harvard, and Into Finance - The New York Times; If you want consulting you should also consider obtaining a certificate in finance from the Bendheim Center for Finance [Bendheim</a> Center for Finance<em>-</em>Bendheim Center for Finance - Bendheim Center for Finance - Princeton University](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/bcf/]Bendheim”>Princeton's Bendheim Center for Finance) or taking courses in Operations Research and Financial Engineering (ORFE). [About</a> ORFE | Operations Research and Financial Engineering](<a href=“http://www.orfe.princeton.edu/]About”>http://www.orfe.princeton.edu/) I can almost guarantee that consulting firms would be interested in graduates with strong backgrounds in finance and OFRE.</p>

<p>While Princeton is committed to a liberal arts education Princeton graduates are very successful in business. You do not need to study business at the undergraduate level to be successful in business.</p>

<p>For fun you can play field hockey at Princeton. [Field</a> Hockey<em>-</em>Campus Recreation](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/campusrec/sport-clubs-1/sport-club-descriptions/field-hockey/]Field”>http://www.princeton.edu/campusrec/sport-clubs-1/sport-club-descriptions/field-hockey/) </p>

<p>Good luck in your decision.</p>

7

<p>Thanks again for the advice everyone! And thanks PtonAlumnus for that chart!
Sorry, I should have phrased this post a bit more carefully — I meant that the practical business education at Wharton would probably be more applicable to my future job than a liberal arts education. However, I do realize that Princeton is unique in that its Wilson School’s and Finance Dept’s certificate programs are quite hands-on. I think that I would enjoy History courses at Princeton more, though, as I am at heart a wannabe intellectual, haha. I understand that 40% of my Wharton education would be liberal arts courses, but the quality of professors and peers just seems better at Princeton than at UPenn CAS. Again, Princeton’s living arrangements, freshman seminar style, intellectualism, and eating clubs just seem more close-knit than Penn (a huge school).</p>

<p>Perhaps I should phrase this as: do you think I will be very competitive in Princeton’s EA/RD round to have a realistic chance of admission? Because what it comes down is if I don’t, I really think I should maximize my chances and try Huntsman at Penn.</p>

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<p>Well there are tons of pre-finance students at Princeton, too. And while it’s probably not as intensely specialized as Wharton’s business school curriculum might be, I would assume that you’re looking into getting a more liberal arts education considering your potential interests at Harvard/Princeton. If anything, Princeton might be a stronger feeder into the finance sector than Wharton is, I think. It might be about the same or even weaker, but the point in my seemingly weak evidence here is that Princeton’s strength and connections in consulting and investment banking are some of the best in the country (other schools probably hold a similar position) but what I’m getting at is that you’re not selling short by coming here, if that’s what you’re worried about.</p>

<p>Also, I didn’t really understand what an undergraduate educational emphasis meant when I was in high school, so if you want me to go into more detail about how I think this makes Princeton spectacular for undergrad in comparison to other schools like Harvard or Stanford, feel free to ask or PM.</p>

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<p>I agree with decillion. At Princeton or Harvard, you’d have a much broader academic experience and could absolutely go into business, as many students do, after graduation; it seems like you’d appreciate being able to delve into different areas of study, such as history, while not having to give up business. Although, I’m certainly not equating Harvard and Princeton, for reasons such as undergraduate focus, as decillion mentioned, and many other factors.</p>