<p>Hey there - so I visited Wharton this year, fell absolutely beyond in love with the place, and am just wondering how I fare. :)</p>
<ul>
<li>Junior at an independent girls' school in Sydney, Australia</li>
<li>In at least top 10% of school class (specifics aren't given until Senior year); top 4% of state.</li>
<li>Came first in English, Religion, Drama, and Maths last year during exams.</li>
<li><p>Doing SAT's this year at some point; I's around April/May and subject tests by December. Aiming to get at least 700's in my I's.</p></li>
<li><p>EC's: Senior Concert Band, Senior Jazz Band, Brass Ensemble, Guitar Ensemble, Jazz Combo, Model United Nations, Mock Trial, House Prefect, volunteer Surf Lifesaver, Varsity Soccer, plus Touch Rugby & Field Hockey.</p></li>
<li><p>Summers: Spend time doing volunteer surf lifesaving during the Australian Summer; last Northern Hemisphere summer went to a three-week program at an Ivy League college, and this summer going to a Youth Leadership/United Nations program in DC.</p></li>
<li><p>Out-of-school:
-At age 15 I produced a music video for marketing purposes for EMI Records; this involved running budgeting, casting, crew, logistics, and meeting with the record company to work out the project from a business/marketing perspective. I'm also scheduled to produce another one for them later this year.
-I also work with two other teenagers to create sponsorship proposals aimed at large youth-orientated corporations in search of financial support for a series of under-18 concerts at one of Sydney's most prominent live music venues.
-Finally, once a month myself with a few other teenagers go to MySpace Australia headquarters to discuss marketing strategy re: <18 market.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>*(I'm hoping all of the out-of-school stuff will be my big "individual" factor that shows entrepreneurship, leadership, and business skills)</p>
<p>Apart from that, I guess my main other pro's are that I'm an International Student who won't be applying for Financial Aid.</p>
<p>So yep - any idea of where I stand would be great :)</p>
<p>Also - is there an improved chance of being accepted if you apply ED? I know Wharton's the place for me so I wouldn't have a problem committing if I were accepted.</p>
<p>You sound like you'll be in the running if you get great SAT scores (2250 plus w/at minimum high 700's in math) and a great math SATII (close to 800), get great recs and write great essays.</p>
<p>
[quote]
-At age 15 I produced a music video for marketing purposes for EMI Records; this involved running budgeting, casting, crew, logistics, and meeting with the record company to work out the project from a business/marketing perspective. I'm also scheduled to produce another one for them later this year.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You want to be careful with this. It's a great hook, but don't over state your actual involvement. If you told me that a major record label gave a 15 year old a $2 million budget to manage 25 employees on a music video now on rotation at MTV, I'd never believe you. I would probably just assume you worked as on the set as an assistant to the director and are embellishing. Why would anyone ever give that level of responsibility to a 15 year old when there are plenty of BFA filmmakers / BBA managers begging for that opportunity? (not challenging you - that would be my thinking)</p>
<p>There are a few things you can do. First, give very specific numbers. "Managed a budget" isn't descriptive. I managed a budget at age 8 running a lemonade stand. "Solely responsible for establishment and allocation of a $500,000 budget" is much more descriptive. If you managed people, mention exactly how many and indicate what level they were (there's a difference between managing a bunch of high school friends for a demo to be sent to EMI and managing the Beastie Boys).</p>
<p>And if you did do something very impressive that's not really believable, make sure someone from EMI writes a reference to validate it.</p>
<p>I was literally the assigned produce for the video; we had a $5,000 from the label and I was in charge of everything I said - there was no supervising adult or whatever, it was quite literally in my hands.
Would something like that need a validation from EMI nonetheless?</p>
<p>I would want to know who assigned you. Is your father a big-wig at the label? Did you produce a student video that someone at EMI saw? Do you know the band? Did you win a contest? Each of those imply a different level of accomplishment.</p>
<p>You'll also want to indicate some factor of success. Any student could fire up a webcam and produce a music video in 15 minutes. What did you do that was different from what other students could have done? Was it successful? How do you know? </p>
<p>With that sort of budget, I probably wouldn't worry too much about EMI. The problem would have been if you presented it like it was a million dollar video. A $5000 video is much more believable.</p>
<p>And these questions are rhetorical. You don't need to answer here, but these are the sorts of things people will wonder, especially if you make that hook central to your application.</p>