<p>Hey everyone. My name is Chris and I’m currently enrolled as a freshman at the University of Alabama, majoring in quantitative finance. I really want to transfer to Penn since they have a really good finance program, however, I’m only an average student. I plan on transferring at the end of my sophomore year, and I just want everyone’s opinion on what I need to do in order to increase my chances of getting accepted.</p>
<p>High School Stats</p>
<p>ACT: 26 (Don’t require SAT down here)
GPA: 3.54 Rank: 166/489 (I slacked off during freshman and sophomore years)
Awards/ Activities: Highest Average in Law and Society, Geometry, Entrepreneurship and Management. Math Club, Chemistry Club, Honor Society, FBLA, Spanish Club
No AP classes except Honors Algebra II. :(</p>
<p>College Stats (now a freshman)</p>
<p>Volunteer, Habitat for Humanity, Adopt-A-Mile
Alpha Kappa Psi, Alabama Finance Association, Future Alumni for Tradition and Excellence. Used to be a manager at McDonalds 
I was only 18. (it’s a pretty tough job). Working there is the only real leadership I’ve had.</p>
<p>These aren’t the best stats in the world, as a matter of fact, everybody here makes me look stupid. I really have a deep passion for finance, and that’s why I want to go to Penn. I manage a personal equity portfolio ($7000) since I was 16 (now 19). Since then I’ve learned a lot about investing. I believe experience is the best teacher. Everything I do revolves around stocks and derivatives. I’m really getting into the quantitative aspect of finance now (martingale, Chaos theory, regression, etc)</p>
<p>I really regret slacking off in high school, but I’ve worked as hard as I could to bring my GPA up and get some EC. But I am at a HUGE disadvantage. I just need to know what I need to do for my freshman and sophomore years at Univ. of Ala. in order to actually have a shot. Thanks a lot.</p>
<p>good luck, just get as high of a gpa as possible, and write about your passions right.</p>
<p>in the end, if you dont get into wharton, you can still be in finance.</p>
<p>Chris - the longer you stay in college, the less important your HS record will become. By the middle of your Sophmore year very little weight will be placed on HS stuff - though you'll still have to send transcripts and test scores. </p>
<p>To improve your chances of transfering, hit the Penn website:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.econ.upenn.edu//Undergraduate/index.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.econ.upenn.edu//Undergraduate/index.htm</a></p>
<p>Then figure out what Finance majors are taking Freshman and Sophmore years, and take the same things. Be particularly aware of the "Admission to the Major" section since you will be coming in after your sophmore year.</p>
<p>If you are considering Wharton memorize everything here:</p>
<p><a href="http://undergrad.wharton.upenn.edu/highlights/external_transfer.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://undergrad.wharton.upenn.edu/highlights/external_transfer.cfm</a></p>
<p>Also, look around here for posts by ThomasH - his experience may be helpful.</p>
<p>Finally, do not be afraid to call the department and talk about what you want to do. (But wait 'till January when you'll have a transcript to show off.) At the very least you'll get some personal contacts that may be useful when you apply to the major. </p>
<p>Good Luck</p>
<p>thanks for the support wengcheng and william c. it really helped me out. for a second i was thinking all hope was lost for me. Are there any standardized test I need to be taking?</p>
<p>Penn has a foreign language requirement so if you are reasonably proficient in whatever language you took in HS, you might want to brush up on that and take the corresponding SAT II. </p>
<p>Scoring info is here:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.college.upenn.edu/curriculum/language_exams.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.college.upenn.edu/curriculum/language_exams.html</a></p>
<p>Im Korean, but I was born here in America. I can't speak Korean and can't hold a conversation in Korean either, I only know the basics. I think I know more Spanish than I do Korean, but if I brush up on my Korean it will be easy for me to retain unlike Spanish. Will I be able to submit Korean as the language requirement if I pass all necessary tests?</p>