Can I and should I ED to Penn (Wharton Undergrad)? (Very concise bullets)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

Academics:
*Expecting 4.4 GPA by the time of application
*35 ACT
*slew of honors, one AP so far (APUSH, 5). Four more next year.
*Haven’t done SAT IIs yet, expecting 780+ math and chem
ECs:
*US Senate Page Program (spent one semester in DC working full time while managing 4 classes every day. Had to give up APs to participate)
*Model UN. 3 awards and leadership next year
*Clothes reselling business profiting $x000 a year
*Student Government elected rep.
*Internship at US Senate office
*Youth in Government leadership, NHS, 400 hours volunteering for political campaigns
Background:
*1st gen college student
*US citizen but lived abroad until middle school, English not first language but now fluent.

Would Ivies be a better fit for me or liberal arts like Carnegie & Claremont?

That’s it. Let me know if you have any questions. I will be sure to answer them in the comments! Thank you so much

2

Depends. What do you want to major in?

3

Penn and CMC are both schools fill a majority of their class through ED. At CMC it’s almost 70% of the class, with a 32% ED acceptance rate vs. 9% RD.

So, I don’t feel like I have any basis to judge which is a better fit for you, but applying ED is your best shot at whichever one you prefer.

If you want business per se (which is what Wharton implies), then Wharton is probably the better choice, as CMC doesn’t have a business major.

If you want a combination of econ and public policy, then a PPE major might be more your speed. Penn’s is in Arts & Sciences, not Wharton. CMC’s is a competitive tutorial program that students apply to in the fall of their sophomore year. (And they also have top-notch econ and Government majors, which are their largest programs.)

CMU’s public policy stuff is more technology-oriented - they don’t really have a PPE equivalent - but Tepper is an excellent business school.

If you need financial aid, Penn is the most generous (meets full need with no loans) followed by CMC (meets full need but does not promise a no-loan package) and CMU a distant third (doesn’t even meet full need).

4

You are a competitive applicant. Apply if you want to study business undergraduate as Wharton is one of the best schools out there for that subject. Write amazing essays and you could get accepted to any of these schools

5

ED is the best shot. If you really like Wharton and you are sure you fit the business track, than go for it!