CAS the 'easy' way in?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>I know that Wharton is very very very hard to get into, more so than CAS, so, given my stats, should I ED CAS instead? I have been reading a lottt of threads, and it seems like my chances of Wharton are -0.5% now lol. <em>I had such high hopes</em>. I really want to go to Wharton for their amazing business programs (obvs), and the prestige (I'm international so I'm only applying to top school... safeties are in Canada). I have several other friends who are all EDing Penn CAS at my school. more competition yay <3</p>

<p>Asian
Applying to Penn Wharton ED</p>

<p>Major: Business management with focus on finance, marketing, or behavioral economics</p>

<p>Course Load:
Most rigorous: full IB
HL Math (5)
HL Literature(6-7)
HL Bio(6)
HL History(6-7)
SL Chem(5-6)
SL French(6)</p>

<p>School does not have GPA and does not rank, but I am in top 10% of class of about 100
Go to a private school</p>

<p>ACT (first time):
33C
34E
30R
32M
35S</p>

<p>Taking SAT Math 2 and Mandarin in October and November
Retaking ACT now since I found out they look at math scores... lol</p>

<p>Income: I'm sure I need aid, but my parents insist I dont...</p>

<p>Applying for aid for Penn since they are need blind to Canadian PRs</p>

<p>ECs:
Duke of Ed Gold and Silver awards
At least 500 service hours thanks to those awards and CAS (for IB)
Church teacher for 4 years (have been in church for 5 years)
Started math club (2 years - school made it so that you can only start clubs in grade 11)
Very active - I do a lot of outdoorsy stuff ever since I moved to canada (rockclimbing, caving, hiking, canoeing)
Hiked my first major trail when I was 14 (It was 25ish km and I had no experience whatsoever about these things lol)
I run alot?
Tutored math to some kids in the summer for a lower fee
Piano since I was 3
I am learning/ brushing up on my Chinese with my tutor
Spent summers of grade 9-10 travelling/staying in the middle east and China (first time for both places)</p>

<p>Very interested in business, although I have no experience in it - I never found opportunities to explore 'businessy' stuff. My parents are both entrepreneurs and business owners though. Does not having anything to do with business ruin my chances for Wharton ED?</p>

<p>so what do you guys think? apply to CAS for better chances, or follow my heart with Wharton?</p>

<p>Thanks :)</p>

2

<p>bump?</p>

3

<p>Your PG is way too low. Consider writing a rockstar essay…but that would not help a lot either. </p>

4

<p>sorry for my ignorance, but what is PG?</p>

5

<p>CAS ED alone will be a challenge for you, still possible. Assuming near perfects on SAT 2’s, and very high rank, your ECs may be lacking, especially for Wharton. You need to show why you want a business degree of you have no prior experience or tangible way of showing interest. You can’t put hiking / outdoorsy stuff in your EC section. Maybe get a good essay out of your travel summers. Rest is average for a competitive ivy league candidate. You have a chance at CAS, but internal transfer to Wharton is very difficult to say the least. </p>

<ul>
<li>Current Penn student </li>
</ul>

6

<p>@smarty99‌ the thing is, my school does not have business-related extracurricular activities, and I tried internships, but most places do not hire high school grads. I travelled/stayed in abu dhabi/dubai/oman in the summers. what can i write about this though? won’t the officers just assume i’m rich and have nothing better to do? I really don’t want to come across as ‘privileged’ per say. I also travelled to africa the past spring for missions work, but I know the whole africa-missions work thing is overused? in my wharton essay, I just wrote about what I can contribute to the wharton community. </p>

<p>also, are you a CAS or Wharton student, and may I know your brief stats? (SAT/ACT scores, EC etc?)</p>

<p>thank you! :)</p>