Chance me at Wharton

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):730/720/610
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): only taken once so far and should be able to bump score up by 100
ACT (breakdown):
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): 700 Spanish, 690 Biology M (still have to take math II)
Unweighted/Weighted GPA: 3.8/4.2
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/85 (4.7%)
AP/IB (place score in parentheses): AP World History (5), AP Bio (4), AP Spanish Language (4), AP US History (4)
Senior Year Course Load: AP+Honors Physics, AP Calc, AP English, US govt, Spanish V
Number of other ED applicants in your school: 0
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): some humanitarian award, all county baseball/soccer, leadership award, highest average in Spanish award, award for experiment in international living
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): High honor roll every high school quarter, tons of sports participation awards, lots of minor awards </p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Varsity Soccer (9-12, captain, starter), Varsity Baseball (10-12, captain, starter), Varsity Basketball (9-12, captain, starter), Spanish Club (9-12, President), NHS (vice president 11-12), Newspaper club (vice president 11-12),
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community Service: School tutor, helped Mexicans learn to speak English at local church, Experiment in International Living in Costa Rica (helped clean up beaches/fix beaten up school), worked at local horse barn (cleaned up around barn and did paperwork in office), summer basketball camp (helped young kids improve their skills)
Summer Experience: 7 week sleep-away camp in Maine for 4 summers, Experiment in International Living in Costa Rica (community service trip), basketball/soccer/baseball camps (participated as both camper and counselor)
Teacher Recommendation #1: English teacher (amazing---specific to each college I'm applying to)
Teacher Recommendation #2: Math teacher (very good--- she loves me)
Counselor Rec: excellent--- very good relationship with him
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview:not yet</p>

<p>Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):
Why Penn: (love for business, 10, it's always been a dream...)
Any dual-degree program essays: none
CommonApp Essay: (dad, 10, was never there for me when I was younger...finally made him proud)</p>

<p>Other:
Date Submitted App: not yet
U.S. State/Territory or Country: NY
School Type: Rural Public
Ethnicity: Mexican American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: 200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): </p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Were else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
What would you have done differently?:</p>

<p>Other Factors:</p>

2

<p>actually got a 610 in reading and 720 in writing with 10 on essay</p>

3

<p>You have a very good chance because of your rank, EC’s and race. SAT is not that good, but thats fine URMs get in easier at Wharton despite their sometimes lower SAT/ACT scores. Just look at past results threads.</p>

4

<p>Thank you!</p>

5

<p>I think you have a solid shot for Wharton. Are you taking the SATs again? Bumping that up will only help you, and frankly it’s the only thing you can change at this point.</p>

<p>You need to blow them away with your essay. Honestly I wouldn’t go down the “it’s always been a dream” road as it’s clichéd (happy to offer specific ideas via private message). Are you applying early decision? Because that ups the chances a LOT for Penn, as they took about 25% of their class or more ED last year. I think URM status will help you, though you are a high income URM – it isn’t the same as a URM who has just come here and is struggling. And lastly it isn’t changeable but even better for you if you’re from one of the upstate counties in NY, rather than from NYC, Westchester or Long Island as there’s a ton of over representation.</p>

<p>-Signed, a Wharton alum</p>

6

<p>Thank you so much aj725,
I do plan on bumping up my SAT score. I’ve also been thinking that I should apply to the college of arts and sciences instead (easier to get into) and major in economics. Then I can see what I really want to do in life. Any thoughts on that? Also, I’ve been stuck on this essay and would love to have an idea or two :slight_smile:
Thanks again,
Eric</p>

7

<p>That is good idea to go to CAS if you are not sure if you want to do business. Just know that transferring to Wharton will be hard.</p>

8

<p>Do you think I’ll be fine majoring in economics and then seeking out my options from there?</p>

9

<p>Perfectly fine to apply to the college and major in econ, but I wouldn’t do it with the idea that you’ll be able to transfer to Wharton as that ends up being near impossible every year. Why do you want Wharton? Will you regret it if you’re at Penn but not in Wharton? Do you have any sense of what your career goals are (not specifically but big picture)? I’m not suggesting that many people are unhappy in CAS, but you definitely run across people who are a bit regretful that they didn’t try for Wharton – some say it outright, others spend a lot of time talking about how it doesn’t matter.</p>

10

<p>Hmmm. Is it common for someone to major in economics at the college of arts and sciences and still be a successful businessman?</p>

11

<p>Of course. You can major in anything and be a businessman – it’s not just limited to finance. At Penn though a lot of econ majors end up in consulting and IB (more consulting though) just like Wharton grads; Penn is a pre professional place through and through so lots of people from the college in various majors go through on campus recruiting just like Wharton students do. I think it’s a bit different than at other universities where you’d see more econ majors headed off to grad/PhD programs in econ.</p>

12

<p>Thank you! So would you say that I should apply to a different business grad school after my undergraduate years?</p>

13

<p>There are Penn undergrads (Wharton or not) who eventually get Wharton MBAs. There are many others who go other places. It shouldn’t be a huge concern right now because you likely are not going to a top business school without at least 2 (or more like 3-4) years work experience post college. However I would say you shouldn’t NOT go to Wharton undergrad because you’re “saving” Wharton for an MBA option; go with the sure thing, if you get into Wharton undergrad now, go. MBA admissions are competitive and you have no idea what’ll happen or where life will take you by then. If it’s meant to be, you’ll come back to Wharton a second time for an MBA. (Something I’ve always toyed with but have no pulled the trigger.)</p>

14

<p>But isn’t it a lot more difficult to get into wharton undergrad than the college of arts and sciences?</p>

15

<p>I’ve seen that Wharton in particular practices affirmative action to a greater extent than the other undergraduate colleges at Penn. </p>

<p>You have a pretty good chance of admission. I don’t think retaking SAT will be the best use of your time at the moment. </p>

16

<p>SAT scores are pretty low. U are a urm but still i think they are on the lower side. </p>

17

<p>Retake the SAT or try the ACT, because if you can do better, you’re chances are incredibly high for many of the top 10 schools, given you’re URM status. So please give standardized testing another shot!</p>

<ul>
<li>Penn '18 student</li>
</ul>

18

<p>Oh gosh!!! So a guy looks at people’s faces in a class or something and concludes there is more affirmative action at Wharton!? It’s so shallow and baseless. So, my kid is there because of AA due to her skin color and not the 2250 SAT, not the state championships in academics, not the organization my kid created to help youth, not the travel abroad experiences working to help people or the environment, not the book my kid wrote, not athletics, not talent competitions, not being in the State’s honor band, not the 4.0 UW GPA, not a very high rank in a class of about 550-600 students, not all the years of scoring in the top 1 percentile on every statewide exam she ever took from her youngest years, not her recommendation letters saying she was the brightest student they ever had the privilege to teach, I won’t even go into her superior IQ and current success at the school while still having time to help youth, be social, work, do sports and travel abroad. </p>

<p>It all comes down to race…</p>

<p>@WhartonnotHYPS‌ you are making me tired because you are so 1980 and need to stop it. You give bad advice.</p>

19

<p>@WhartonnotHYPS‌, your views on affirmative action are frankly, a load of garbage and incredibly insulting/condescending. If you actually go to Penn (and I think your essays may make it difficult for you to get in if they have even a hint of your current attitude). You will see that there are a lot of very smart minorities on campus who were at the top of there class in high school and do great things on campus. I honestly think that affirmative action does not have anywhere near the impact people think it does. Yes many of these students may have lower SAT scores, partly due to the biases of the test, but the kids I know were all extraordinary students in high school regardless. You will also see that there are many white students and ORMs who are not as great as their application suggested, so why are you so prejidiced towards URMs? Oh and Penn is 25% Asian so while there may be some bias against them in admissions, there are still plenty of Asians who are accepted to Penn.</p>

<p>If you want to talk about unfair preferences, talk about legacies or athletes. I’ve known several wealthy athletes who received almost a free pass on their academics (although there are plenty of incredibly smart athletes who would have gotten into Penn regardless). There was a football player at my school who was recruited from the bottom half of our class? What do you think about that? What about all of the legacies/faculty kids who had plenty of opportunities growing up but still get a boost in admissions?</p>

20

<p>Although I do not agree with most of whartonnothyps sentiment, I do think that affirmative action does play a decent role in penn admissions. I know many of you find it hard to accept, but most of my friends on campus who have below penn avg sat scores and grades happen to be students of color (black and hispanic). Most whites and asians score healthily above penn’s average scores. </p>