GPA (4.0 scale)
Weighted 4.52, Unweighted 4.0
Class Rank: 2 out of 706
AP Scores: Took Lots of APs (13) but only took 7 exams (5 4’s and 2 5’s) (worried this could hurt me, should i report?)
Awards:
Nothing too amazing
I was an international finalist for a business plan competition
FBLA National Competitor
1st place state award for HOSA biomed debate
Presidential volunteer service award (Gold 250+ hours)
Varsity State Debate Championships (Octafinalist)
ECs (significant ones):
Founded a non-profit to help give children access to education supplies as well as mentor them
President of the largest FBLA chapter in the state (500+ people)
Co-captain of Varsity Debate Team
VP of a club that plays music in elderly homes
Internship at Cisco (Got a supplemental Rec, whats the impact of this?)
etc.
My dilemma is that I am not sure whether I should apply to penn or duke ed. I know that Penn has Wharton, and I would love to go there. However, Duke also seems like a great option. I feel as though as an Asian (Indian) I do not standout in the pool of other qualified Wharton applicants. Also not sure about my ap situation.
ED is definitely your best shot. What state are you from? If this is the Cisco in Bay Area, sounds like you are from CzA. Just note that Northern California is an overrepresented area of the country. So you’ll be directly compared against your peers.
Your scores and grades certainly look fine. Don’t report the AP scores. They won’t notice or care. However I noticed that you wrote
Just wanted you to be aware that it will be no easier to get into Duke. Penn and Duke are similar in terms of ED/RD admission rates. So I would suggest to pick whichever school you like better for personal reasons and apply ED.
thanks, i appreciate the advice. the reason that i believe penn is significantly harder is due to the fact that i’m applying to the wharton school, which is notorious for being the hardest at penn. Also, do you think it’s a good idea to not report any ap scores vs only reporting 7 even though i took 13 classes. i feel as though they will think that i did not take any exams, but i’m not sure if that’s worse than the fact that i only took 7/13 exams.
Report all your AP scores since they are good scores. You are right than Wharton is tougher to get into, especially as an Asian male (are you a male?). Duke or Penn CAS would be slightly easier accept in the ED round, but you do have great stats and pretty good ECs. If you absolutely love Wharton, I say go for it.
@annon9 The difference between Penn SEAS and Wharton is not that big (think of it as the difference between Harvard and Yale, it is there but it is small). In fact for the past couple of years SEAS has had a lower admissions rate than Wharton. Also the difference is not that big when comparing Penn to Duke. You qualify perfectly well for all of these. Since you are a strong applicant, I think you should use ED for your top choice. you should do Duke ED only if Duke is your top choice. Also Penn is stronger for both CS and business and in terms of entrepreneurial activity, infrastructure.