Chance Me for Upenn ED

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

Hey everyone! I am a rising senior looking to ED to the Wharton school of business (go quakers!) however, I would like feedback in certain areas so here it goes… (btw I am a white male from Florida in the top 1% income level)

UW GPA: 3.95
Weighted GPA: 5.2 or 4.4 (my school has 3 GPAS I never know which one is which)
Class Rank: 7 out of 550ish
Sidenote: I go to a poop public high school thats rated a “-B school.” is this going to look bad on my application??? that I only look good in comparison because im surrounded by mediocrity???

SAT- single sitting 1420, superstore 1480 (will NOT be sending)
ACT- 33 C (R 35, E 35, M 30, S 30) — 34 super score (R 35, E 35, M 32, S 32)
SO…this is where my first question arises. I am applying to a business school…shouldnt my math score be a 34+??? I plan on retaking this this September and only studying for the math portion and also should I aim to get my single sitting comp to a 34, I know UPENN superstores but my 33 is really a 32.5 and my 34 is really a 33.5 :frowning:

AP’s: im 8/9 on passing AP exams.
calc AB - 2
bio - 3
capstone research - 3
capstone seminar - 3
enviro - 4
us history - 4
world - 4
lang - 4
human geo - 4
Do I submit all of them??? or only 4 + ???

Subject Tests: Taking math 2 in august for the first time (only going to send if 780+) should I take one more???

Senior Course Load:
AP Macro
AP Micro
AP calc BC
AP Stats
AP Lit
AP Econ/gov
2 classes online at the University of Florida (B.S. electives)

ECs:
MAO all 4 years (math team)
NHS sophomore-senior year
Peer Pals all 4 years (club for kids with disabilities)
DECA all 4 years - won state awards all 4 years, international qualifier all 4 years, top 20 international finalist junior year
Debate all 4 years
Co-founded Launchx program at my school
Founded “Fostering the Future of Finance” - organization that teaches kids aging out of the foster care system financial literacy

Work:
Worked from 2016-2018 at math franchise Mathnasium
Summer of junior year held paid internship with Bright Star Credit Union working in the operations department (worked on fraudulent checks, subpoenas, loan applications, etc)

Volunteer:
Buddy sports 6 years (local organization that helps disabled kids learn how to play sports)
Coached Recreational Basketball Team of 7th graders for the city of Coral Springs
Head Sports Specialist at Camp Jenny (organization that sends inner-city Atlanta kids to sleep away camp over Labor Day weekend)

Leadership:
Debate co prez junior year, co prez senior year
DECA VP of activities senior year

Essays:
refuse to go into detail here but it is supperrrrrrr unique and demonstrates what I’ve learned at 3 major points in my life to form me who I am today and I am looking forward to writing it

I guess thats it! So I am applying to UPenn ED and really hope to get in. After that I am applying to 10 other schools: Cornell, NYU, UVA, Boston College, Babson, UF, Emory, Duke, Northwestern and of course…Harvard. I know I don’t have a lot of safeties (Emory, UF and BC) but I am 100% content with emory especially because they’re good with merit scholarships and I want to go to grad school - upenn is just the only undergrad business school thats worth that tuition. Let me know what you guys think!

2

Overall, you seem to be a viable candidate, and I think you have a fair chance. However, there were some issues that may bring up red flags. For example, a 2 on Calc AB is definitely a problem especially for a school like Wharton. Paired with a lower math score on the ACT, that might question your strength when it comes to math. Also Wharton recommends 2 subject tests, so you’ll need something along with math 2. Your math 2 score should be very close to an 800 if not an 800. This is the only issue that I see with your application. Your ECs and other stats seem good so its going to come down to your recommendations and essays as well. Good luck!

3

You are a competitive applicant. Your stats and ECs are decent. Your math scores are a little on the low side. Consider taking the SAT Math level 2 and score a 750+ to show Wharton you are qualified in a quantitative sense. Write great essays and you could get accepted

4

Emory, UF and BC are matches. Don’t confuse what a safety is or you may be in for a bad surprise.

5

You should only send your AP scores that are a 4 and above. In addition, you might want to take the SAT Math II subject test – Wharton is really looking for a proficiency is math.

6

Upenn, Cornell, Duke, Emory, NW, UVA, and Harvard are Reaches for you.

7

I agree with all except for emory. thats a pretty solid match.

8

Honestly, I feel that you’ll get into most of the colleges you’ve outlined.

9

@joerbnsn
Why do you think that? Because it isn’t for you. Emory is certainly harder to get into than UVA. From my vantage point your the avg unhooked applicant to those schools.

10

for their business program I feel I am a strong applicant. I have legacy there (even though I don’t think they really care)

11

@joerbnsn
That’s fine, and you’re right these schools wont care about legacy unless your applying ED. Again you’ll get into UVA before you get into Emory and UVA is a low Reach for you right now.

12

Ok, here are my thoughts and based only on the information I see.

I think you are below average stat wise for almost all of the schools. The ones mentioned by tR5674 or at best average.

Why do I say that?

My son who went to a public 500+ class size school had 41 kids take the Calc BC AP test. 37 got a 5, 4 got a 4. Of the 41, 40 got a 5 on the AB subscore.

Almost everyone you’ll be competing with will have achieved mostly 5s in all of their APs and you don’t have one. By the time you take your Senior AP tests, it’ll be too late to report.

Your GPA is near the middle or low, same with your ACT and SAT. If they were near the 35 or 1550 range then maybe that could overcome the AP stuff.

Your ECs are average to slightly above for most of these schools.

Apply ED will raise your chances, your essay will have to talk about how your values/passion are in line with the university’s. Your recommendations will need to be exceptional (make sure you don’t get a generic recommendation).

Your demographic doesn’t help you either. Being an upper class white kid gets you no bump.

I do know you won’t get accepted unless you apply, but your chances are low.

I’m not sure I agree that Wharton’s business undergrad is the only one worth the money line either.

13

thank you so much on the outlook on the “school” scenario. I agree I don’t think I will get into half of these schools but do you really agree that emory is a reach for me?? Im also retaking the ACT this September to get my single sitting to a 34 and superstore a 35, and as a contention addressing the AP score for calc thats why im taking math 2 (twice if needed) aiming for that 780+

14

I don’t think that you can think of reach and non-reach as binary. Emory is a world class research university that people talk about in the same breath as CMU and NYU and WashU. It is a reach for most people. Not as great of a reach for you as Harvard, but yes still a reach.

But, here is some encouragement from a level one source:

I graduated from IPFW (now Purdue Fort Wayne) with a BS in Organizational Leadership and Supervision
I did average in undergrad and started out working at a level 3 parts supplier in automotive
I talked my way into getting an IE MS program at Purdue Main campus and graduated with a 4.0
I then got my MBA at Kellogg and am now one of the most successful graduates in IPFW history

It isn’t necessarily where you go to school, it is who you are and how you do your thing.

15

exactly! my dad is a perfect example of that (took him 10 years to graduate with a BA from USF) but he’s a people person and a hard worker who overcame a lot to get to where he is. Thats why I don’t really care if I get into those other schools besides penn because I truly believe for business unless you go there or like Stanford for undergrad you need a masters. but thats why I am really banking on emory - im hung up on and doing everything I can to be one of their goizueta scholars (full to half ride for their business program)

16

did you ever take AP Chem or AP Physics? I don’t see any AP foreign language. For starters, selective universities want to see you take hte 5 core classes, all 4 years (english, math, science, social sciences and foreign language). If you don’t have those solids for all 4 years, that would be my first question.

17

So, there’s getting in (& obvs Wharton is choosy) and then there’s staying in. I’m puzzled by the math part: you are on the math team, you tutor at a math place, but you tanked in AB and your math ACT is ok, but not dazzling. Do you understand why that is? B/c, as another poster noted, Wharton is really mathy, and if you aren’t as strong in math, you might find yourself struggling.

18

so as previously stated i go to a reallly crappy public high school with super mediocre teachers who flat out dont care. the numbers for kids taking calc ab and bc are so low next year theyre combining AB and BC it into 1 class period… so i started 1st quarter in the class and the teacher was god awful (pass rate is below 30%) and i was on track to get a B for the semester which i couldnt afford. so instead i dropped it before 1st quarter ended at my school and took it through FLVS where i earned my As for the semester but really didnt learn the material because i was teaching

19

…myself so i tanked the exam i guess

20

no to chem and physics because i figured im not going to be a scientist so who cares. i took my 4 years of science (bio, chem, ap bio, ap enviro) so for my senior year i decided to drop science and double up on maths (stats and calc BC). i took 3 years of spanish but didnt continue with 4 as spanish 3 has been my only B in my high school career.