Chance Me: Terrible GPA and Decent ECs for Wharton Undergrad ED

Hey Guys, so I’m currently a junior at a mid level public high school in Michigan

I know my low GPA is bringing my application down, but I’m hoping my extracurriculars and test scores will help mitigate the damage. What do you think?

Intended major: Preferably Finance

****Skip to Bottom for TL;DR

UW GPA: 3.75 (I know this is very low; I can probably get it to a low 3.8 by graduation)
W GPA: ~4.6
Class rank: no idea because my school doesn’t give out percentile until senior year(most likely top 10%)
***Note: I had a 4.0 GPA freshman year, but due to certain circumstances(my fault; not any medical or family emergency) my GPA absolutely plummeted sophmore year. In Junior Year so far, I have a 4.0.

SAT (New): 1570
ACT: 32 Freshmen Year, 35 Junior Year
SAT Subject Tests: Math 2 (770), Literature(790), Physics(750)

13 AP Classes by graduation:
Freshman Year: AP world(5)
Sophmore Year: AP Calc A(my school does things differently, so no AP tests are usually taken after this class), AP Comp Sci Java(4), AP Euro(5)
Junior Year: AP Lit, AP Spanish(self study), AP Calc BC, APUSH, AP Physics 1
Senior Year(Prospective): Multivariable Calculus(dual credit class), AP Statistics, AP Econ, AP Lang, AP Biology

Business Classes Taken:
Business Entrepreneurship
Investing and Finance
Investment Management(at local community college during year)
Consumer Education(graduation requirement)
Business Law

Clubs:
Principal Advisory Board Member: Competitive application process(2 years)
School Newspaper(Editor)(2 years)
Community Service Club(President)
President’s Forum(Representative)
Business Professionals of America(Member, and qualified for Nationals sophmore year; hope to qualify and attend this year)
Math Team: Member of team that placed 4th in state
Model United Nations(Founder and President)
Quiz Bowl: Team Captain(4 years)
Varsity Tennis 2 Years(3 by senior year)
JV Tennis 1 Year

ECs:
-started own Business at age 15; does $10 grand+ per year
-founded and organized fundraise to help people in developing countries(to aid in education): $2500 raised in school: got an article in local news
-National Music Competition 4th Place
-interned with BMO Harris Bank over the summer
-Teaches Music to kids on the weekend(like a part time job)

Volunteering:
50 Hours through fundraiser(mentioned above)
30 hours through FMSC
100 hours volunteering in local congressional campaign(it’s a cause/candidate I believe in)

Awards & Achievements (I mentioned a few earlier but here they are again):

  • Hopefully NMSQT semifinalist
    -6th place Nationals Music
    -1st place business startup pitch Competition
    -3rd place Entrepreneurship Competition State Level
    -4th place investment team(stock simulator)
    -Mayor’s award for service and volunteering
    -Statewide Journalism Competition 2nd Place
    -Editorial/Opinions piece published by Wall Street Journal
    -1st place State Music Competition
    -Special Recognition in International Music Competition
    -Top 20 Tennis Players in State

Demographics:

  • Gender: Female
  • Race: Asian (Indian)
  • Geography: Midwestern public school(relatively affluent area)
  • Hooks: NOT URM(My Parents moved here, and I’m the first to attend college in the US, but I doubt that helps)

A couple highlighted Essay Topics:

  1. Background/Talent Essay: I’ve been practicing classical Indian Music for nearly 11 years, and have won many compeitions, given concerts, and gained the opportunity to participate in professional stage productions(like Jungle Book)

  2. Obstacles Essay: when starting my Model UN club, we faced opposition from several members of the administrations like teachers and the vice principal. It was tough to push it to through all the hurdles. In addition, my traditional parents hate that thought of “working outside the system”. So going against powerful people in the school to follow my passions was super difficult and a mental struggle for me.

  3. Questioned Beliefs Essay: This is about the slightly controversial editorial I wrote for WSJ. Definitely went against what most of my peers as well as the media thought.

Rec Letters

  1. Humanities Teacher who knew me through various clubs that I was a leader in. Close relationship. 9/10

  2. Business Teacher who guided me and watched me grow through the entrepreneurship program 8/10

  3. Music Teacher who’s known me for 5 Years. Seen me grow from unconfident and (not very good) singer to where I am now. Graduate of Top Three Business School(not Wharton) and currently working in Finance Industry.

TL:DR:
I’m a low GPA Indian female student from a competitive state(Michigan) in the Midwest with awards in Music, business, and journalism. Started Several Volunteering/Fundraising Projects for disadvantaged people. Several Leadership Positions.

Finance @ Wharton is my absolute dream. I’m planning on applying ED there next year. Do I have a shot despite my low GPA and Ethnicity(am I a cookie-cutter Indian student?)

What can I do to improve my chances of acceptance in next year’s admission cycle?

@berk21 Your GPA is lower than most Penn admits but it is not prohibitively low. Anything above a 3.7/3.75 is ok. Just focus in trying on raising it as much as you can and you should be ok. You have decent/good chances i think. ED will definitely improve your chances a bit. Penn loves its ED applicants.

tbh, I don’t think a 3.75 will hurt your chances, especially considering the awesome ECs you’ve wracked up @berk21

Lol a 3.75 unweights and a 4.6 weighted is awesome - nothing to worry about. I know students who have gotten accepted with a 3.6