Chance my ED. Fell in love with UPenn

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
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<p>So, I visited UPenn and I fell completely in love. The machine shop was awesome (Not the most well-equipped though, but the Robotics lab rocked). The architecture was the best I've ever seen and every path on campus was populated with extroverts. Also loved Philly(i'm from CA) - every street corner had a recycling bin. I'm hoping to get into a double-degree program with Wharton business and the Engineering school (straight up engineering).</p>

<p>If you could chance me, and also answer some questions, that would be stellar.
Info-
Race: White, American Born 1st generation Russian Jew (Russian 1st Lang)(Russian as 1st Lang)(parents emigrated on refugee status post-WWII) Parents highly educated though.
Raw Scores:
2310 SAT(super of 2, 800 on Math1), 800Math2,800Bio Molecular,750Chem (do I give chem or just the 2 800s?)
APs: 9 so far, all 5s except Computer Science A (no idea what happened). 3-5 more next year; Bio,Chem,USH,EuropeanH,CalcBC,CompSciA,PhysC Mechanics,Micro Econ,Macro Econ.
GPA: 3.85 (like 4.25 with boost from honors/APs but that's weighted).</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Robotics Club: Spend like 40h/week during build season, VP of Finance(in charge of stuff like purchases), only individual trained (near-professional-level skills) in CAD and CAM software(designing a robot and converting the design into something a CNC machine can make), 2 years in programming division, 1 year in Mechanical, distinguished myself greatly as Mechanical engineer/machiner.
Sports: Couple seasons in swimming/soccer, 4 year for water polo, possibly captain senior year.
Theatre: Part of 'documentary' theatre production about Iraq war, seriously impacted me, a musical, president/leader of Male A Capella group (organized field trip, recruiting, etc., introduce song choices).
StuCO:Senior Class Treasurer, already have done a lot in terms of fundraisers. Designed an outsideclassroom the senior class can pay for as their class gift. Will likely be built by robotics. (Nothing fancy, just some technical drawings, minimal electronics)
Unrelated stuff for school: Designed and conducted a study on paper waste at the school (picked up several thousand pages from printers and looked at what people were leaving behind). Also trying to add a page to the school website which is like google-maps but for the school (for newcomers). Wrote an A* pathfinding algorithm for it and spent a lot of time mapping the school, it'll happen eventually.
Summer: Have taken a lot of summer classes during my summers. Junior-Senior summer I got a job writing software for a silicon valley startup. Good pay,benefits, stock options etc. I work in a Unix (Open Solaris) environment with C#,Java,Javascript, and a little python. Plus the fake languages like CSS/Flotr/HTML etc. I'm working on cool stuff, highly result-oriented environment. I'm also trying to learn French and am doing some online tutoring for a group of incoming Freshman - teaching them how to use CAD and CAM software (-see Robotics)
Personal Interests: Extremely into everything, and if i'm not into something I work hard at it until I'm good enough at it to be justified in saying I'm not into it. French is an example. Do a lot of investing (have a brokerage account with Merryl Lynch - going on 5 years now) and I spend a lot of my time reading about global events and politics.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading up until now.</p>

<p>That being said, I have a few questions - does it make a huge difference to apply ED? If I want to go for ED double degree (Engineering and Business) and I get into school but not the 2-degree-program does that mean that I am still forced to accept the ED acceptance even if I didn't get in where I wanted? Is it possible to switch schools after you get in? Of the engineering 'majors' which are fun? I like mechanical and comp sci but have no experience with electronics (yet). Of the business majors, can you explain to me what you actually learn in business? I'm into finance a lot, but I want to know how it overlaps with business at Wharton and what it's overlapping with.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your responses, UPenn is definitely my top choice of all colleges if you disregard any prestige/etc factors, and I would really like to get in. Harvard and Chicago are runner ups (Cornell might be in there somewhere but need to research it a lot more)</p>

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<p>Coincidentally, I called and asked this very question today. Yes, you are still forced to accept whichever school you get into if you don’t get the dual degree ED. </p>

<p>As for switching schools, it’s possible but very difficult. </p>

<p>Best of luck, we’ll most likely be in the same situation come fall (except I want the Vagelos dual degree in life sciences and management).</p>

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You should double-check that. I believe that up until now, the Penn Supplement has allowed ED dual-degree program applicants to choose whether they want to also be considered ED for a single school if they are not accepted ED into the dual-degree program, or whether they prefer to be deferred to the RD round (if they are not outright rejected) for the chosen single-school alternative. You should review the Penn Supplement on the Common App site when it becomes available, to see whether that choice still exists (I’d be surprised if it doesn’t).</p>

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<p>I think you should get in. Standardized scores are great, and extra curriculars are pretty good. You have the job, leadership, skills, and AP scores. A good essay (maybe about that Iraq documentary) and you’re set for most schools in the US. A double major would be difficult at Penn, but based on AP scores and your skills I think you should be fine.</p>

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<p>As 45 Percenter said, if you are rejected from the dual-degree you can elect to either be considered ED to the single-degree of your choice, or to be considered RD to the single-degree of your choice. (you can also decide to not be considered for a single-degree at all)</p>

<p>As for your question as to whether applying ED makes a difference, there are countless other threads on the topic, and it definitely provides a noticeable boost. Good luck with your decision!</p>

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<p>Weird…I guess I’ll call again. The lady on the phone sounded confident in her answer. I even repeated it back to her to make sure lol.</p>

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<p>Definitely can choose RD for your backup single degree if applying to one of the dual degree coordinated programs…</p>

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<p>Wait, I’m a little confused - the school website says that for 2-degree programs (like jerome fischer which is what I am interested in) you apply for them after you already got into the school and have taken some classes. On another place of the school website it says </p>

<p>"
High school students applying to the M&T Program complete the University
of Pennsylvania Application for Undergraduate Admissions. Along with the application materials, students must also submit the Form for Dual-Degree Programs, which includes one additional essay.
"
.
So which is it - do you get into one school normally, then work really hard and apply for jerome fischer, or do you apply for it when you’re a senior and applying to college?</p>

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<p>You apply as your initial application with a single degree backup of one of the two schools (that can be either RD or ED).</p>

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<p>Wait, can you explain that?
So I apply for the dual-degree program with a backup that says in the alternative I want to go to one of the schools (with a decision of if I want to be considered RD/ED for that school)?</p>

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<p>^ Correct.</p>