Chances at Wharton (Penn), Cornell, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Boston C and Northeastern

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So I plan on applying for those schools and I was wondering whether someone could give me some feedback on my chances.</p>

<p>Here's my basic resume and some other facts:</p>

<p>IB Diploma Candidate </p>

<p>IB Economics SL- 6/7
IB Math Methods SL- 5/7</p>

<p>I'm also taking IB World Lit HL, IB Biology HL, and IB History of the Americas HL, and
IB French SL this year.</p>

<p>AP World History- 5 AP European History- 5 (on my own without a class)<br>
AP English Literature- 4<br>
AP United States History- 5 </p>

<p>I'm also taking AP Stats, AP Calc AB, and I'll probably take the AP French exam to get the AP International Diploma</p>

<p>PSAT (if it matters)</p>

<p>CR- 80
MATH- 68
WRIT- 59
Total: 207, 98th percentile</p>

<p>This got me National Merit Scholarship consideration, I don't know if I'm a finalist yet.</p>

<p>SAT </p>

<p>CR- 700
MATH- 650
WRIT- 620
Total: 1970</p>

<p>I can do a lot better than this when I retake it in a few weeks, I was really tired when I took it. I also took the ACT yesterday so I don't have the scores yet.
I'll be taking SAT 2's in Lit, Math 2, and a history (not sure which) in November, I expect to do amazing at history.</p>

<p>GPA- I don't know it yet, but I've gotten all A's thru high school except one B+ in IB Math. I figure it'll be around 4.1 weighted.</p>

<p>No class rank at my school. </p>

<p>Activities</p>

<p>Varsity Masterminds (Trivia Competition)
• 9th - League Championship 1st Place
• 10th - League Championship 2nd Place
• 10th - League Co-MVP
• 11th - League Championship 2nd Place
• 11th - Regional Championship 1st Place
• 11th - State Championship 1st Place
• 11th - League MVP
• 11th - Playoff All-tournament MVP</p>

<p>Varsity Math League- 11th</p>

<p>Meszaros Entrepreneurship Training Program at University at Buffalo
• Business Plan Competition, 3rd Place</p>

<p>Lifelong Fisherman
• New York State Catch and Release Angler Award: Smallmouth Bass, June 2011</p>

<p>Aspiring Adirondack 46er
• Climbed 18 out of 46 High Peaks in the Adirondack Mountains</p>

<p>Active Member of American Mensa (the High IQ society) since July 2011 </p>

<p>Sports</p>

<p>Varsity Track and Field- 9th, 10th, 11th
Varsity Cross Country- 10th, 11th
Novice Crew- 9th</p>

<p>Awards</p>

<p>National Merit Scholar- 11th
Scholar Athlete- 9th, 10th, 11th
AP Scholar with Honor- 11th</p>

<p>Work Experience</p>

<p>Successfully tutored an adult student for the College Accuplacer Exam in Mathematics, Spring 2011</p>

<p>Volunteer Docent (tour guide) at Buffalo Naval Park
• Youngest Docent in Naval Park history </p>

<p>Volunteer Floor Staff at Buffalo Museum of Science</p>

<p>Internship as eCommerce Analyst at XXX Electric (not the actual name. It's my uncle's company but I don't think I have to say that on the app)</p>

<p>Languages</p>

<p>Polish Saturday School Graduate, K-8th
Fluent in Polish- able to speak, read and write
Basic proficiency in French</p>

<p>Sorry if that was kind-of long.
So what do you think of my odds? I'll be applying to all of those schools' business programs if that has any relevance.</p>

<p>The schools again where:
Wharton (Penn), Cornell, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Boston College and Northeastern</p>

2

<p>Chances at Wharton (Penn) - high reach
Cornell - High reach
Notre Dame - Reach
Georgetown - High Reach
Boston C - Reach
Northeastern - Match</p>

<p>That SAT is too low. bring that 2200+ and most of your reaches become matches. (high reaches remain the same)</p>

3

<p>You think so?</p>

<p>The mid-range SAT for Cornell is 1910-2230. As of now I’m low in that range, when I retake it I’ll be somewhere in the middle I guess, so I don’t see how it’s that much of a high reach.</p>

<p>Are you implying that my EC’s kind-of suck? Or is it something else?</p>

<p>Thanks for your input</p>

4

<p>Here’s the thing: that low but in the range SAT is a false statistic for people like you. The institutional average is brought down by development cases, athletes, URMs, legacies, and otherwise hooked applicants. An unhooked applicant like yourself needs to have very high standardized tests and GPA.</p>

5

<p>Hmmm… Would applying ED (to Wharton) be a hook in a way? I know that 24% of ED’s are accepted to Wharton, but only 12% of RD’s. If it got my SAT up to 2100, which is certainly do-able, would it be sensible to ED there?</p>

<p>Don’t you think that most of those hooked applicants make up the bottom quartile in test scores? Since only a fraction of applicants are hooks, I’m not sure whether what you’re saying is relevant if I’m in the mid-range.</p>

<p>Is there anything else about my resume, besides test scores which are correctable, that seems lacking to you for these kinds of schools?</p>

6

<p>Bumpity bump</p>

7

<p>Applying early to Wharton is not a hook, and even with a 2100, you will be in the lower end of their applicants. It isn’t realistic to expect to be admitted. This is not to say don’t apply, but be prepared with a very realistic list of matches and safeties, and have the apps ready to go in mid December. Give this a lot of thought- would your ED be better spent at ND or BC? Or do either of them have ED2? </p>

<p>As far as the hooked applicants stats, no- plenty of alum kids and athletes and development cases are just slightly lower than the average admitted student. Let’s face it, the ivies are not taking 1750s or 3.0s.</p>

8

<p>Hmmm well both ND and BC told me that they aren’t any less selective for EA (no ED available)- unlike Penn, so I’m not sure if that’s the route I’ll take. I’ll see- thanks for the tips</p>

9

<p>BTW, what do you think the weakest area of my resume is?</p>

10

<p>Skip the “Mensa” reference-which your SAT scores do not bear out anyway. I am hoping you did not include this, as it is a bit obnoxious. Maybe it is just me, but I don’t care about your every placement in Master Minds. Perhaps this can be consolidated? The mountain climbing is terrific, the fluent Polish is terrific, but I don’t care if you graduated from Polish school. (…or Chinese school, or Greek school, etc.) Many people attend these Sat. ethic schools.</p>

11

<p>I’m going to agree with 7yearman’s post</p>

<p>But you need to remember to go to a school where you can succeed, the best internships, top graduate programs, so on so forth (usually) will only be available to those in the top 20-25% of the school. You need to go somewhere where you are confident that you can get into that group. Don’t aim too high if you don’t have the capacity to do well in an elite level institution. </p>

<p>My mother works with a fellow who went to UPenn for undergrad, yet went to a much lower caliber law school. As I suspected, he was admitted because of some unique hook, was unable to maintain a high class ranking once he got there.</p>

12

<p>If ND and BC have EA, that’s great! Apply to them immediately, at the same time as your ED.</p>

<p>Weakest part = test scores. Nationally, they are very good, but where you are applying, low.</p>

<p>Ninjaunicorn- that’s an interesting story. I bet you’re right.</p>

<p>Are you sure Nov. SAT 2s are early enough to be considered for ED/EA?</p>

13

<p>Oh yes, with regards Nov SAT2’s being ok for EA, it’s pretty standard. Since the scores come in a few weeks before notification, there’s enough time. Also, most schools don’t let you EA if you ED somewhere else.</p>

<p>I just got a 2150 on an SAT practice test from a Collegeboard review book- hopefully I’ll do just as well if not better on the real thing in 2 weeks so Penn <em>might</em> not be too much of a long shot for ED.</p>

<p>Does Mensa really sound haughty and redundant? The only reason I even tried to get in was to write it on my app :P</p>

14

<p>BC is restrictive EA, but ND is not.</p>