Chances @ Penn/Wharton ED/Class of 2011

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey all, I'm really unsure if I have a decent chance at Wharton despite reading quite a load on college admissions.
This is going to be a really long post but I hope someone will be nice enough to give me a blunt assessment of whether or not I stand a chance in such a highly competitive applicant field.</p>

<p>Thanks so much in advance.</p>

<hr>

<p>Asian-American male in family with both parents possessing graduate degrees, probably will not qualify for any financial aid packages at all. Non-legacy, no connections to Penn.</p>

<p>School
HS: Montgomery High School, Skillman, NJ
Type: Public/Competitive (Top SAT scores in state of New Jersey for a few years now)</p>

<p>Class Rank: School does not rank. It only indicates the top 2, and top 10% at the halfway point of senior year. Possibly top 10%, definitely top 15% out of a class of around 350 students
GPA: ~90/91 unweighted, 94-95 weighted on a 100 point scale. So that means like a 3.8-3.9/4.0
SAT I: 2360 cumulative (took it 3 times): 800 Verbal, 800 Math, 760 Writing
2340 (highest individual score): 800 V, 800 M, 740 W
SAT IIs: 800 US History, 780 Chemistry, 740 Math IIc</p>

<p>AP scores (received so far):
5: Chemistry, English (Language & Composition), US History, Calculus AB, Macroeconomics
4: Biology, Microeconomics </p>

<p>Projected # AP courses taken: 12
Projected # AP scores that will eventually be received (not by ED though?): 12</p>

<p>ECs
- Long-time alto saxophone player on several levels (not at all exceptional though)
- Treasurer of National Honor Society
- NHS member (11,12)
- Science Olympiad team member
- Founded Web Design & Development Club
- ~250 hours of community service @ a Feed the Children warehouse
- Various amounts of time put in developing an assortment of sites (non-profit): other school clubs, charitable organizations, major contributor to Veteran's Memorial site (can get a nice written letter if needed)
- Part time job junior, senior year freelancing as Web Designer
- Started Web Hosting/Design company Freshman year
- A couple other clubs (nothing special at all)</p>

<p>Possible application makers/breakers:
- No varsity sports ever played
- 3rd place medal at NJ State Science Olympiad, 2nd place & 5th place awards regionally
- Several awards from Johns Hopkins University starting from middle school for high test scores
- Received credit/certification for several distance learning courses (college level) from JHU
- AP Scholar w/ Distinction
- National Merit Commendation (PSATs), possibly Semi-Finalist
- New Jersey Governor's School of International Studies 2006 Finalist
- Attended Penn Pre-College Program, took Intro to Macroeconomics and Law & Society for credit
- May be able to get a letter or two from Penn professors this summer</p>

<p>Application:
Will Interview within the next two weeks
Teacher Recommendations: Should be average, nothing too amazing
Essay: Expect to write pretty good ones</p>

<p>Transcript:
Freshman Year
English 9 Honors
Algebra II Honors
World History
French III
Physics Honors
Concert Band</p>

<p>Summer: Rutgers Preparatory School (Chemistry course taken for credit)</p>

<p>Sophomore Year
English 10 Honors
Precalculus Honors
US History Part 1/2 AP
French IV
Chemistry AP
Symphonic Band</p>

<p>Summer: Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth summer camp: took Biology (non-credit)</p>

<p>Junior Year
English 11 AP (Language & Composition)
Calculus AB AP
US History Part 2/2 AP
French V Honors
Biology AP
AP Economics</p>

<p>Summer: Penn Pre-College Program</p>

<p>(Projected) Senior Year
English 12 AP (Literature & Composition)
Calculus BC AP
French AP
Environmental Science AP
Statistics AP
(Early dismissal/late arrival)</p>

<p>Much thanks again to anyone who read that.</p>

2

<p>if you are not in the top 10% u will be rejected</p>

3

<p>goodcolleges, thanks for the reply. I don't understand that as a rule though - so if you are in the top 11%, then you still would be rejected even if you are killer at everything else (not saying I am, just hypothetically speaking)? </p>

<p>And the truth is that even though Penn probably can figure out where I stand approximately, I highly doubt my school will release the list of those graduating with honors (top 10%) by the time EDs are due. </p>

<p>Any clarifications would be highly appreciated. Thanks.</p>

4

<p>its not a general rule but....there are many people applying to Wharton with 2400's and 4.0 uw GPAs who are number in their class. they want people who are in the top 10% of their class at least if not the top 1 or 2</p>

5

<p>you have a 20% chance
your stats aren't business oriented enough
sat scores are superb
fbla?</p>

6

<p>Your Rank sucks</p>

<p>Wharton: No Chance.</p>

7

<p>Alright, here is my analysis as someone who was admitted to Penn.</p>

<p>SAT/SAT II/AP: very good.
Courses taken: very good (penn/wharton is big on most rigorous courseloads available)
Grades received: decent. top 10% is very important for penn but they might overlook it if you go early and are at a good enough standing in your class by the opinion of your college counselor.
Academic awards: impressive.
Penn Pre-College Program: interesting and that will let them know that you are interested. However, I will tell you that your grades will matter for that. I hope you did well. I did such a program at another top school and many people who went to the program applied for undergrad and the only ones I know that got in were ones that got some sort of A in every class they took.
EC's: good. have you done any athletics? it probably doesn't matter but I am just wondering how you are getting athletic credit to graduate.
Business Stuff: not bad, you are blossoming I guess.</p>

<p>I think what could really help you is letting them know how much you are dying to go there and how much you are convinced by the skin of your teeth that you are one of the best matches for them that they will receive in the '11 Wharton applicant pool. Let them know in the Why Penn essay what you will specifically do at Penn, what you want to do there, and how Penn will help you out, and what you can bring to their community and intellectual and business-oriented environment. Use specifics from when you visited/will visit. BTW, if you haven't visited, do it. Penn is a school that can check up on that kind of stuff because they have visitors register and then they send you confirmation and it stays in your file.</p>

<p>I'd say that you have a decent shot overall. You are certainly qualified. Get your grades up as high as possible, make sure that Wharton knows how much you want them and how much they would benefit from you, and pursue your passions in high school, because you only have a year left. Good luck!</p>

8

<p>Thanks a lot guys, especially thefishofsorts.
I didn't do FBLA because it is only about 1-2 years here and I plan on explaining in the interview if prompted about how I prefer to lead and do things that actually make a difference (the FBLA club in my school is utterly pathetic and has several members at most, so everyone has a position).</p>

<p>I have another question: do you think I should take 4 years of language? I absolutely despise French but am willing to take it if it is a type of expected quality of applicants for wharton.</p>

9

<p>See the table on admissions percentage based on class rank:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/applying/profile.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/applying/profile.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

10

<p>Aurelius, I have seen the table already. Can anyone answer my question about foreign language? Seeing as how I only have one year left, there's not really much I can do to change it. So basically it only goes up a percentage point or two at most, a lot of you are saying that I have only a tiny chance of getting in?</p>

11

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=92933%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=92933&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

12

<p>You have my greatest thanks Master! That was a big help</p>

13

<p>Hey guys, to expand this thread.. do you think my chances would be any better (significantly) if I RD'd at Cornell (the biz program under their Agriculture school) or NYU (stern)?</p>

14

<p>Your chances are significantly better at both Cornell and NYU Stern than at Wharton. Quite simply, Wharton and MIT are the toughest two business programs to get into as an undergraduate in the entire world--and the only reason I mention MIT is because they take so many fewer people than Wharton. </p>

<p>The one thing you need to see if you can improve for all of these schools is your recommendations. If the teachers you are currently working with are only going to give you so-so recommendations then your chances at Wharton are slim no matter how dedicated you are to getting in. Go find a different teacher, or a counselor, or the school principal, or your academic science olympiad coach or somebody that's going to praise your work profusely. I know somebody who had a janitor write up a recommendation on how much a student helped him everyday in cleaning up a chemistry lab--and avoid being injured by chemicals he didn't understand--and this student got into his first choice Ivy league school as a result. So what is said is often more important than who is saying it.</p>

15

<p>Calcruzer: I guess what i mean to say is that my recommendations will probably be average looking compared to the rest of my fellow applicants. So I guess I can be optimistic and say I will be top 10%, my GPA will resolve itself, and I get good recommendations. What are my chances then?</p>

16

<p>I think everything is probably fine, the only probelm maybe the uw average as a 90/91 is really only a 3.5-3.6/4.0.</p>

17

<p>Yeah man.. I don't know what to do. BTW anonymousxf, my roommate here at penn goes to your school. Interesting huh? He's a rising junior though.
Darn that GPA!</p>

18

<p>...nvm
(10 char)</p>

19

<p>Another question here... how much help would a recommendation by a top-level (or nearly so) faculty member and adjunct professor at penn who taught me this summer be? If I asked him for a recommendation, would I give him the supplemental form? Or something else?</p>