<p>Lets say an applicant (high school senior) owns an advertising / marketing company with 10 employees, making 6 figures, etc. </p>
<p>They apply to Wharton because they want to further their business knowledge.</p>
<p>SAT and GPA are a little lower than the other applicants, but that could be due to the applicant spending 62 hours a week on their business. ( Lets say 3.8 weighted gpa and a 1800-1900 on the sat so we are all on the same page. )</p>
<p>Their common app essay is specifically about their business, and it is also mentioned a few times in the common app.</p>
<p>Would this play a major role in getting accepted / rejected? Or would they just throw that into a "nice EC" category and call it a day.</p>
<p>A business run by a high school senior that rakes in six figures is an extremely impressive EC; however, it does not offset an 1800-1900 SAT. This candidate needs higher SAT scores because s/he has not demonstrated his/her ability to handle Wharton’s workload. </p>
<p>Remember: Wharton is full of high achievers with 2300+, many of whom have also run their own businesses.</p>
<p>Wharton is an elite academic program within an Ivy League university. It’s extremely impressive for a high schooler to net six figures a year, but such a student will not be a fit for wharton without top academic credentials.</p>
<p>People have gotten into Wharton with 1800-1900 SAT scores in the past, so with the 6 figure salary considered the applicant should stand a good chance.</p>
<p>Maybe this will change some of your answers, because this is how I was viewing it.</p>
<p>I specifically remember somewhere that Wharton’s main goal was to teach “the future business leaders of the world”. Now I know grades are important, but if their goal is to teach the future leaders of the business world, I would say probability wise, that a high schooler with a six figure business would more likely fill that position rather than a kid who studies 6 hours a day and gets A’s on their history and literature tests.</p>
<p>Some things can’t be taught , no matter how many hours one studies.</p>
<p>That is my perspective, which is most probably true, yet I understand that the admissions office may not have the same perspective on this situation as I do.</p>
<p>Does anybody know for sure how much “real life” experience plays in the admissions process, or is it specifically an algorithm that they use to accept/reject applicants. (Meaning if they see something special in an applicant, will they accept them even though they may be missing some things another applicant has but they are lacking that “quality”)</p>
<p>That’s my rant, id love to hear some other views on this :).</p>
<p>62 Hours a week spent on the business? Lets evaulate this</p>
<p>applicants spends 7 hours a day sleeping = 49 hours a week
9 hours a day at school = 45 hours a week
62 hours on the business</p>
<p>That leaves 12 hours of the entire week for anything leisure, eating, etc. Are you kidding me? </p>
<p>You might want to make sure that this actually makes sense before you list 62 hours on that common application, also, if he/she does get into Wharton, the courseload will be very intense, thus meaning that they may lose their $100,000+ business opportunity becuase they wont have enough time to devote to it. </p>
<p>Owning a business clearly does help, but at 62 hours a week its actually impossible. Unless he/she doesn’t go to school or care about school, and then what will Wharton think will happen at Penn when she or he is forced to choose between learning or making 6 figures? I think the latter will happen once again.</p>
<p>first of all, if this applicant is making 6 figures, why go to school if hes that successful? I’m not saying dont go to college, but to make 6 figures youre probably a bit smart. Going to Wharton gives you a huge workload so those 62 hours he spends will turn into a few hours at most.
But 6 figures isnt an ordinary little lemonade stand, i think it will make up for your scores. your gpa is fine.</p>
<p>5 Hours a day would be a blessing… All of my employees reside in India, meaning they are asleep while I’m awake at school. Its not as hard as you think once you get used to it.</p>
<p>Its all about time management.</p>
<p>P.S 62hr/week = 8 hours a day.</p>
<p>School finishes at around 1-2… 2-10 would be an 8 hour work day. </p>
<p>Leisure for me is business. I love making money.</p>
<p>A difference in SAT between say 1900 and 2400 probably doesn’t matter. I can’t speak for adcoms, but as a professor who has taught at Ivies and state, the only place these number count is with boosting the overall scores because it looks good in the rankings and all things being equal, its easy to make a cut by numbers. </p>
<p>Actual reality is that anyone with an 1900 can do quite well at every university. The biggest difference reflects who grinded harder and has some decent education in algebra and grammar. Big whoop. I would take an innovative student with excellent critical thinking skills or genuine can-do ability over someone who crammed and retook their SAT to approximate a 2400. I believe most of us professors would.</p>
<p>It counts for a lot. I think I got Joseph Wharton Scholar for my real-life experience in business (not internships but I don’t want to make it too explicit in the interest of privacy).</p>
<p>If you are making 6 digits, why would you go to Wharton? Wouldn’t the oppertunity cost be too great?</p>
<p>Really. Is a Degree from Wharton going to double your sales? Probably not unless you plan to go public with company (highly unlikely with 10 employees in India).</p>
<p>if money is not a consideration, a degree from Wharton is a life-long hedge for any adverse developments in his current career. Also, the OP could choose to cash out of the business. At 6-figures / year, it’s probably worth a considerable chunk of change.</p>
<p>He needs to go public with the company to attract investors. Who in this economy is willing to buy a company with 10 Indian employees in India? His business model better be fricking fantastic.</p>
<p>The employee’s just do what I dont want to do. The business is people coming to me for my advertising expertise. </p>
<p>Selling it is not an option, and the 6 figures is auto pilot. That is what the Indian employees do. 62 hours a week is spent on expanding the business, not keeping it running.</p>
<p>I don’t see 6 figures as a lot of money, my goals are set far higher than that.</p>
<p>ha one of my parent’s salaries dont even break 6 figures… for a 17-19 year old kid to be already making that much is extremely impressive and odd.
If i was making 6 figures, I wouldnt go to college unless the business was stable and if the lack of education was limiting my capabilities. </p>
<p>I’d say you have a better chance than most nerds who make 2250+ and a 4.0 gpa to get into wharton. Just act as if you were in the admissions officers position. If you see a guy who is already making more money than half the people in the US, then wouldnt you admit them? i certainly would. </p>
<p>May I ask what do you do and how you were able to start such a business?</p>
<p>first of all, the comment with 6 figures is not enough is definitively Wharton. You’re applying to the right place. Just make sure you have the same aura of confidence and determination when you apply and you’ll be a very strong applicant.</p>
<p>Although I have made money, there are still TONS of things I don’t know, which are hindering my ability to branch out to new areas of business. Although I have implemented tons of psychological tactics in my campaigns, all I know about business psychology is from what I have observed. I have no formal education on what the previous 1,000 years of psychology have concluded. </p>
<p>Knowing if I should use the color blue instead of green could possibly increase my ROI’s by 10-15%.</p>
<p>That is only one of many things I need to learn. 6 figures is nice, however I see myself making that amount in a matter of weeks/months once I can use all of my business knowladge and assemble a proper office and employees ( after I am out of college and know everything that is relevant to what I’m doing ).</p>
<p>I also love learning things that are important things for me to know. English and History, not so much, but Id rather read a book about business psychology than go out to a party ( partys are cool too though ).</p>
).</p>