Help! CAS or Wharton ED

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

So i’m applying to UPenn through early decision and wondered if I should risk applying to Wharton or would my chances be better studying economics within CAS.

Unweighted gpa: 3.94/4.0
Weighted gpa: 4.72/5.0
Sat (only sitting): 1450 yes pretty low I know

I have plenty of ECs, leadership positions and academic and sporting awards that I wont get into and have been very successful in Track and Field to a standard that UPenn could recruit me.

Hooks: Irish citizen (diversity), expressed eagerness to found the school’s first gaelic football and hurling sporting teams, have a sob story about a serious illness I had but overcame incredible odds and got amazing grades.

I wrote an amazing commonapp essay about my experiences in court helping a defence attorney with a trial relating to the Syrian political crisis. I linked this to similar political unrest in Ireland that personally effected me and losing innocent family members to propose a diplomatic solution to Syria. In my UPenn essay I further mentioned how I would use my knowledge gained from UPenn to restore political stability to Ireland.

However I also mentioned a lot about my interest in business through ECs etc.

With that in mind could anyone advise me on whether I should maximise my chances by focusing on applying to CAS’ to major in economics or Wharton to major in business economics and public policy.

2

Considering your two essay topics, I get the feeling that you would be a stronger liberal arts candidate. You come across as more of an economics/sociology/politics student than a typical business student to me. However, this is only based off of the description you provided. Your extracurriculars may say otherwise.

3

@Rmc407 your irish citizenship is not really a hook. None of the EU nationalities are. In fact it puts you in the white international student cohort, which has a substantially lower acceptance rate at Penn and other top schools. The only cohort facing even higher odds is the international asian student cohort.

Anyway, apply to the school that fits your academic interests and professional interests the best. You can break easily into business from both CAS and Wharton, but i think you will maximize your chance by applying to the school that most genuinely reflects your passion and interests. Penn adcoms are very good at sniffing out people with clearly demonstrated business interest and no interest in liberal arts/econ who apply to CAS because they think it will increase their chances of getting in. But i think you have the type of profile that can justify applying to either CAS or Wharton, if you articulate your reasoning effectively.