Help cutting down school list.. Chances ED UPenn

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Location: southern California School: Public, high ranking 10/10 on college lists
I'm a rising senior applying next year, and I really need help on realistic decisions for schools. My father, a surgeon, passed away my freshman year and my mom isn't really school oriented, so I need advice for my chances at some schools I'm looking at.
I am dead set on investment banking, private equity, and hedge funds for I truly have a passion for finance and love the industry.... From what I understand, prestige is everything in the finance world. I hope to attend a top target university for banks, but I am a little unsure of if I'm "elite" enough...
Freshman GPA: UW/W: 4.0 classes: Eng Honors, Bio, Alg 2 Trig, Spanish 2 Honors, and elective requirement class.
Sophomore: Gpa UW: 4.0 W: 4.2 : Pre Calc, Eng 2 Honors, Chemistry, Spanish 3 Honors, Weightlifting, World history
Junior GPA: UW: 4.0 W: 4.6 : AP Calc AB, AP Chemistry, AP Language, Physics, US History
Senior Schedule: AP Macroeconomics, AP Stats, AP Env. Science, Modern Literature, Elective requirement, and ROP Entrepreneurship</p>

<p>1st sitting ACT Scores: cumulative: 32, Writing: 10/12, 34, Reading: 34, Math: 31, Science: 28(low I know)
SAT 2: Math Level 2: 730</p>

<p>I wish I took AP US and World history, I feel like it weighs down my GPA...so far my cumulative 9-11 is 4.35 but I've never gotten a B, my 10-11 weighted is 4.40. I have excellent letters of rec from my English teacher who has a phD from USC, and my counselor whose known me forever and is a strong writer. Additionally, I plan to get a letter from either my AP Econ teacher senior year or AP Chem teacher from 11th.</p>

<p>As far as Extracurriculars, they're not as strong as they could be. I've been in CSF all 4 years, however no other clubs.
I have been tutoring students in algebra I and II, as well as geometry all four years. This year I'm starting 2 clubs at my school, each already with 100 members, called Financial Leaders of America and the Environment Club.
My freshman and sophomore summer I volunteered a ton at a water polo camp helping watch the kids attending, setting up matches, working the snack shack, etc.</p>

<p>My essays are extremely strong, they briefly mention my father's passing but are entirely about my character and how vocal I am, always motivating others and pushing my peers. I am very active in class and I believe my teachers will highlight that in their recs.</p>

<p>As far as now, I attended an Experimental Economics Workshop at Chapman University that I got accepted into, not paid into. Right now I have a paid internship at a huge mortgage investment firm that has an office in NYC. I've been working all summer, 5 days a week. I hope this internship will demonstrate my passion for investing and finance and somehow be my hook, as it is rare to achieve an internship at this young of an age. I manage assets and help sort through electronic records, as well as participating (observing) bids of large pools of homes and financial modeling of these homes.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading through this, I hope to apply to around 20 schools (all ivies), but My #1 is Upenn CAS ED. What are my chances? Idk if this matters, but my family has the finances to pay for Upenn, I know they're not need blind.</p>

<p>My other top match schools are : UC Berkeley, UMichigan, Northwestern/CMU and NYU (non Stern), as well as Cornell.</p>

<p>What are my chances at these schools?</p>

<p>What about the other ivy leagues? </p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

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<p>Your grades are fine, but your test scores are a little low. Try to bring up your ACT and your SAT II Math. Also just to let you know, UPenn is need blind (<a href=“Costs & Financial Aid | Penn Admissions”>http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/costs-financial-aid/faq&lt;/a&gt;) for non-international applicants and since you live in Cali the admissions are need blind for you.</p>

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<p>@wharton2020 Thank you. Do you think I have a solid chance at Upenn ED? I’m worried about my ECs. I’m confident I will get around a 34 or 35 on the ACT in September, the 32 I got was first sitting with minimal studying. I will be thoroughly ready for this one coming up. If I got a 34 or 35 and a 760+ in Sat II hypothetically, what would you say my chances are for UPenn CAS ? What about Wharton? I’ve been told I have no chances at Wharton, although its my dream…</p>

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<p>my AP scores are : Calc AB (5), Chemistry (3), Language Comp. (5)</p>

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<p>I think you have a pretty good shot at CAS ED as long as you bring up your scores. As for Wharton there is a possibility, but you have a much stronger shot at CAS. My advice is if you really want to go to Penn then apply to CAS, but if Wharton is the sole thing about Penn that you like then apply to Wharton (because there is no point in applying ED CAS if the only thing about Penn you like is Wharton). As for your ec’s make sure you show a lot of devotion in your application and you’ll be fine.</p>

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<p>

For someone who seems so bright, I cant believe that you would in any way think that this is a good idea. This is actually a terrible idea.</p>

<p>Applying to 20 schools and applying to every ivy is absolutely ridiculous. Do your research and don’t try to use prestige to get a career because if you don’t have the talent, it means nothing.</p>

<p>PS- Brown and Princeton don’t even has business schools, so that would be a wasted application.</p>

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<p>@anniebeats I have done my research, and I want to apply to all of the schools. I just like the Ivy league atmosphere and job opportunities. And I want to major in Economics at princeton, and most ivies, fyi. Wharton is just my dream and it’s Finance concentration is unbeatable imo. If not wharton, then UC Berkeley (and hopefully Haas once I’m there) would be my next target. Ironically, brown is the only one of the ivies I’m not applying to and don’t like. All other ivy leagues, especially Dartmouth, appeal to me. I am going to apply ED to Wharton and hope for the best. Id like to think I have strong character and I plan to convey this through powerful writing. Thanks for the advice though </p>

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<p>Your lack of EC’s will definitely put you at a disadvantage, especially for Wharton. UPenn likes to see dedication to business when it comes to EC’s. That means positions in FBLA, extensive national awards, personal businesses, and business summer programs (particular at Wharton). I’m not saying they are necessary for admission, but these are the things that a lot of your competing applicants have (just for awareness’s sake). I’m sure you know that though, since you have your workshop and internship which are great but not the most particularly impressive or prominent for admissions.</p>

<p>Also, I’m curious. What do you mean by “Ivy League atmosphere”? The schools have very different atmospheres when you look at them individually.</p>

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<p>Perhaps you cut Brown from your list because Brown BEO is more entrepreneurial than, say, UPenn Wharton… In fact, Brown, as a business school, both undergraduate (BEO) and graduate (PRIME), is the least-known of the Ivy League B-schools by far. </p>

<p>I myself contemplated Brown PRIME a while back but realized that I was a really poor fit there, and I couldn’t afford it at the time.</p>

<p>Berkeley: High match
UMI: Reach
NWU: Reach
CMU Tepper: Reach
NYU: High match
Brown BEO: Reach
Dartmouth: Reach
UPenn Wharton ED: Reach
Cornell Dyson: Reach</p>

<p>Do you have a safety?</p>

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<p>OP, you are making a huge mistake. You should not apply to all the Ivies for the “ivy atmosphere”. Each school is distinctly different and all feel different. DO YOUR RESEARCH. And applying to 20 colleges is absurd. If you can’t see that, I can’t see why you’d actually get admitted to an ivy. Brown should not be on your list and why sacrifice the degree just to say that you went to Princeton? It won’t do anything for you. 9 times out of 10, the person with the measley ole Mich or Baruch degree will get hired over the Brown graduate in the business world.</p>

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<p>I’d have to agree with @AnnieBeats‌ on this one. You have to realize that the “ivy league” is basically an athletic conference and some of those schools aren’t even close to the top of the crop when it comes to business. I disagree with the notion that prestige is everything anyway. You have to have high grades, work experience, and many other things when considering finance. They’re not going to pick by school name alone.</p>

<p>Define research. Have you visited these schools? Looked in depth at their programs? Looked at whether they are affordable for your family? Talked to current students and professors? Many of these schools are very different aside from being competitive. HYP and the other below 20% acceptance rate schools that you mention receive many 4.0 applications each year, but many get turned down. While it is quite impressive that you have attained that academic record, having only 1 EC (prospectively 3), on your resume will be to your disadvantage when applying to these schools where the ECs separates the students who already have a top-notch academic record. The investment firm internship, though, does sound quite fascinating, but not likely to make or break your application. Your ACT scores are average for these schools, but slightly on the lower side.</p>

<p>The point is, applying to 20 schools, especially with your current mindset “all ivies” is not the way to go, especially if you don’t have safeties. These schools most likely all have supplements, and the top schools have multiple, which can be time consuming. You will want to distinguish yourself through your essays, so spreading yourself that thin will not give you ample time to make them the best they can be. I applied to 10 schools, 7 of which had supplements, and I thought that was alot. In addition, especially if applying for financial aid and considering the application fees of each school (approximaty $100 per school) that could easily add up to over 2,000 dollars. I don’t think that is what you or your parents want. Do your research, narrow down your reach schools, and get a feel for the environment of each school. There is no point in going to a school for the prestige and actually find out you woudn’t be happy there anyway.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>As other posters have said, don’t apply to schools just because they are Ivies. Do you have any safeties? A back-up plan?</p>

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<p>Your academics are superb, obviously, and the investment firm internship sounds like an amazing opportunity for you. However, there is more to an application, especially for Penn ED. </p>

<p>The problem lies with your EC’s. It basically looks like all you have done for the past three years is just study. CSF basically sounds like a cookie-cutter NHS-type of club. That doesn’t compare at all to EC’s like varsity sports or student government, because, from the looks of it, CSF can’t be meeting for more than one hour per week. Correct me if I’m wrong, though.</p>

<p>In addition, your test scores don’t really seem like they’re high enough. A 730 SAT Math II essentially means that 25% of students scored higher than you. If you want to go into economics at Penn and succeed, you’ll need stronger math skills than that. A 32 on the ACT is probably average. But, your scores might not be high enough to make up for the EC deficit. </p>

<p>Can I ask why you didn’t participate in more EC’s? DECA, FBLA, stock trading/investing, earlier internships – all of these would have served you well. </p>

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<p>Your ECs are average at best, your test scores are average, course rigor is also average, Penn considered course rigor to be very important. But if you want to apply to Penn CAS, ED, there is a small chance. But not Wharton, I don’t care what the other 18 years old tell you here.</p>