How possible of a candidate am I for Wharton?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Alright, so I have been doing a lot of digging recently and I decided on a couple of schools. Them being:</p>

<p>Top Tier:
Wharton School of Business
NYU Stern
Harvard Business School
MIT Sloan School of Business
Stanford School of Business
California - Berkley</p>

<p>Backup:
Creighton University
University of Notre Dame
University of Virgina</p>

<p>Reserve:
UNO(University of Nebraska Omaha)
UNL("" Lincoln)
UNK("" Kearney)</p>

<p>Now the schools in each category are in no particular order. I want to go onto Investment Banking after getting my Bachelors. I've already been accepted in my Reserve and one of my Backup schools already even though Iam a junior... More about that later on.</p>

<p>So now onto my transcript:</p>

<p>ACT: 31(aprox. 34) (I 31 in English, 34 in Math, 35 in Science but a 25 in Reading since I have a tutor and now Iam getting about 34 in English and 35's in Reading since I took the ACT back in 7th grad and got a 24 back then!)</p>

<p>GPA: 3.3(aprox. 3.6) (I totally messed up this... For my freshman and sophomore year, I was really careless and now Iam doing damage control, my freshman GPA was a 3.1 and Sophomore was a 3.15 now halfway through my sophomore year I have earned a 3.5 so far and I have pretty easy classes for rest of the year and I should be able to bump it up to 3.6+ by the end of my senior year.)</p>

<p>SAT: ??? (I have yet to take any SAT or even prep for it and I wil be doing that in March, Iam taking Math II and what others should I take?)</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars:</p>

<p>Iam the President of OPPD Power Drive. This is a club where we raise funds, organize a schematics and build an all-electric car from scratch. Our car went 0-60 in 3.4 seconds and capable of 50 miles on a single charge. We won state and took second in Nationals.</p>

<p>Iam also the President of Stock Market Club for the past 4 years and a member for 6 years. I finished 1st place all 6 years for individual in both state and nationwide against approx. 10,000 other students in the nation. Our team won state for 6 years running and also finished in the top 3 for the first 2 years (2nd, and 3rd) then first for the last 4 years in nationals.</p>

<p>Now my most important accomplishment comes would be enrolling and being accepted into the Finance Academy. (bit of background in below) I enrolled in the Academy pool just like about 8000 other high school students, the process was identical to that in which you would apply to a college. Out of 8000, only 160 get chosen. I was one of those 160 students. Now the 160 students get their choice to apply to any 3 academies they would like, my top choice was Finance, Entrepreneurship, and then Distribution and Logistics. Luckily, with my stocks background I was accepted with flying colors. Out of the 160 chosen, all had Finance in their top 3, 102 in their top 2, and 70 with Finance as their number one choice. Only 14 were accepted into the academy, including me. That is one of my greatest accomplishment to date. Anyways, the academy focuses on college courses which we earn college credits. Everyday I attend a different school in the morning for my academy then head to my normal school for the second half of the school day. Now here is where the problem comes in. My school is very strict for grading.... I got a 3.25 GPA for the academy for 1st semester but on my college transcript it shows a 4.0 GPA. That is because the college considers anything 90% and up as a A and the school only considers anything 94.5% and up a A. I got a 91%, 93%, 99%, and another 93%. See my dilemma? So will these schools take into consideration of my Highschool GPA only or will they see my college GPA (from Creighton which is ranked 22nd in the nation for Finance).</p>

<p>Community Service:</p>

<p>I really don't do much community service, as I donate money instead. To date, I have donated approx. $10,000-$12,000 dollars to various shelters and I have the tax deductibles. I don't have a job, but I mainly make money on the returns on my investments which I have in real life as well as a virtual account in the stock market club.</p>

<p>I did about 40 hours at a Library mainly, reading to children, and assisting others.</p>

<p>I also invest a lot of time into recruiting 5th graders that will soon be 6th graders into joining the stock market club for 6th grade. Every year in May right before the 5th graders graduate, I go down to the elementary and I get an entire day with the entire graduating class and we run down some basic questions about 6th grade, how it works and what not, as well as answering questions about various clubs including mine. Its about 8 hours a day and its a 3-day thing so about 20 hours and I've done it for 5 years and it'll be 6 next year so about 100 hours there.</p>

<p>I have about 200 hours or so from 5th grade and on for the humane society.</p>

<p>If I need to I can rack up about 200+ hours this summer, but I think the acceptance committee will know my true motivations to rack up that many which is to not benefit the community but rather help myself get in...</p>

<p>Background:</p>

<p>So I attend a Millard Public School which is considered the top high schools here in Nebraska. Anyways, MPS decided to create something they called Academies. There are 6 of them, which are:</p>

<p>-Health and Science Academy
-Entrepreneurship Academy
-Finance Academy
-Culinary Skills Academy
-Education Academy
-Distribution and Logistics Academy</p>

<p>They are highly competitive and very hard to get into... First off you must get accepted in the Academy pool and then apply to a specific academy.</p>

<p>So what do you think my chances are? If i learned anything from the academy application is that to never underestimate yourself. I had a 3.0 GPA w/ 99% percentile scores and I got in so hopefully I can get the same thing to happen to some top tier school. </p>

<p>Do note *: I have already been accepted to UNO, UNK, UNL, and Creighton just because I got into the academy, as have the other 13 people.</p>

2

<p>bump, any input?</p>

3

<ol>
<li><p>Your list of schools don’t make sense. Harvard and Stanford only have GRADUATE Business Schools, meaning MBA or higher. NO undergraduate option at their business schools. </p></li>
<li><p>GPA is a bit low. Remember, at these top schools, the TRANSCRIPT is what they call “the most fundamental/important document to your application”. Keep working at getting that GPA up.</p></li>
<li><p>ACT is a bit low, too. Aim for 33 as a minimum. </p></li>
<li><p>Are you an Under Represented Minority (URM), meaning you are African-American, Hispanic, etc.? If so, you can (partially) disregard 2 and 3. You’ll learn that being an Under-Represented Minority DOES make a big difference in admissions (not that I mind; one of my best friends is Hispanic and got into Stanford; he worked hard, but he knows that being Hispanic gave him a HUGE boost). </p></li>
<li><p>Have you taken any AP exams/classes? If your school offers Honors/AP classes, you should be in the MOST amount of them possible. And AP’s over Honors (as in, all APs is better than all Honors).</p></li>
</ol>

4

<p>Get a 2200+ SAT and a little bit better GPA and i think you’re pretty much in with a solid essay. Those ECs look fantastic, I wish I had them :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Still call it a reach though because of the ACT/GPA, not lacking much just need that tiny bit more to make you competitive academically.</p>

5

<p>2 problems
SAT
GPA
otherwise I dont see how you could get rejected</p>

6

<p>Notre Dame was ranked first in the World for one of the business rankings last year. I don’t see how is it going to be a “backup” school.</p>

<p>Secondly, business experience is not necessary to get into a business school. If you enjoy the activities you do, continue doing them, but if you are just doing them for Wharton, I suggest you stop and invest your time into something you enjoy. </p>

<p>learned it the hard way.</p>

7

<p>“Notre Dame was ranked first in the World for one of the business rankings last year. I don’t see how is it going to be a “backup” school.”</p>

<p>No offense, but Wharton is always number one. I’m confident that Notre Dame is a fantastic place (one of my friends went there for business school and now works for Google); however, in the business world, Wharton is easily king. And I while I wouldn’t call Notre Dame a “back-up” either, it is definitely easier to get into then Wharton/Penn/Ivy League.</p>

8

<p>Bloomberg rankings of undergraduate business schools lists Notre Dame at #1, Wharton as #4.</p>

9

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<p>No one in their right mind would choose Notre Dame over Wharton because they believe it is better for business. USNews puts Wharton (rightfully) at #1, with Notre Dame at 14. Rankings aren’t everything either. Wharton has a 9% admission rate for a reason.</p>

10

<p>“No one in their right mind would choose Notre Dame over Wharton because they believe it is better for business. USNews puts Wharton (rightfully) at #1, with Notre Dame at 14. Rankings aren’t everything either. Wharton has a 9% admission rate for a reason.” </p>

<p>Exactly. My friends who go to Notre Dame even told me that they are jealous I can be at Wharton next fall. That is, Notre Dame business students fully accept that Wharton is king.</p>

11

<p>Dfree, you just contradicted yourself. You’re right, rankings aren’t everything but then you list the us news ranking, which is utterly useless in comparing schools. The Wharton name is by far the most prestigious of the business schools, but not necessarily of the highest quality. Look at places like McIntire, Ross and Notre Dame for QUALITY in education. I have friends who have attended Wharton, and all have told me how Wharton fills their program with mindless courses taught by TAs that have no bearing in the Financial workplace. However, Wharton will give you great job opportunities in what is left of the financial sector.</p>

12

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<p>Quite the opposite, actually. By showing how the rankings differ so drastically I made a point that no one ranking system can be used to determine the true ranking of a certain b school. I’m not saying that rankings have no worth, they can be used to determine the general stance of a b school, thus we can tell that both Wharton and Notre Dame are great b schools, but if you look outside of just the Bloomberg b school rankings, you can tell that Wharton is the top of the top.</p>

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<p>In Bloomberg, Wharton is given an Academic Quality Ranking of 2, Notre Dame is given a ranking of 7. Notre Dame has a student to faculty ratio of 14.0, Wharton has a 10.3. Both are given a teaching quality grade of A+. Your friends must be unfortunate, as it seems their experiences are not the norm at Wharton.</p>

13

<p>Your grades are very low for Wharton. If you get your standardized testing up it might help you some, but at the end of the day your performance in classes is by far the most important criterion. ECs will not make up for poor performance.</p>

14

<p>“Look at places like McIntire, Ross and Notre Dame for QUALITY in education. I have friends who have attended Wharton, and all have told me how Wharton fills their program with mindless courses taught by TAs that have no bearing in the Financial workplace. However, Wharton will give you great job opportunities in what is left of the financial sector.”</p>

<p>Do you even know what you are talking about? Wharton classes have professors in every single one of them. Some may have TAs (for instance, MGMT 100 does), but those are just upperclassmen that help you in your quest to understanding what the heck is going on in the class! In no way is the professor’s role in teaching you diminished one bit. </p>

<p>I just got an EKG screening yesterday, and the volunteer (who was a 50 year old father) saw me wearing my Wharton t-shirt. He then questioned me if I was going there this upcoming fall, to which I replied “yes”. He then praised me for getting into the nation’s most supreme business school. And this 50 year old man went to McIntire. </p>

<p>Time and time again, citizens in American and across the globe, from all age groups and ethnicities, acknowledge Wharton as the top leader in educating the next generation in all fields of business. Get your facts straight—the business industry knows that Wharton IS KING.</p>

15

<p>“No offense, but Wharton is always number one.”</p>

<p>Yes, that is true, in terms of prestige, Wharton is the most widely acknowledged. However, I was merely just trying to suggest that the fact that Notre Dame was ranked 1st shows that it is a university with “some” calibre and should not be mistaken for a school that anyone can enter.</p>

16

<p>“Yes, that is true, in terms of prestige, Wharton is the most widely acknowledged. However, I was merely just trying to suggest that the fact that Notre Dame was ranked 1st shows that it is a university with “some” calibre and should not be mistaken for a school that anyone can enter.”</p>

<p>I would agree that Notre Dame’s business school is of high quality. I just want to reiterate the truth: Wharton is always at the top—quality, prestige, career opportunities, alumni network, etc.</p>

17

<p>To OP:</p>

<p>Your GPA is simply way too low for Wharton. You have a good amount of business related ECs, which is nice, but it won’t make up for your grades. If you want to have any chance you need to get like a 35 or 36 on the ACT and write a killer essay on why your grades are so low. Also, I don’t know how you can list schools like UVA and Notre Dame as backup schools- I mean no offense but a 3.3 will almost get you denied automatically by those schools. While Wharton does have the most prestige as a undergrad B-school, schools like ND Mendoza and UVA McIntire are incredibly prestigious and selective. Good luck.</p>

18

<p>Yeah, I have had nothing but Honors and AP Classes, only regular classes I’ve taken is gym. My GPA is still the same, I got a 3.75 for my Junior Year so far. </p>

<p>I have my ACT this Saturday and Iam looking at 34+, so yes, I will cover that end.</p>

<p>Iam an URM, since Iam Indian(not Native American). Not sure if that is URM but in my school of 2200+, there are 4 other indians.</p>

<p>That was a mistake on my part with Harvard and Standford, I don’t know what I was thinking.</p>

19

<p>To JGolfer:</p>

<p>I do know my GPA is down, which is why Iam busting my butt of currently to get it up. I am taking the ACT this Saturday and I am looking at a 34+. Yeah, my GPA is low in my high school, but my class rank is the top 20%. If I can get it to a 3.5 or so, it would be the top 10% easily. </p>

<p>My school is kinda of messed up. Its Grading scale is different. I got a 92% in College Accounting I last semester, I got a B according to my school but a A according to my Dual Enrollment College. See what I mean? and that happened to 2 other classes as well meaning I have a 4.0 at the college but a 3.5 at my high school.</p>

<p>I also know my essay needs to be a killer essay, even beyond that…</p>

20

<p>Yes, I know, again working on it. I did however did not mention my college GPA. Since Iam in an academy, Iam dual enrolled at UNO and Creighton University(top 20 business school, for what it matters), and I have a perfect 4.0 GPA at both schools. </p>

<p>Altough my GPA is low in my high school, my class rank is in the top 20-25%. This has to do with the fact that my school grading scale is not on par with others. If I get a 94%, which I did in College Accounting I, last semester, I got a B on my High School Transcript, yet I got an A on my Creighton transcript. So maybe those transcripts assist me a little?</p>

<p>If I do ED I will be able to get a Semester in from my senior year and that should be able to bump my gpa to about a 3.4-3.45. that would also put my GPA in the top 15% of my school. my standardized test scores like the ACT will be taken this Saturday and I will update. Iam looking at a 34+, hopefully. English and Reading are killing me!</p>