I am currently high school student with pretty good grades. I do debate and a couple of sports. I feel that my grades are good enough to at least be considered for Wharton but I need to make my application stand out to at least have a chance. I have plenty of time to make myself stand out in the college application process but I am wondering how exactly do I go about acheiving that.
My advice would be to pursue your passions or interests rigorously, and develop / show strong leadership along the way. You don’t have to have a strong business background but from what I have seen/heard you do need a strong leadership background!
@runswimyoga is exactly right. Trying to stand out will only make your application look like that of every applicant who tried to craft an application for their dream college rather than organically living a life that is fulfilling and thereby interesting to colleges. If you want to stand out to Penn then you need to pursue your passions with the utmost dedication and then explain to Penn via your application essays how those passions and experiences impacted you and your worldview. Put simply, lots of upper middle class kids are ‘starting companies and nonprofits’ or ‘taking on charity projects,’ in an attempt to stand out in the college application process. However, those students who do so in a disingenuous way do not have the same strength of an application as the student who does something more ‘mainstream,’ like becoming an exceptional saxophone player for example, but can explain in detail why that matters.
Do what you like and do it to the best of your ability. When the time comes, you’ll discuss what you did with colleges in a way that demonstrates your genuine interest and colleges will be receptive to that.
Thank you both. I will pursue what I enjoy and hope for the best.