<p>But why should I not? Here is a little about myself in how it relates to Penn and to business schools in general. I really want to go into a good business program but I don't have to grades for it. My SATs are at 1810 and I have a 3.2 gpa. Im no amazing athlete but I do have one thing going for me, Im pretty damn good at the stock market. Now I know what your thinking, Im not some kid that just made $50 and think im some investment genius. No, I have been doing this for a while (since the 7th grade in fact). I study and read about finance every day. I can pass a Series 7 exam easy (Ive taken them but am not allowed to get one yet). People through my entire township give me money to invest for them and I do it good too. Two years ago was my first experience in making big money. I turned a $300 initial investment into $9000. This year with the BP oil spill I turned $1500 into $28000 with put options on a company called Transocean. And finally I have $53438 as of the closing bell today. I am 17 years old and have never worked a job and have this money. My parents also have a large savings for my college and I would not ask (and don't think I could even get) financial aid. My simple question is.... Is this enough to prove to the colleges I know a thing or two about finance? Is this enough to at least let me be accepted into a good business school (at least top 10, not only Penn)? Have I not proved my knowledge enough of a subject to allow my further study of it at a University? My Mom tells me its not and she wants me to be realistic but sometimes I wonder if its even worth going to a college that would turn someone who has done what I have at such a young age. I often wonder if I should just not get a career right out of High School.</p>
<p>if what you say is true, then why bother going to college is my question, you made 28000 dollars off an oil spill. If I was an admissions officer, I would be like, if this is for real, then obviously he already knows what he is doing so what can we offer him??? But more realistically your grades and GPA will hold you out. Making that kind of money does not make up for grades and test scores, especially a 3.2 and 1810, now a 3.5 and 2060, is maybe a different story. I would say go to a state school or community college, continue your investing activities and then if you really want to, apply as a transfer.</p>
<p>Dang lol. That’s intense.
Wish I had your investment skills, ;)</p>
<p>im having slight problems believing you, maybe im just incredibly pessimistic over the internet but still</p>
<p>I understand the doubt but I have the Scottrade and tax documents to prove it.</p>
<p>Does not matter if we believe you. With the information you provided I would say a have a good shot. You’re experience is remarkable and although your GPA and SAT Scores are low, you show talent in other areas. I’m no admission officer, but I like you.</p>
<p>I don’t know, I don’t have the same confidence in his shot at getting in. I mean an athletic recruit would have a hard time with a 3.2 and an 1810 so how much of a shot does someone does not even have that “hook” going to stand a chance. I am not trying to put the OP down or anything but, lets not get his hopes pumped up for nothing, kids with 4.0s and 2200+ SATs, AND reasonable investing experience probably get rejected so that leaves little room for someone without the grades and GPA, making that kind of money is phenomenal but comparatively, that is say being a state champion debater two years in a row. Great, but again, not enough for acceptance.</p>
<p>Honestly, just to set your expectations, with that GPA and SAT you’ll have a pretty tough time getting in. </p>
<p>Although it’s great that you have a passion for investing, no offense, making a few thousand dollars is not that impressive when you compare yourself with other applicants. Just in my class I can name a few people who had sold companies they started in high school for millions (actually one of the guys in my class sold a couple of companies before starting at Wharton…then during his jr year he started another company and just sold it in July to Google for $70M), we had a guy who ran a hedge fund on the side and was netting a few million a year, a guy that was working for a private equity firm back in high school, etc…people with really impressive backgrounds. </p>
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<p>b/c if he went to a top business school and then started trading for a major firm he could be making millions…and you can’t get a job as a prop trader for Goldman with a high school degree and a return of $28k.</p>
<p>If you think you should go into business right out of high school, go for it.</p>
<p>Wow… how did you learn how to invest?</p>
<p>Hey… ever consider CAPM? You don’t have a large track record (5 years tops) so really your large returns can be easily explained through large risk - i.e luck…</p>
<p>You say you read finance every day. Prove it. List some books you’ve read; have you read Graham? Fisher? Bernstein? Siegel (lol that’s just bonus points for Wharton)…</p>
<p>Because if you read something along the lines of Money Matters or Cramer that’s like a negative knowledge of finance…</p>
<p>By the way,
Why haven’t you? You could have tried to get an internship (it’s possible… I intern for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney right now…) but you haven’t.
By the way, I hope you know how the finance ladder works. If you want wealth management, you basically have to start with IB, which requires a target school or quant, for which you need the grades and HEAVY mathematical knowledge (I took calc freshman year in high school and I still not sure I’m cut out… although quant sounds really appealing to me personally right now…) P&E is even more target-oriented, and traders don’t really go into management… so where does that leave you? Who could you possibly work for? Think about it.</p>
<p>Wharton you literally have no shot - literally - because you don’t even hit the athletic recruit Academic Index requirement. You can try your hand at some other schools, but sorry to tell you, life’s not fair.</p>
<p>why do you want to come to Wharton? To get slaughtered by the academically minded kids and not even be considered by trading desks because your GPA doesn’t break a 2.0?</p>
<p>If all you said is true, go to a lesser school and keep building rapport with investors. Continue to do what you do until 30ish when you can retire. By the way - how are you able to provide IRS documents for your investment scheme if you cannot legally handle the money on behalf of third parties (no certification)? You’re either committing fraud or lying but I might just be jealous so don’t take offense.</p>
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And that sort of attitude got necrophiliac to where he is now. (:
Thumbs up.</p>
<p>Im happy to see all the reply’s and am considering what is being said.</p>
<p>As for the handling of other peoples money, its just some people in my Township, local friends, I dont think the SEC will be knocking at my door anytime soon.</p>
<p>Finally, how I learned to invest was first I got interested in a stock unit I learned about in 7th grade. Then I talked to my dad and opened my first account under his name the next year. Since then stocks have been my life, they have probably hurt me more in school than helped haha.</p>
<p>@Bern I notice you didn’t answer my question about what finance literature you’ve read… ;|</p>
<p>hey. just ed to penn and see if you get in. why should you debate about it</p>
<p>in my opinion…an entrepreneurship college like babson will be PERFECT… making money into more money seems to be ur thing… and i think you could do that best at babson college 
But penn is still worth a shot…</p>
<p>babson is more business start-up. wharton is more financial engineering so if anything, wharton is closer to what OP is looking for. I still don’t understand why you’d want to spend a quarter million dollars to get something you already have though…</p>