<p>I have the business focused EC's that Wharton would like to see:
Business Professionals of America--2x Regional Finalist
President of my school's Stocks and Investing Club
4 years of summer interning at a Hedge Fund as a financial analysis intern
Successfully started a business with a friend training young lacrosse players in our area</p>
<p>However, I know that Wharton is the most selective school at UPenn and although I have 34 ACT and 750+ on both Math subject tests, i'm only in the top 15% of my class.</p>
<p>I'm applying to UPenn ED, but I'm unsure whether or not I should risk it and go for Wharton, or go CAS as an economics major. </p>
<p>Okay, I saw from your Chance thread that you are from an “extremely compettive public HS in Texas.” Obviously, if your school is like Stuyvesant in NYC or Thomas Jefferson in VA, then being in the top 15% is different than if you are from a regular pubic HS that is highly competitive. You will know whether this is the case better than any of us. You should be able to see on Naviance or whatever software your HS uses what the gpa’s and test scores were of the kids who got accepted to top schools and how your stats compare. Also, your guidance counselor should be working with you to develop a list of schools you are competitive for.</p>
<p>In general, the most important piece of information in your application is your HS transcript. AO’s will start with this to see what the rigor of your course load was and how you did. If you weren’t one of top students in your class, they will question whether you can thrive in a much harder arena such as theirs. Wharton undergrad, as you know, is one of the most selective programs in the country. Are AO’s going to be blown away by what you have accomplished in HS? Again, only you, with the help of your GC, can make this determination.</p>
<p>@claxcowboys yes wharton is the most selective school at penn based on acceptance rate( but not by much, can’t be more than one or two percentage points lower than seas and sas). Now when it comes to SAT’s I don’t think wharton has the highest average sat out of all the schools at penn. Wharton is a business school and as such its focus is more on prof development than academics. So it values a lot more people who have engaged in meaningful extracurriculars, have taken leadership positions, created their one company, charity and what not. Many of my classmates had sat scores well below the penn average but had done other amazing things to get into wharton. If anything I would say the Cas sat average is prob a bit higher than wharton’s just because the students are more academically focused </p>
<p>Definitely true. Acceptance rate is marginally lower. 34 ACT is above average for Wharton, I wouldn’t worry. They probably have lower scores than the College and Engineering and emphasize more leadership and often maths skills. I would not advise you to apply to the College, they would probably weed you out for trying to get into Wharton internally so early. </p>
<p>Anyway, I hoped you did apply ED. It is harder doing Penn RD. </p>