<p>gpa: going to be 3.56 (got all A's from junior year and on)
sat: 2250
act: 35
APs: I have 7 aps and got the award
EC:
was in a business summer program during summer of freshman year.</p>
<p>Lead our class in making a benefit concert that raised $7000 to sponsor students from Africa to come study at the business program.</p>
<p>more advance program during summer of sophomore year.</p>
<p>Taught at the summer program I went to as a freshman.</p>
<p>Lead class in raising over $10000 with a benefit concert for same purpose.</p>
<p>Intern for the VP of Bank of America in the New Jersey region.</p>
<p>Intern for the congressman of New Jersey.</p>
<p>Key Club Bulletin Editor
Won Distinguished Bulletin Editor (highest award you can get from key club for that position)</p>
<p>Won best website from the state for key club</p>
<p>really good letter of recs from teachers and guidance counselor that I knew since the 7th grade (our schools a middle and high school combined)</p>
<p>God Essay...English teacher said it was one of the best she saw in her career</p>
<p>50/100 will keep you out of wharton regardless of where you attended high school, unless you come up with one or more really good hooks(and USAMO is extremely prestigious, but i don’t think it overcomes the rank, which penn will estimate even if your school doesn’t provide it)</p>
<p>Wait until RD, so you can improve your rank as much as possible. You need to be in the second decile for any chance at all – and the second decile is a slim chance, to say the least.</p>
<p>John, don’t listen to people telling you not to apply ED. While my rank wasn’t as low as yours, I went to a public school where I barely cracked the top 10 percent, (around 31/350), you don’t need to be number one in your class to have a shot. It seems like you had somewhat of a turnaround from freshman year, it might be helpful to discuss that in your essay.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider, M&T is a very difficult program to be accepted to, I know three people in my school who applied to M&T ED, all were deferred into the regular decision pool and were accepted into Penn either Wharton or engineering. </p>
<p>Regardless, definitely apply ED if Penn is the school of your dreams, it only helps your application to do so, and really emphasize how what you have done ties into the program that you want.</p>
<p>Yes, you were in the top decile. The OP, as of his current standing, is not even close. Your situations are not akin to one another – at all.</p>
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<p>ED only helps if you have the stats. In fact, Penn states that it does NOT lower the academic bar ED. </p>
<p>OP, wait until RD–and work your tail off to get into the second decile, though first decile would be optimal.</p>
<p>Recall that 99% of the members of Penn’s class were in the top 10% of their high school class. Don’t throw your Penn app down the gutter by applying ED when you’re in the fifth decile.</p>
<p>top 10% is in a totally different universe than top 50%. it’s like saying “don’t worry about your 1500 SAT, I got a 2150 and I still made it in”</p>
<p>I think reaching USAMO is definitely a hook- your class rank is a problem that can be addressed by the essay. Junior year is the most important in terms of grades, freshman year decidedly less so.</p>
<p>However, Wharton and M&T are going to be tough because Wharton won’t appreciate USAMO participant status as much as the college of arts and sciences or engineering. What are your career goals? Non-Wharton students routinely get Wall Street jobs so if that is your concern, you’ll be in good shape with a strong college GPA.</p>
<p>so should I apply ED or wait till I get my 1st sem grades then apply RD? Would my chances be higher if im just applying to wharton even with the USAMO thing?</p>
<p>This is the last time I’ll say it: 99% of the members of Penn’s class were in the top 10% of their high school class. You’re in the top 50% right now. In other words, if you apply ED, you will be rejected–not even deferred. If you work your tail off and work yourself into the top 20% (or even the top 10%!), you have a fighting chance.</p>
<p>I guess I was under the impression that class rank isn’t calculated every quarter. At my school, class rank is locked for applications after junior year, they only reweighed it at the end of senior year.</p>
<p>John your best bet is probably to call up your admissions counselor for your region and explain your situation. Mine was very helpful to me during the process and gave me a couple of hints that I think made a difference.</p>
<p>As previous posters have said, your math ecs would help more with applying to the college or engineering, if you have your heart set on Wharton you could apply, but you can always do an internal transfer if you still wanted at the end of freshman or sophomore year.</p>