My Chances at UPenn, NYU, Berkeley, etc.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I am currently a sophomore at Central Bucks East High School in Pennsylvania (this already puts me at a disadvantage for UPenn as it is already an area that sends a high amount of applications). I want to major in either finance or economics when I go to college.

Currently, I will have a 4.25 weighted GPA (4.0 unweighted) for this school year (4 honors and 1 AP out of 9 courses), and last year I had a 4.0 (my school doesn’t offer weighted classes for Freshman year).

Next year I will be taking four APs and two honors courses (this would give me a 4.69, providing I get all As). My senior schedule will most likely be similar to my junior year with maybe on more AP class. In total this would give me a 4.40 when I graduate (keep in mind this would require all As, so let’s say maybe 4.25-4.3 realistically).

I got a 1460 out of 1520 on the PSAT and am will receive my SAT scores on 2/23/17, but if they are similar to my PSAT scores then they should be around 1530.

In terms of extracurriculars: Intramural basketball (I really wish I was good enough to make my school team, I love basketball), intramural soccer, World Affairs Club, I write for the Reality panel of my local newspaper (the Intelligencer), I sang in three choirs in Freshman year (one was just grade level, the other two were select choirs), I co-founded and taught in the “Holicong Investment Club” in Freshman year, and I write for a politically-based website as well.

Over the summer I will be doing an internship at Moore Stephens International (a top-ten accounting firm) at their office in Gibraltar.

Obviously, the two main things that I lack are service work and leadership (or at least examples of leadership).

Also, I think it would be important to note that I have triple citizenship (USA, Great Britain, and Australia).

What would my chances be at UPenn, NYU (I know I can get in at NYU, but my parents only want me to go if I can get some scholarship money), and Berkeley?

2

In case this is important, my intended career path is working at an investment bank, hedge fund, or private equity firm (preferably in Boston, Dallas, NYC, LA, or London).

3

Your test scores and grade look great so far and will definitly help ur chances in getting in. It is true that you are a bit lacking in your extracurriculars and leadership. What you can do for service hours is you could simply join a club like NHS or Key club (if there is any in ur school) that offers service hours, or just look at opportunities in your community (There are usually lots of opportunities once you get to junior year). If you are ambitious and really want to stand out to their business school, you could create your own 501©3 nonprofit organization (fairly easy to create) with a specific cause that u support, such as donating money to poor, or tutoring people, etc. This won’t be too difficult to create, and it will look really good on applications and also account for your service hours.

In terms of leadership and awards, I recommend that you really expand your investment club to make a larger impact on your school. You should also see what clubs or competitions that you are interested in or your friends are doing, and preparing for that competition over the summer so you will be able to make states/nationals, etc. during ur junior and senior years. Some good Business competitions are BPA, FBLA, and DECA.

While you may think that theres a ton of applicants to UPenn from ur school, it is actually a benefit for you that your school is located in the same state as Penn, as colleges usuallly accept more students from their home state.

Good luck!!!

4

If you are interested in creating a 501c3, here is some info on how to make one in Pennsylvania: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/forming-nonprofit-corporation-pennsylvania-36084.html
And here is an example of a 501c3 that some people created in my school. They donate shoes to African chidren:
http://www.steponpoverty.com/about.html