Need College Advice

<p>Hi There,</p>

<p>I'm an international student studying at an American based school. I really want to get into Upenn wharton and I will be applying there next fall.</p>

<p>My stats:</p>

<p>CGPA: 3.77
SAT: 2070 (680/710/680)
SAT 2: 740+ projected Math II, Chem, World Hist.</p>

<p>APs: World Hist, Macroecon, Microecon, Chem</p>

<p>Senior Year: Euro Hist, English, Calculus AB, French, Physics (might drop physics)</p>

<p>Can you guys give me some advice as to how to improve my chances for admission to wharton? What can I do that will make a difference from now till application deadlines? Should i retake the SAT? Internships? etc.etc. all regarding Wharton.</p>

<p>I hope there are some wharton admits who can guide me b/c my guidance counselor sucks :p</p>

<p>Do all of those things, and some community service.</p>

<p>Shoot for 2200 plus on the SAT, if you can.</p>

<p>3.77? Doubt youll get into Wharton with that. Same with a 2070 on the SATs. Need to raise both to have a shot.</p>

<p>Work on your ecs and community service and raise your sat to 2150+</p>

<p>is your gpa weighted?</p>

<p>Yea my GPA is weighted (meaning max. is 4.0) but I have a lot of 88s and 89s which i think the teachers will be willing to change to 90s to boost my GPA :P our school is well...corrupt i guess. Anyway I'm retaking the SAT in october and I think i'll be able to pull a 2200.</p>

<p>Just wondering what are wharton adcoms looking for..</p>

<p>Internships i've done:</p>

<p>Irwin Mitchell Solicitors Work Placement Program UK
UK Medico-Legal Consultancy Internship, UK
Citibank, Pakistan (this summer)
Pac Systems Financial Department, Pakistan</p>

<p>I have around 300 hours of community service as well...</p>

<p>What else can I do before application process starts to boost my chances?</p>

<p>apply early</p>

<p>I plan on doing ED...</p>

<p>One option my friend said is that it's easier for me to get admission to the College of Arts and Sciences than Wharton when I apply ED. I plan on undertaking a dual degree anyway so I can transfer and apply for dual degree...one at CAS and BA Econ. from Wharton...would this work easier for me?</p>

<p>i dont know exactly how going into CAS and then doing a dual degree would work... im not even sure if that does work. anyways, backdooring into wharton is not a good idea, if you want wharton, just apply to wharton. you can also apply to one of their dual degree programs (like huntsman) and if you dont get into that, then you can still get in wharton or CAS</p>

<p>Do you need finaid? If so, I think you are in a pretty bad position--as I understand it, Penn is not need-blind for International students and only the incredible are admitted. </p>

<p>Even disregarding finaid, I would say that currently you look like a relatively marginal candidate for Penn, especially Wharton. Don't get me wrong! Overall, your stats are very strong, but for Penn/Wharton, you are on the lower end of admission without any obvious hooks. I do think that you need to really raise your SAT's as high as possible (consider taking the ACT too--you may do better), and the higher the GPA, the better. Apply ED if that's where you really want to go, but with your stats as they are right now I think that you would be a risk for being rejected at Wharton early (and thus unable to do anything else to improve your chances, as if you could if you were deferred). </p>

<p>Work hard, but also expand your list significantly if you are serious about attending a US school, because you certainly can't depend on Penn (you can't depend on Penn no matter how high your SATs are!).</p>

<p>No I don't need financial aid.</p>

<p>My hook could be that I've lived in England my whole life and moved back to Pakistan 2 years ago. British Pakistani nationality is quite diverse i guess.</p>

<p>Considering that I get 5s on my APs, 2200+ SAT, 740+ SAT IIs and get my CGPA to a 3.8. How would my chances rank up?</p>

<p>I have loads of Extra- curriculars:</p>

<p>Oustanding scholar in many subjects</p>

<p>Varsity Bball - 3 years
Varsity Soccer - 3 years
Varsity Track and field - 2 years</p>

<p>Golf handicap: 16</p>

<p>Student council treasurer-next year
class council treasurer-10th
classs council treasurer -9th
Prom Commitee President- 11th
Student Council Activity Co-ordinator- 11th</p>

<p>Helped a family in rehabilitation after 2004 Earthquake in Pakistan.
300 hours of community service.</p>

<p>a lot more things to write but i can't be bothered it's 4am!!!</p>

<p>How many APs should i take next year to boost my chances?</p>

<p>Currently my plan is: AP French, AP Calc AB, AP Euro Hist, AP Physics and AP French.</p>

<p>Also should i switch to BC calc?</p>

<p>Okay, the no finaid thing is a big plus. However, I don't really think being British/Pakistani is a big hook--the top colleges have plenty of students from that part of the world, and they often have interesting histories, even if they have lived in the US for a long time. </p>

<p>If you improved your stats to what you suggest, that would certainly make you a more viable candidate at UPenn, although still only fair chances (unless you are really amazing, pretty much everyone only has a fair chance). The extras that you list are pretty good, but at a place like UPenn, I have to say that they are really only above average--they're still not GREAT, which the top schools seem to often expect. I do think, though, that if you improve your stats, it will be less risky to apply ED. Penn's stock seems to be rising so quickly, that ED seems like a good idea, although of course I cannot guarantee anything.</p>

<p>That's not a hook in the slightest.</p>

<p>So where am I lacking from other candidates?</p>

<p>Should I take BC calc next year or AB calc (along with 4 other aps)? Currently I'm in precalc...</p>

<p>well you're supposed to take calc ab first, but maybe you could do them both if you wanted...</p>

<p>Is making the leap from precalc to BC possible? Just take AB</p>

<p>While my school also has a whole year of AB before BC, from spending a lot of time on CC, I have learned that many schools offer BC as a first-year calc course, just as a more advanced option. And in fact, I believe this is how the CB designed it.</p>

<p>My D is taking AP BC Calc her sophomore year now. Tomorrow is the exam and she took Hons. precalc in her 9th grade.</p>

<p>She is not the only one and there are > 10% of class that did same.
All Hons. precalc students scoring A- or above are suppose to go for AP Calc BC.</p>

<p>As far as foooreal chances. I think these are slim as the pool of international applicant suppose to be much better than the US pool to getinto the same college.
So these Stats
"CGPA: 3.77
SAT: 2070 (680/710/680)
SAT 2: 740+ projected Math II, Chem, World Hist.
"
even from a US applicant are on the lower side for an Ivy school.</p>

<p>For an international applicant SAT 1 need to be > 2300 and SAT IIs > 750 to have any chance.</p>

<p>As "foooreal" already admitted that GPA doesn't even make any sense while coming from Asia as School system out there is corrupt and you can get what ever you want on the transcripts.</p>

<p>Haha not as in that sense. People do go around our school and try to improve their chances at admission by requesting the teacher to give extra work if the semester grade was an 89 or so. But even that has stopped now. I don't plan on changing my gpa although 3.77 is the minimum im expecting by the end of this year. Maximum 3.82 counting that I get an A in Law.</p>

<p>I think I can get a 2200+ in SAT 1, I'll be taking SAT prep at Andover this summer and I only need a 130 point increase...im expecting a 2300+ in october hopefully...math 2 im expecting 800 and chem 740, world 800. I'm also taking the most demanding courseload at my school.</p>

<p>The only thing that can bring my chances down is gpa...i've held a 3.85+ after 9th grade...my 9th grade cgpa is 3.57 so that brought it down significantly.</p>

<p>I'm keeping upenn and duke as my top choices...</p>

<p>is it easier to get admission in2 upenn CAS than wharton?</p>

<p>What I was trying to convey that it is a well known fact that the Grade inflation is a big problem for the students that come from Asia. So what ever your GPA is that will not be a big factor in your admission equation.</p>

<p>So prepare well for your SATI, SATII and AP's as those will be the basis of any college admission decision.</p>

<p>You would have a better chance if you had attended the IB World schools in Asia, that would have ensured the grade inflation issue.</p>