So I have a top two of Georgetown and Penn. I have already applied to Penn Early Decision, but Georgetown has told me that I have until November 20th to apply Early Action to them. I have really been considering pulling my app to Penn and applying Georgetown instead. I love both schools. I want to go into Finance or economics. I would be perfectly happy going to either school and honestly don’t want to miss out on both.
ACT: 34 composites and 36 superscore
SAT: 1550
GPA: 5.17/5 top 3 in the grade
800 Math Level 2
I’ve done two immersion programs, an economics class at Columbia, and an internship at a local nonprofit over the summers. I’m the head of two service projects, president of the Spanish Honors society, president of a writing club, and head of our business society.
What do people think about my chances and the two schools comparatively? Should I go Georgetown early(I think my senior year grades are less impressive than junior year) or wait and go regular if I don’t get into Penn?
Given Georgetown’s EA acceptance rate is lower than their regular acceptance rate, I would stay with Penn for the early cycle. While both are great schools, Penn/Wharton is at a different level when it comes to finance.
Congrats on your hard work and success! You are qualified for both and could go and succeed. In reality, though, acceptance rates are relatively low at both. If you could apply to both, you might get into one, the other, both, or neither. It’s going to be a gamble either way. So just apply to the place you most want to be. It will work out well there or someone else. Good luck!
I would add other top finance schools to your list. Your stats are excellent and I’m sure you would succeed at either. However, reality is both will decline many, many students with similar stats. I read somewhere that the ivy league (or particular school within) will decline 70% of the students with perfect scores. The fact is, they only have so much room so you have to stand out in other ways. Your internships are impressive. I would leverage that as much as possible in your interviews. Colleges want to know why they’re better off for having you as part of the student body. How do you help build out the class. WHat is unique about you that other students will benefit for knowing you. When virtually everyone is “perfect” GPA and SAT wise, they need to be far more subjective (essays, ECs, recs, interview). Find a way to demonstrate your passion for the school. There’s a lot of talent out there. For those reasons, I would add several really good finance schools to the mix.