New school, no history?

Applying to College
1

<p>I go to a small public school that's 12 years old. Although it's been ranked 94th in the US, our school has a reputation for not having had any graduates admitted to an Ivy League school. The closest any graduate from my school has ever gotten is one student who went to Stanford. There have been a fair number of geniuses throughout the years who I'm sure have been qualified, but still none have been accepted to an Ivy. I've been told it's because my school is too small and new for Ivy admissions officers to consider applicants. Has anyone encountered the same issue or heard of this happening?</p>

<p>I really want to go to UPenn. I'm not a genius but I take school seriously, with a 32 ACT and 4.0/4.5 uw/w gpa. I'm very passionate about business (my intended major) and have had plenty of leadership experiences and business-related experiences in high school, including serving as VP of FBLA club, getting 2nd place at FBLA national competition, and attending a 10 day business program in New York over the summer. I also volunteer regularly, work a job, play the piano and violin, and have taken/am taking a total of 8 AP classes and many honors classes. I'm also planning on applying ED, which should help. What can I do to make my app stand out more despite my school's reputation?</p>

2

<p>Since you’re doing business, I assume this is Wharton that you’re applying for?</p>

3

<p>All you can do is apply and see what happens. Wharton is hyper competitive so it is a reach for everyone.</p>

4

<p>Correct, I’ll be applying to Wharton.</p>

5

<p>Is Wharton harder to get into than the other undergrad schools there?</p>

6

<p>Wharton is comparable to HYP in terms of selectivity.</p>

7

<p>"I’ve been told it’s because my school is too small and new for Ivy admissions officers to consider applicants. "</p>

<p>That’s incorrect. I was looking at admissions data from my Ivy alma mater admissions newsletter. Of the ~2000 students admitted for the class of 2018, 776 were the only student from their HS admitted – and “many of them” (did not break down the actual #) were the first ever from that school.</p>

<p>You can presume that all top colleges want to find the best applicants, regardless of the schools attended.</p>