<p>Well, I did get accepted to Wharton, but I guess I’m trying to decide between whether I want to major in business or just economics and save business for grad school. The list of decisions are as follows:</p>
<p>Accepted:
Wesleyan
Middlebury
Penn
Caltech
Dartmouth
UChicago
WashU in St. Louis
Northwestern
NYU
Williams
University of Michigan</p>
<p>Waitlisted:
Harvard
Yale
Columbia
Brown</p>
<p>Rejected:
Stanford</p>
<p>What would you think would be the best choice for a very strong economics program? I’m assuming Wharton is the obvious choice if I wanted to major in business.</p>
<p>Chicago obviously has the most drop-dead name recognition in economics. All the big research universities on your list have business schools; almost all of them have well-regarded graduate programs. How much of their reputation trickles down to the undergraduate level is anybody’s guess. I still say, the only outlier here is Middlebury.</p>
<p>Econ gives you a better foundation, and is pretty open in terms of what you can do with the degree. Business is more restricting. Once you embark on that path, it’s much harder to go elsewhere. I was actually set on doing business in my earlier years of HS too, but I realized that I loved a lot of other stuff too much to only focus on that. Plus, I’ve found that people who do business just generally do it for one, the money, or two, their lack of passion in other fields.</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 2230 (CR 670, M 760, W 800)
[</em>] SAT IIs: 730 on Math IIC, 650 on French Reading
[<em>] GPA (out of 4.0): 3.65 unweighted, 3.96 weighted
[</em>] Rank: n/a (I’m probably at the bottom of the second decile in a class of 175ish)
[<em>] IB: Diploma candidate with a predicted 41/45 points
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: IBH2 English A1, IBS2 French B, IBH2 Psychology, IBS2 Physics, IBS2 Mathematics, IBH2 Film, Explore Theatre, Theory of Knowledge
[<em>] Major Awards: n/a
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars: IASAS Cultural Convention (Actor), High School Play (Lead Actor), Battle of the Bands (Solo Vocalist), Fine Arts Council (Public Relations Officer), Bamboo Television (Anchor), French Honor Society (Public Relations Officer), Freshman Council (President), IASAS Track & Field, Varsity Tennis, ABRSM Classical Piano & Theory of Music
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: n/a
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service: About 84 hours throughout high school
[<em>] Essays: Great
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation: One excellent (Film teacher), one “legendary” as dubbed by a guidance counselor at my school (English teacher)
[<em>] Counselor Recommendation: Great
[</em>] Additional Recommendation: Phenomenal (Theatre teacher)
[<em>] Interview: n/a
[/ul]Other:[ul]
[</em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: n/a
[<em>] Intended Major: Theatre/Film
[</em>] Country: Philippines
[<em>] School Type: International
[</em>] Ethnicity: Filipino
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: I don’t actually know, haha
[<em>] Hooks: Involvement with the arts at my school (doesn’t exactly show in this post but just trust me)
[/ul]Reflection:[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Subjectives
[<em>] Weaknesses: Objectives
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted: Subjectives, fasho And I feel like I’m a good fit.
[/ul]General Comments:
My guidance counselors told me that I’d most probably get into Wesleyan, and I’m glad they were right. I was waitlisted at Georgetown and Northwestern too , but I’m only pushing for Georgetown. If I don’t get in, I guess I’ll see some of you next year! Very excited for that.</p>
<p>^Same here. I’m fighting for Carleton, but the chances are slim. But then hey, there will be a record number of spots being turned down this year.</p>
<p>UChicago has the most recognized school of econ, but unfortunately, undergraduate teaching is a bit lax. For instance, there was one instance where several undergrads in an intro to microecon class were deferred to a T.A. when they needed help. </p>
<p>Although Wesleyan isn’t as recognizable as UChicago, their econ department is the most prestigious of all the liberal arts colleges. The professors, contrary to the above, actually pay attention to their students. Research opportunities are also abundant.</p>
<p>Source: Personal experience (studied at both institutions)</p>