<p>I think that I am pretty much decided that I will ED to Penn next year. THe only problem I'm having is that I don't know which school/program to apply to. </p>
<p>Right now, I'm thinking I'll just apply to CAS and do Intl. Relations and premed. But, I am also really intrigued by Wharton. So, I also thought about applying to the LSM program, but then I would have to be a life sciences major (Bio, BBB, etc.), which I am not sure what I want to do yet. Also, the only medical ECs I have are volunteering at a hospital and maybe interning at a local Physical Therapy place.</p>
<p>The other option I have is to just apply to CAS and spend a year trying to figure it out. Then, at the end of freshman year, I could just stay in CAS, try to transfer into LSM if spots are open, or apply to do an uncoordinated dual degree between Wharton and CAS.</p>
<p>So, should I apply to CAS and maybe try for a dual degree later if I get in or should I apply to LSM?</p>
<p>Here are some quick stats:</p>
<p>SAT:2290 (M:780 R:740 W:770)
SAT2: Soph year: Math II-790; World History-770
Freshman year: Biology E-740</p>
<p>All A's (so far :P ) and a rigorous schedule</p>
<p>^agreed, gain some solid internships and really make a difference. I’d say go for LSM and put CAS down as a single degree saying that if I get rejected from LSM, I want to still be considered for CAS. That way you’d be applying to both programs.</p>
<p>Your stats are good(don’t worry about improving those). Don’t necessarily pursue solely medical ECs for the sake of putting more medical related ECs on your app. Do volunteer work in what you genuinely interested whether it be medical or not. Remember, do not slack on the essays! Really prove to Penn why you want to go there over any other school.</p>
<p>and I would prolly suggest the same as wharton17 of applying for LSM and putting CAS as back-up.</p>
<p>Just to add, I am going to get a chance to shadow some businesspeople at my local chamber of commerce. Will that help?</p>
<p>Also, for the internships, I’m trying to get one in a lab but all of the ones I can try to get are, as usual, very competitive. Do you all think if the lab internship doesn’t work out that an internship at a physical therapy practice would suffice?</p>
<p>I was looking thorough the LSM page and they want to see a lot of science ECs. But, I at most have volunteering at the hospital, Science Honor Society, and at a stretch Math Honor Society. Does that put me at a big disadvantage.</p>
<p>Hey, I posted a little more info in your “my chances” thread. The biggest thing you can do to help your chances is to get lab research, so do everything you can to get that. If not, medical activity will suffice but probably won’t be as strong. Good luck!</p>
<p>Honestly does being elected as the leader of a math honors society mean much? What did you do with it? What do you do? In my opinion, admission committee won’t care too much about it.</p>
<p>I see people on here with clubs such as “Biology club.” What do you do? Sit around and talk about biology? Sounds like a complete resum</p>
<p>hi breaker, i posted this in the other thread but I’ll also put it here (I thought I sent you a PM but it didn’t go through)</p>
<p>first I was wondering if it was actually worth it to retake the SAT for 20 points. I always thought that 20 points after a certain threshold would not really matter.</p>
<p>Also, I looked at the prompt for LSM and I am completely floored. I’ve had some idea but I feel like they sound too “I’m going to save the world” and just come across as fake. How did you brainstorm your idea, if you don’t mind me asking?</p>
<p>OP, LSM is a really intense program. I’d say pre-med is one of the most difficult paths at Penn, and adding in a Wharton degree doesn’t help. One of the downsides of a dual-degree is that it leaves little room for exploration or flexibility–when you’re trying to get two degrees in four years, I’d be surprised if you had a lot of time or energy to take IR classes, for example. </p>
<p>From what you’ve said, I’d suggest single-degree CAS for now. Then you can see how brutal the pre-med curves are, what other classes you might be interested in, and whether you really want to pile a Wharton degree on and live the lifestyle of your LSM classmates.</p>
<p>For most people, I think it is better to focus on one degree. There is a tendency at Penn for students to spread themselves very thin. I don’t think this is always healthy. It is often more valuable to explore one area in depth than try to do everything at a superficial level. So unless there is some specific goal that you want to achieve with a dual degree (like maybe engineering entrepreneurship with M&T or healthcare administration with LSM as two examples), I would just focus on one degree.</p>
<p>disillusionagain: Personally I found it very difficult to beat the curve. My high school was not competitive and it was really tough for me. I started off being very much below average but worked my way back up to a little less below average. I have been changing my study habits and hopefully I will get my GPA out of the gutter. But it seems that those who came from more competitive backgrounds did very well.</p>
<p>^ that kinda scares me cause I come from a relatively easy high school… do you still have time to have a life or does studying occupy almost all of your time?</p>
<p>I was actually discussing this with a couple friends a while back and one friend had really high grades, barely any extracurriculars, the other had average grades and a couple extracurriculars, but I had the lowest grades but a ton of extracurriculars(i didn’t party or do greek stuff).</p>
<p>Perhaps I should’ve cut my extracurriculars down and studied a lot more but I don’t think that would’ve done much since I was studying hard but not efficiently. I grew more and more efficient with my time because of the ECs.</p>
<p>See I made sure I had a life outside of classes. I know others who have gotten high grades and do nothing outside of class tend to be rather unhappy.(they are now trying to get more involved this semester)</p>
<p>Grade wise I ended up with A-'s in writing seminar and spanish. C+ in multivariable calc, C in chem and B in lab. (my high school background was a 3 for AP chem(only 8 people passed my year so a 3 was amazing for us), 5 BC calc and 2 for AP spanish)</p>
<p>Not insinuating that there is a correlation between AP score and college grades but just an idea of my high school background.</p>
<p>sanguinee: expect to change your study habits</p>