Please chance me ED for Jerome Fisher M&T

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Okay, after much thought, I decided to go for it (<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1231456-jerome-fisher-ed-rd-dilemma.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1231456-jerome-fisher-ed-rd-dilemma.html&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p>

<p>I will be applying ED to the M&T program, and also asking to be considered an ED candidate for Wharton.
I will be applying for (lots of desperately needed) financial aid.
International student (dual US/Israel citizenship).</p>

<h2>Objective:</h2>

<p>(*) SAT I - 2220 - CR 800; M 740; W 680 (yep. I know its bad, but I'm not a native speaker of English, so I hope they consider that)</p>

<p>(*) SAT II - Math II 800; Math I 770; Modern Hebrew 800</p>

<p>(*) Weighted GPA (correction from last thread) - 108.7 (out of 100)</p>

<p>(*) No Reported Rank</p>

<p>(*) No APs and such available in my country</p>

<h2>ECs:</h2>

<p>(*) 4 year military service (3 mandatory; 1 for the extremely prestigious program I was in) in intelligence corps. Served in the Israeli military's elite technological unit as an NCO and commander.</p>

<p>(*) 3 years (10th-12th) of prominent leadership positions in the Israeli Scouts. In senior year, I was co-director a 900-member scout tribe (this was way more than a full time job, and I still managed to do well in school)</p>

<p>(*) In addition to leadership positions in the scouts, I headed many construction projects (they are impressive -- I emailed an admissions rep some pics and got a very positive reaction; will submit my designs as an addendum, as I was instructed)</p>

<p>(*) During my military service, I founded (w/ friends and two software engineers we hired) a tech startup for mobile payments. Eventually, it ended up failing (but I learned a lot from the experience, and I hope it showed in my essay about it).</p>

<p>(*) Paid work - between graduation and enlistment, worked for three months full time as a shift manager at a pizza place.
[Should I submit this? Would it even help?]</p>

<p>(*) School Robotics Team</p>

<h2>Recommendations:</h2>

<p>All four (teacher, advisor, commanding officer, and boss at scouts) should be great.
They have all told that this is the best rec they have written.</p>

<h2>Essays:</h2>

<p>I think they're pretty good, but that doesn't necessarily mean much (also thought my SAT essay was ok, and I got an 8).
- CommonApp essay tells the story of how I founded my company.
- M&T one talks about my service and dreams of getting into the field of VC.
- Penn essay still needs work, but it talks a bit about my decision-making process and from there explains why penn.</p>

<h2>Hooks:</h2>

<p>(*) Legacy applying ED.</p>

<p>(*) Don't know if this a hook per se, but I wll be 22 (after 4 yrs in the army) by the next school year, and I think they might have interest in mixing up the undegrad community with more experienced and mature students.</p>

<p>(*) Yet another jew applying to Penn..? jk</p>

<p>Any ideas? Would appreciate any suggestion (I have not submitted the app yet)!!</p>

2

<p>I think you have a chance, but it is M&T program and Wharton so it’s highly competitive. Good luck! For a non-native speaker of English or even native speaker, that is really good CR score btw! :P</p>

<p>Legacy I think is a hook when applying ED. Your extracurriculars seem pretty impressive – I don’t think many applicants could say they were a “commander of Israeli military’s elite technological unit”. Also the fact that you got a very positive reaction from the admissions rep is great. I think you can add your part about paid work, since it wouldn’t hurt and it shows some experience of managing.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for your response bubblyperfection !
I realize that M&T rejects people with 2400’s and that many accepted applicants are well over 2300.</p>

<p>Yes, I’m counting on my ECs for standing out…</p>

<p>Any other thoughts/opinions?
Please be honest (even if it’s bad news), I think can take it :)</p>

4

<p>i think you have a great chance. Look through the Penn ed thread on here and you’ll see that a lot of people who applied and got accepted to Wharton didn’t have 2300+ scores. Wharton likes leadership and commitment and you have both. Also you are also a legacy which helps a lot. You are definitely a great candidate.</p>

5

<p>Thanks, I hope you’re right!</p>

<p>@ bubblyperfection</p>

<p>I just noticed you wrote “commander of blah blah…”
For clarification – I was <em>a</em> commander in my unit; not <em>the</em> commander!
My unit commander is a friggin’ General</p>

<p>Just making sure I’m not making false claims!</p>

6

<p>bbuummppp</p>

<p>Any other opinions?</p>

7

<p>I think your military experience is SUPERRR unique
totally in</p>

8

<p>I love the military experience part as well- just make sure that you emphasize your unique aspects in the essays. I think you’re a strong candidate!</p>

9

<p>Agree with everyone that military is great. Now you need to ace the why penn essay. Don’t just focus on the decision making process which led you to Penn. Everyone should focus in that essay on how you will contribute to PENN via ECs or especially in the classroom. Don’t make the mistake of focusing on what penn can do for you instead of what you can do for penn based on your unique experiences. Son applied last year ED and was accepted. Had good grades and SATs but we think the essay made the difference.</p>

<p>Good luck</p>

10

<p>Thanks penforme, I actually ended up scrapping my old essay (it was not good at all) and writing a new one detailing not only what unique opportunities I would get at Penn, but also what I would bring to the Penn community.
I specified extracurriculars I would like to be involved in and explained why.</p>

<p>Overall, I think the essay started out as the weakest of my three (commonapp and M&T) and now it is possibly the strongest.</p>

<hr>

<p>Also, I changed my mind about Wharton ED, and am applying ED only to Jerome Fisher.
The reason is that my M&T essay is a slam dunk imo – it talks about my career goals, my military service and how it contributed to my pursuit of a double degree (my service is right up M&T’s alley). If I get rejected from M&T and choose to ED Wharton as well, my application will get forwarded to the Wharton people, without my M&T essay (which I believe could hurt my chances).</p>

<p>Do you guys know if it’s possible to get rejected ED from Jerome Fisher, and apply RD to Wharton? I marked off that if rejected I would like to be considered for Wharton (just not ED). Would this give me a chance to revise my Penn essay and talk extensively about the army?</p>

11

<p>“Do you guys know if it’s possible to get rejected ED from Jerome Fisher, and apply RD to Wharton? I marked off that if rejected I would like to be considered for Wharton (just not ED). Would this give me a chance to revise my Penn essay and talk extensively about the army?” </p>

<p>Yes, if you did NOT sign the line for ED single-degree option, then they will consider you for RD to the school of your choice. Not sure if you can change your essays, though.</p>

12

<p>^ yup that’s what I marked (no ED for Wharton)
I hope I can revise it, but in hindsight I’m quite pleased with my general Penn essay.</p>

<p>Thanks for your comment!</p>

13

<p>A fellow M&T ED’r! Hopefully I’ll cya there:
Your GPA is great, It’ll be a checkmark and a good boost
Your Std. test scores are fine in terms of SAT - But for M&T it’s a little on the lower side
Your SAT II’s are fine, but you don’t have one in a science.
EC’s - The military thing is REALLY going to help, plus you’ve shown some leadership too.
Others - Legacy is nice, though I don’t know if your age will help or hinder.</p>

<p>Advice: You should focus on your essays. Penn considers them very important and they could make a big difference for you.</p>

<p>Evaluation: You’re looking pretty good! no one can claim to have a “good shot” with M&T, but you look to be just as good as anyone else. But keep in mind that a lot of Penn applicants have it all.</p>

<p>Chance me back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1236014-chance-me-ed-jerome-fisher-m-t-penneng.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1236014-chance-me-ed-jerome-fisher-m-t-penneng.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

14

<p>@ USS1994 - Thanks for the honest comments. It’s great to hear some (deserved) criticism. Yes, I am concerned about both my borderline adequate SAT I and my lack of a science; these will definitely be black eyes on my app.
In fact I was so concerned about my SAT that I considered passing on ED and retaking (given that all my practice tests were in the 2350 range, with a rare 2400 every now and then). I talked with lots of M&Ts on my Penn visit (two weeks ago), and the funny thing is the only two guys I got down to details with scored 2220 on the dot (funny coincidence). I decided the added value of ED (especially as a legacy) would outweigh the questionable score. BTW, do they value it a bit higher because it’s a single session score and I only took the test once?</p>

<p>As you said, M&T is a reach for any applicant, and so I would consider myself extremely lucky to get in.</p>

<p>I submitted my app yesterday, and I think (in a grand display of modesty) that my essays–which were written, scrapped and rewritten several times–are nothing short of great, so here’s to hoping!</p>

<p>BTW, I heard it was possible to double-major in business and engineering outside the program – have you heard about this?</p>

<p>Chanced you back.</p>

15

<p>b u m p … </p>

<p>Any other opinions?</p>

16

<p>solid chance</p>

17

<p>one more bump …</p>

18

<p>Your military experience is not just unique: you exploited it so well it comes off as unique and absolutely scintillating. Your grades and other things are very well off. I honestly believe you will do very well - let’s wait until december and the best of luck to you! :slight_smile: you have my unconditional support!</p>