<p>What scores do you need on SAT I (divided by section score) especially if you are Asian?</p>
<p>How many times should you take the SAT or ACT for a highly competitive school like UPenn so that it doesn't negatively reflect your standing during admissions?</p>
<p>How many SAT II subject tests should one take and should you take 7-8 if you can (more than the recommended)?</p>
<p>What extracurricular activities do you need (for example, FBLA, BBA. Economics/Investing Club for a finance major)? </p>
<p>In what percent of your class should you be in to have a good chance of admission?</p>
<p>How many volunteer hours should you have accrued from freshman to senior year?</p>
<p>What leadership positions must you have to allow admissions officers to gauge your leadership potential?</p>
<p>What work experience are top colleges looking for (the worker at a local ice cream store vs. an internship at Microsoft for example)?</p>
<p>What are the number of AP courses that one should take and is it absolutely necessary that one become a National AP scholar?</p>
<p>For the PSAT/NMSQT, would a National Merit Scholar award carry much more weight than a National Merit Finalist and that in turn a National Merit Semifinalist award?</p>
<p>What are the Ivies looking for students to do in the summer to keep themselves occupied?</p>
<p>I’ll take a shot at this, but my advice is as good as another guy:</p>
<ol>
<li>average a 760+ on each section, translates to a 2280+. 23 gives you the psychological boost</li>
<li>1-3 times</li>
<li>Math and whatever else. You only need 2, don’t matter much</li>
<li>Show interest in business and finance like you said, and keep in mind the reason you’d be a good fit at Wharton.</li>
<li>Top 5%, at least top 10%</li>
<li>maybe 300 or so, but don’t do it for apps. Have a story behind why you volunteer.</li>
<li>President, Captain, Founder</li>
<li>Finance or Marketing internship, don’t waste your time at the ice cream shop</li>
<li>Take as many as you can WHILE MAINTING A’s. You don’t need to get National AP Scholar</li>
<li>NMS won’t carry much weight, your SAT score far outweighs your PSAT. </li>
<li>Do something unique that no one else is doing, and that shows interest in Wharton.</li>
</ol>
<p>@WhartonnotHYPS You’re making a huge misconception with number 8. Working at an ice-cream shop, or McDonalds is just as valuable an extracurricular as interning for a investment company. </p>
<p>@HvePassion it was just my opinion. Colleges want you to be an academic over all. From their perspective , what is more impressive? The skills needed in investment are so much greater than working at and ice cream shop. </p>
<p>@WhartonnotHYPS How about kids who do not have the connections and networks to land a finance internship? What if someone has to flip burgers at A&W because his/her family needs the money? </p>
<p>The skills needed in investment? What would a seventeen year old kid be doing in a huge company like, for example, Morgan Stanley? The most you would do is punch in some numbers and help file some papers. Internships are not a huge boost to resumes. As someone who works as a waitress, I can tell you that even working minimum-pay jobs can afford great skills and experiences. </p>
<p>For No. 5 – I think you’re safer being in the top 1-2% for Wharton, not the top 5-10%. Frankly you should be aiming for valedictorian or as close as possible to that spot. It should boost your confidence if you are the top ranked applicant to Penn from your school that yr (not Wharton – all of Penn).</p>
<p>I don’t think high school internships are a huge boost for admissions. It’s great if you have them because they will help you out later when you are looking for summer internships as a frosh or soph – it’s more impressive to have something other than working retail or at a summer camp as it’ll set you apart from the crowd. </p>
<p>My understanding is the high school internships are viewed as another EC. In part because the adcom realizes that HS internship responsibilities are fairly minor – office work or minor research or computer programming. Now I know it’s possible that people may have major projects in an internship, but the value of those projects is “discounted” a bit in part because of an assumption because there were some connections that got you the spot. </p>
<p>I think if you can find and do an internship, great. If you can’t because you aren’t well connected or because you live in a small town where such options may not exist, don’t give it a second thought if you instead have to grab a job at Sbux for the summer.</p>
<p>Experience in a customer service job is actually a lot more valuable than a lot of people realize. You learn a lot of people skills that are very valuable, especially in business. I also think that it makes you appear more down to earth.</p>
<p>Most of the kids I know who got fancy internships/research positions in high school got them through connections. I think admissions definitely thinks about this when they consider applicants with this type of experience. Honestly, having these experiences is really not going to give you a leg up in college. I never did any research in high school but in college I did better research than most people who did and got several awards for it. </p>