Just got rejected from Penn’s Huntsman Programme today but want to immediately move on and focus on my Regular Decision Applications.
A little background, I’m an international student from Singapore with very mediocre stats tbh (1430 SAT, 680 Math SAT II, 800 SAT Chinese), from a top 4 high school in Singapore which is highly competitive therefore school stats are very average.
However, the saving grace is that I have fairly good extracurriculars which are focused on 3 main sectors:
Sports – I’ve dedicated 10 years to the same sport and have achieved several national awards. Hold a leadership position in school
Business – An internship in the marketing sector of a listed firm in Singapore, received a recommendation letter from my marketing director. In addition, I’ve been awarded top 10 in an international entrepreneurship competition. The year after, I joined the same competition but as an organising committee head. Also had an internship in the government sector regarding public policy making.
Chinese – I’m very into China Studies and took up various leadership roles in school for bicultural programmes. Awarded a bicultural scholarship (4 years). Gold Award for an independent bicultural research thesis, alongside with multiple smaller awards.
The dilemma comes as my initial plan was to apply ED 2 to Stern, however I’m well aware that my stats are not very competitive as compared to other applicants. In this case, should I try for CAS International Relations instead? I do have passion in it (not as much as business though), but I really want to study in the states and NYU might just be my best shot and I do not want to miss this chance. Any advices?