<p>Applying to Wharton in 2 years.
Grades: 87 average... Strong points are mathematics and business related courses.
Public school with 6000+ students
Grades are above average by 15 to 20%
Rank is probably around top 7% or so.
ECs.:</p>
<p>Founder and Manager of first ever investment club: manage a team covering different sectors of markets.</p>
<p>Won state wide investing competition open to the general public.</p>
<p>70+ hours volunteering(can get more)</p>
<p>Developped and programmed automated trading system that was profitable using average crossovers</p>
<p>Worked 15 hrs a week during school and all week in summer.</p>
<p>Created and manage website where i make educationnal videos about finance such as derivatives and etfs.</p>
<p>Debate team member</p>
<p>Three day internships at a middle market bank where I was introduced investment banking and sales and trading.</p>
<p>... Hooks(not strong): parents are first gen college students and one is immigrant from third world country. Income bracket is fairly high. Internationnal student who speaks two languages very fluently.(if that helps)</p>
<p>Also i am on a very strong upward trend after i finished my previous year with an 78 average. I also have reached the highest possiblelevel in Sailing abd sailed for 11 years of my life for a month every summer. </p>
<p>Thing is... I havent taken my act/sats yet... I will be taking them this summer. I do realise my 87 is not too good compared to the crazy kids on here(iloveyou) but if I can get very good sat or act scores i hope it can kind of make up for that.
I think the strongest point of my app is the passion and focus of finance that I have, which many don't. I think its unique but im not the judge of that. Also, no kid at my school ever left attended college in the UofAs, let alone the great Ivys.</p>
<p>Any tips? Thanks guys. Much appreciated</p>
<p>6000+ students and not a single ivy leaguer?</p>
<p>I genuinely wonder why? Statistically, there has to be a genius in there somewhere. Do a lot of kids apply to ivies?</p>
<p>No, there are barely any students applying to Ivies, if any. I’ve never heard of anyone applying to Ivies. Thing is that the education system here is very different from the US and the rest of Canada. NO emphasis on extra-curriculars, sat/act tests never mentionned by student services or career counselors. Mainly because education here is extremely cheap compared to the US( think 5-10k a year), so there are no reason for kids to apply to the US. As a matter of fact, I am going to drive 7 hours away from here just to take my SAT in the summer…</p>
<p>Pardon my ignorance then!</p>
<p>My advice is to focus on the special things about you in your applications. Any writing supplement you write should distinguish you from other applicants. You are clearly disadvantaged IMO, so best of luck!</p>
<p>Disadvantaged because of my low grades or because opf the school type?
Thanks</p>
<p>Wharton rejects people with 2400’s and perfect GPAs. Even if you have perfect stats, it will still be a reach. You definitely have a hook of being a first gen-college student. Show leadership in your EC’s. That’s one of the things that Upenn looks for. Start your own business club and make it legitimate, or something like that. For Wharton, you kinda need to have everything, from business related EC’s to killer SATs and GPA. Btw, be in the top 1% of your school, since it seems like your school in not that competitive.</p>
<p>Situtuation, not grades. Applicants in the top 7% of their class can get into any school they want if their ECs and test scores are good.</p>
<p>Yeah but his school doesn’t even send any kids to ivies. This year, 40 kids applied to Harvard from my school(get the picture?). I would hardly imagine his school being like a top prep school in the US. That just means it is much easier to place yourself in the top decile. Besides, I don’t think that they have to deal with all these try hard Asians that we have in our schools. Before you start calling me a racist, let me remind you that on average, students who identify themselves as Asian perform much better in school than the other races do.</p>
<p>Thanks guys… so I really need to do amazing on my SATs and get some better ECs?
Also, as a Canadian student, do i need to take the act for Wharton? or only the sat 1 without subject tests?
I will be meeting my college counseler this week but I just want a better idea.</p>
<p>Here are the testing requirements for wharton:
[Penn</a> Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/apply/freshman-admission/testing-faq]Penn”>http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/apply/freshman-admission/testing-faq)
Btw, when they ‘recommend’, that means ‘get it’. Subject tests always make your case stronger, so I think that if you can take them(your accessibility might be an issue), you should. Also get the Barron’s books for all your subject tests, since you just have to study out of them to get a competitive score on your first try.</p>
<p>Ok will do. Cosnidering my grades aren’t that strong, what score should I aim for onn the SATs?
How important is my GPA compared to my test scores?</p>
<p>Guys: the fact Op’s school doesn’t send students to Ivies means nothing… How many students in your school got into McGill, UT, and UBC recently?</p>
<p>@OP: Are you enrolled in a Cegep by any chance?
If so, what “major”? (Because having linear algebra and differential equations or vectorial math will definitely look good to any college you apply to, as well as having taken Philosophy&Ethics 
)</p>
<p>re your GPA/
You wrote 78 and 87: which one is it? </p>
<p>Also, realize that there’s a big difference between American and Canadian grades, which I’d evaluate at 7-8 points for Qu</p>
<p>Thanks alot for the help!</p>
<p>Yes, I am a CEGEP student in the commerce program. I will be taking linear algebra next fall and may look into taking a summer course for advanced math. I have an 87 average this year in CEGEP, and graduated High School last year with an average of 78. Almost 10 % boost. I am definetly pushing it this semester, hoping for very high marks. No doubt I could get into McGill Regular Bcomm, but I American schools are so much more prestigious and attractive. Ill be trying my best for 2.2k+ on the SAT.</p>