<p>Hi all,
I’m a freshman at Caltech, and was wondering what you think my chances might be for a successful transfer to the Wharton School next year, whether it would be something worth doing, and what kind of financial aid UPenn would shell out for a family making ~50-60k/year, with hefty medical expenses totalling 50k from a bypass operation in 2004.</p>
<p>You might be wondering why I would transfer, and the reason is that I’ve really discovered I don’t particularly like math or science – at least, not enough to major in them. Given that Caltech is such a painfully focused school, this presents a problem. They do have a business major, but it’s probably not the best, and if I’m going to do business, I figure I should go to Wharton, anyway – I hear it’s the best there is (is this true?).</p>
<p>Now, Caltech is pass-fail for the first two terms (we’re in the middle of second term right now), so I don’t have any real grades yet (and the school doesn’t record your percentages for P-F classes); what I can tell you is that I’ve passed every class so far. These classes include:
Math 1a
Chem 1a
Physics 1a
Computer Science 1
Knowledge and Reality (Philosophy class)</p>
<p>For a total of 45 units (a unit is one hour of work per week, though most classes are under-united; a more realistic number would be 60).</p>
<p>I’m taking 51 units this term (considered a heavy load even by Caltech standards), and passing everything (so far…fingers crossed).</p>
<p>I don’t know if high school stuff matters in transfer admissions, but here are my stats:
1550 SAT I
800 SAT II Writing
760 SAT II Chem
750 SAT II Math II
AP National Scholar (I passed 14 AP tests w/ an avg. score of 4.5+, and I only had classes for 3 of the tests)
AP Scholar with Honor
AP Scholar with Distinction
Washington State Scholar (the highest scholarly distinction awarded by Washington State)
National Merit Commended Student
Ninth place (out of 700) in Washington state Knowledge Bowl
Ranked #1 out of ~400 in HS class
UW GPA: 4.0
Weighted GPA: ~4.1 (I got A’s in all AP’s offered)
I speak/read/write German (the Hochdeutsch or “High German” dialect) and Russian (the Muscovite dialect)
President of German club
Knowledge Bowl team captain
Hi-Q team captain (another knowledge competition)
Section leader, concert band (alto saxophone)
Amateur opera singer (I prefer Wagner, but Mozart has his moments)
Member, National Honor Society (not a big distinction, but hey)</p>
<p>That’s all I can think of for now, but there may have been more.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help! It still amazes me there are so many nice people here to help out young folks in need.</p>
<p>Thanks,
Jon</p>