Hello all!
I am a high school sophomore and I really want to get into the Huntsman program as I truly believe it will be a great fit for me. I know how competitive the program is, and I know I will be an extremely weak applicant if I don’t do more. Here are my stats/ecs so far; I haven’t done much and I would really appreciate some advice that could optimize my chances in getting accepted to the program!
Demographics: Southeast US, international applicant, private boarding school (attending on fa), female, both parents went to 4-years college out of the US, applying for financial aid (family income 45k)
Grades:
- freshman year 97.8/100, no ranks
- sophomore yr
- ap calc bc
- other courses are compulsory but my courseload is the most challenging i could make it under my schools policies and stuff
Tests: never took SAT but did few practice tests and its 1380-1420, never studied for it so I plan to bring it up to 1550+, plan on taking HSK6 (chinese), nltv a2 (vietnamese) and ap latin senior yr
Awards: a nyt essay contest honorable mention, outstanding award/honorable mention at a un sdg essay contest w/ 1000 or so participants
Extracurriculars:
- Two varisty sports
- Tutoring volunteer low income kids
- Started an initiative (club) at school to provide students w/ more music opportunities by combining it w community service
- Business club secretary
I am not an expert on Huntsman, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. As you probably know, Huntsman applicants must identify a target language. Of the three you are studying, only Chinese/Mandarin is one of the 11 targets for Huntsman. Because that’s the case, I would focus on it — not only in terms of learning the language, but also in terms of learning everything you can about the country and region.
Huntsman is one of Penn’s most competitive programs, so you will have to have unique ways to exhibit your interest and understanding of your target language. You could this in so many different ways, but because Huntsman seems to want students to be driven to make local impact, the best ways may be in your own community. Could you work as an interpreter at a local hospital? Or get a job as a cashier at an Asian grocer? A friend’s children have been learning Mandarin since birth, and during covid quarantine, the one in high school participated in a program where he would Zoom with younger student in China to help the student with learning English. The two created a personal relationship and the friend’s son started to understand life in China far more than he had before.
Is Chinese or Vietnamese your first language? If so, that could create other opportunities for exploring the language and region. Definitely think outside the box and seek out ways that immersing yourself in the language will intersect with other interests you have.
Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service offers economics studies as a possible major. Georgetown has a huge language focus. You might want to consider that program as well.