Wharton and SATIIs...(Advice Please)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>As we all know, the Chinese have risen to prominence and have arguably eclipsed the US as the world's top economic power. Obviously, a school like Wharton is involved in getting students into major business deals and transactions. It seems to me that learning important trade languages, especially Mandarin, is very beneficial once one is on the global market scale. Would a school like Wharton see the advantages as well? In other words, would they be more likely inclined to admit a student who already has the ability to speak Chinese well?</p>

<p>I am rather interested in Wharton. I am a rising junior, and I am a good math student. I will most likely earn an 800 on Math2c (based on practice tests), and at least a high 700s on the Math section on the SAT (hopefully 800, but stupid mistakes can happen). As for other SAT sections/SATIIs, they will both be pretty strong, the former in the upper 700s, the latter near perfect.</p>

<p>I have legacy as both of my parents attended Penn grad; only my mother attended Wharton however. She is an active member among Wharton alumni, but she has never given endowments to the school.</p>

<p>Here's where it gets interesting. I have been attending Chinese School since I was 3. My mother is Asian and my father is Caucasian, and when I apply I will most likely put my ethnicity as Caucasian, a claim which hopefully will be easier to make as I have a European last name. I'm facing pressure from my mother to take the Chinese SATII; she says this will differentiate me from the pool of applicants. My SATII scores without Chinese would be strong (~2390 on math/chem/physics) and the curve of the Chinese SATII makes me skeptical. But on the other hand, it seems as if the Chinese SATII can really look good if I am a Caucasian and not a native-speaker taking it. Also, going back to applying to Wharton, having Chinese under my belt would help, no? The most complicated aspect of it all is that I am not entirely prepared; even after all these years of Chinese schooling, I am not completely fluent and it would probably take some time for me to work and get a respectable score on the SATII.</p>

<p>Here are my options:
1) Study lots, take the Chinese SATII
2) Ignore the Chinese SATII, focus on other things, still include Chinese School as an EC on my app</p>

<p>Normally I probably wouldn't be thinking about taking the Chinese SATII as, like I've said before, my other SATIIs will be strong. But this is Wharton we're talking about, arguably the most difficult undergraduate program in the nation, where practically every applicant is qualified in one way or another. I already have the legacy edge (and yes, I will apply ED), but I'm sure the legacy pool is competitive as well. Would taking the Chinese SATII and scoring well give me a nice application boost, particularly due to the current state of the global market? Or is my mother simply over-hyping the advantage that it brings?</p>

2

<p>You’re overanalyzing things. Apply for Huntsman using Chinese as your language.</p>

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<p>You seem to have the insights that H-man probably wants.</p>

3

<p>Your grades are fine. Don’t worry that much.
As for taking the Chinese SAT II, it really depends on what your current level is… if you are a total beginner, there’s no point grinding yourself for the test that you’re not sure you can do well.
Look at past tests and see whether you get at least 80% of the answers.
I took Chinese SAT II myself (as a native) and I can honestly say that the oral section can be difficult for a non-native.</p>

4

<p>Take the Chinese SATII if you think you can do well (as in above 650). Your stuff is fine as is, but as a “white” applicant, a strong Chinese SATII score will help, or at least not hurt.</p>

5

<p>I can probably pull off a low-mid 700s with studying, but I personally see 3 problems with it:</p>

<p>1) It will take lots of time studying
2) The curve might make, say, a 740 look weak
3) My other SATIIs will be higher (790-800 range; I’m considering taking US History as well)</p>

<p>Would the Chinese still be beneficial given those points?</p>

<p>srrinath, the Huntsman Program looks very interesting, but my passion is in the maths and sciences, particularly in math. If I did apply to a specialized Penn school, it would most likely be Jerome Fisher’s School.</p>

6

<p>This might be off topic but being Asian doesn’t really help you get into Wharton at all. Why? there are too many Asians (actually Chinese) students that want to go into Wharton. They are not a minority probably for Wharton. </p>

<p>Other than that you have a good chance, honestly it is up to you to take it, if you feel comfortable and think you can do well, then go for it.</p>

7

<p>I’m well-aware that they are not a minority problem; however, would being a Chinese-speaking half-Causasian with a Caucasian last name give me a significant over an Asian applicant with the ability to communicate well in Chinese?</p>

8

<p>If you check off White for your applicantion and have above a 700 for the SATII Chinese, it will look as good, if not better, than the Chinese Nationals and Asian Americans who score 800. One of my Asian friends from high school told me it was almost expected of him to get an 800 on that test. Scoring 700+ on the test can only help you and not hurt. If you don’t have anything better to do, def. take it. Then again, when you put your mother’s name they will know she’s Asian and might treat you as such.</p>

9

<p>“I’m well-aware that they are not a minority problem; however, would being a Chinese-speaking half-Causasian with a Caucasian last name give me a significant over an Asian applicant with the ability to communicate well in Chinese?”</p>

<p>Wait are you half Chinese, half Caucasian? If yes then you have to check both the Chinese and Caucasian place, if not and you are Caucasian and something else, you check whatever you are.</p>

10

<p>the race thing is easily manipulated. We had a half Hispanic half Caucasian kid from my school get into Yale and Stanford among other schools by applying all around as Hispanic. Heard of a white kid getting into Harvard as an “African American” because his dad was a diplomat so he lived in South Africa.</p>

<p>If you’re going to go for the Caucasian play, definitely take Chinese. Don’t worry about a poor score. I had a 660 SAT II Lit and it didn’t kill me.</p>