Wharton....my top choice.

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>So I'm a rising senior, and it seems surreal to actually be applying to college.
I remember sauntering the halls at school and listening to Seniors talk about college, and I thought it'd NEVER come.
Anyway, UPenn is my top choice. Assess my profile?</p>

<p>Asian Male from NY from a public magnet.
Major: I plan to double major, one in business (not sure exactly what area) and French.</p>

<p>GPA: My school is really secretive about rank and GPA for some reason, but by my calculations should be: UW: 3.88, W: 3.99
Decreasing trend from 4 to about 3.92 to about 3.71.
Note: Though my W and UW are similar, my school decided to deflate GPA this year and last for reasons beyond me. I have taken the most challenging load available.</p>

<p>School doesn't rank, but roughly the second half of the top 10%.</p>

<p>SAT: Highest Single Sitting CR-680 M-750 W-760, 1430/2190
Superscore: CR-710 M-750 WR-760 1460/2220</p>

<p>SAT II's: 740 Math II, 640 USH I will retake the US because I got a 5 on the AP</p>

<p>AP: Psych 5 (self-study, one of few in my school to ever pull a 5 on this) , USH 5, Micro 3, English Lit 3, World History 3.</p>

<p>EC's Sports:
Varsity Soccer 4 yrs, Varsity Swimming 3 yrs (Scholar-Athlete), Varsity Track and Field 4 yrs (Captain 12)
EC Activities: NYS Math League 2 yrs, Guitar playing 5 yrs, Multi-Cultural Club 2 yrs.</p>

<p>Jobs: Did math tutoring in and out of school, taught English abroad.
Volunteer: 50 hours at an historic landmark, 90 hours abroad</p>

<p>Programs: Economics for Leaders</p>

<p>Awards: AP Scholar with Distinction
A College Book Award
Congressional Award Bronze/Silver Certificates</p>

<p>Essay: Not too sure. My teachers and peers liked it, but CC'ers told me it basically blows. So I may just write a different topic.</p>

<p>Recs: Counselor doesn't like me that much, but the other two from teachers should be great.</p>

<p>Is it unrealistic to even apply? Or am I qualified?
Chances por favor?</p>

2

<p>I’m not saying you shouldn’t apply but I say your chances are bad. Your AP scores are abysmal and your GPA isn’t anything to be proud of. I say your best bet is to get recruited.</p>

3

<p>well recruited isn’t an option, i’m no where near skilled enough.
Ok so what else can I do to strengthen my app?
Oh yeah I’m applying ED.</p>

4

<p>I’m afraid there is little you can do. Write some stellar essays. But even then, I’m not sure…</p>

<p>Sorry to rain on your parade ._.</p>

5

<p>Since when do bad AP scores keep you out of college…</p>

6

<p>oh yeah and I think “abysmal” might be pushing it a little, I mean I have two fives one self studied and 3’s probably aren’t great but aren’t embarrassing.</p>

7

<p>I think it’s going to be tough. My best advice is start looking into UPenn’s other undergrad programs (because I’m assuming you like the school in general) and possibly transfer into Wharton after 2 years if you get into UPenn if you really want to have a major in Business. I know this sounds a little cheap, but it’s better than getting fully rejected from the college and also it’s better than most situations because you want to major in French as well. That’s the best advice I have for you.</p>

8

<p>if wharton is your top choice there is a chance you can get it if you truly show it. admissions has been pretty random recently so you never know what will happen. i honestly had nothing truly spectacular or outstanding on my resume. it was similar to yours and i considered myself a mediocre applicant. but my essays were great, and i got into the lsm program.</p>

9

<p>You need to explain why business appeals to you. Two things Wharton loves are quantitative skill and demonstrated leadership. A 740 on Math II may look good, but they know how lenient the curve is. Also have you been a leader in your organizations at all? You don’t necessarily need an officer position, but what have you done?</p>

10

<p>Your AP scores are abysmal and your GPA isn’t anything to be proud of.</p>

<p>AP scores can only help, not hurt. The fact that the kid took five AP tests before senior year is impressive, and getting two scores of 5 is also impressive. As for the GPA, it’s absolutely a solid GPA… Don’t bother with figuring out your unweighted GPA. Schools look at the GPA high schools show them, and they take a brief look at the grade scale. They also look at your trend… the fact that you’re trending down is not very good, but if your classes have gotten more difficult, then that’s easily explained. My unweighted GPA was 3.25 in academic courses in high school… weighted and including all courses it was 3.8 but it clearly was not “stellar.” If you’re more than just a couple numbers, then tell admissions you are.</p>

<p>My best advice is start looking into UPenn’s other undergrad programs (because I’m assuming you like the school in general) and possibly transfer into Wharton after 2 years if you get into UPenn if you really want to have a major in Business.</p>

<p>No no no no no! Terrible advice!! Getting into the College is not much easier than getting into Wharton, and getting into Wharton after being in the College is ridiculously difficult. You want to apply to the school you want to go to, not the one you can get into.</p>

11

<p>Honestly dude, youre grades/SAT scores are fine…maybe at the 50th% if I am not mistaken, not sure, so take a look.</p>

<p>The only thing that will make you stand out …put it in your essays.</p>

<p>Honestly, many of my friends attending prestigious universities do not know themselves why they got chosen. Sure they had pretty good grades/test scores, but nothing out of the ordinary.</p>

<p>You have a chance. Everyone does.</p>

12

<p>thanks guys! great advice, I will take everything into account.
Any other thoughts?</p>

13

<p>Btw I agree with everything chrisw said. Idk if necrophiliac is a current student or not but his/her comments are way too harsh. I had a very similar GPA and SAT score, and, as chrisw said, AP’s should not hurt you. Unless something has changed, you aren’t required to report your AP scores so you can choose which ones to list on your application.</p>

<p>I must also commend you on your positive attitude and for not taking any comments personally. If I were in your shoes I would have been quite offended by the first reply. lol.</p>

14

<p>It is true that people with more or less “abysmal” standarized test scores of GPAs have been offered acceptance, I do not think that one should dwell on the notion so much as to be falsely optimistic about one’s academic records. The OP’s academic history is not particularly strong, that is that. The OP’s ECs did not make me go “Wow,” and would perhaps appeal even less to the admission staff members, each of whom probably reviews hundreds of stellar applications yearly.</p>

<p>I suggest applying to the College, which for one is more within reach and at the same time seems to satisfy your academic goals (French & Business). It is one thing to “dream big,” but dreams not rooted in reality through thoughtful planning and hard work are just that – dreams. I personally do not believe that for the OP’s purposes, applying to the College is a “trade-down” from Wharton. That is, of course, partly because I put a Penn education on equal footing with a Wharton education, which may not be so for others.</p>

<p>Better start working on those essays!</p>

15

<p>“Unless something has changed, you aren’t required to report your AP scores so you can choose which ones to list on your application.”</p>

<p>You are recommended to report them now a days. Although you have the choice, not reporting them makes admissions seem skeptic of why you didn’t report them. It causes them to feel that you are hiding something from them and especially they will suspect that you are hiding something that doesn’t look so impressive from them. And they hate people who hid scores (AP, SAT, ACT) and other things from them. (That’s why Stanford wants people to not do score choice on SAT and send all the scores in)</p>

16

<p>^^ Umm, definitely not true whatsoever. I’m willing to bet the majority of applicants don’t report their AP scores.</p>

17

<p>Asian male from NY. competitive demographic. I like that you play three varsity sports, though overall your profile is not strong enough. I would expect you to be rejected from Wharton. But do keep in mind that the decision is solely that of the adcom, and that I don’t have a crystal ball.</p>

18

<p>I would recommend you apply to one of the other schools as well. Your quantitative skills aren’t particularly impressive and you don’t display a great deal of leadership either (this one I’d say is especially important). Its great that you play many sports but your relatively poor grades will hurt you as well. Overall as a student, I’d say your chances are below average but based the type of students wharton wants, I’d recommend you don’t apply since yours will probably be much lower than that.</p>

<p>PS - I don’t really see that much demonstrated interest in business in your app. If you do apply, work on this one a bit. Wharton is a business school, an overly balanced app won’t work as well. Go more for motivation than intellectualism.</p>

19

<p>*I would recommend you apply to one of the other schools as well. *</p>

<p>NO! Why would people ever give this advice? You apply to the school you want to go to, not the one you think you can get into. Wharton is pre-professional and prepares you for jobs basically right out of school. It doesn’t go into the same theoretical details that College programs do, and if you’re not interested in the theory of things at all, you don’t want to be at the College. Same deal, if you don’t want to get groomed for jobs (i.e. you want to go to grad school and do academic stuff as opposed to practical stuff), you shouldn’t be in Wharton.</p>

<p>If you’re going to advise people on how to “get in” regardless of their interests, tell all males to apply to Nursing and all females to apply to Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, but don’t tell people to apply to the College, which gets the most applications anyway, so that they can get into Penn. That is possibly the worst advice you could give!</p>

20

<p>chrisw, I honestly find your comments rather rude.</p>

<p>I believe the reason I and other posters suggested applying to other schools was because the OP didn’t seem all that interested in business. He seems set on french but doesn’t know what he likes in business. Management, Finance, Marketing, etc are VERY different fields. The OP also mentioned he liked Penn after visiting so we assumed he likes the general vibe of the uni not specific programs. If we were discard entirely his chances of getting in, I’d recommend going for huntsman but I doubt that’s possible for him (sorry to be harsh).</p>

<p>If you are set on business, my apologies. Go for wharton but just be prepared since you’re probably in the lower half in terms of probability of acceptance for reasons stated above.</p>

<p>Btw, tons of people go to harvard/stanford and go off to careers in finance. You don’t have to go to wharton to get groomed (although I admit it helps alot).</p>