Wharton or SAS?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Class Rank: 4/812, salutatorian
GPA: 4.00 unweighted, 4.95 weighted
SAT: 2320 (Math 750, Reading 790, Writing 780)</p>

<p>SAT Subject Tests:
Math 2: 800
US History: 770
Chinese: 770</p>

<p>AP Tests: Calculus BC, Chemistry, Economics, Statistics, Psychology, US Government, US History (all 5s)</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities (in-school):
Math League President
Science Olympiad
Political Science
Odyssey of the Mind Captain
Chinese Club Founder and President
French Club
Philosophy Club</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities (out-of-school):
Teen Advisory Board President
Youth Group Leader
Hospital Volunteer (over 300 hours)
Neuroscience Lab Research</p>

<p>Competitions:
Lehigh University Math Competition, 3rd place
Bloomsburg University Math Competition, 1st place
Delaware Valley Science Fair Competition, 3rd place
Lehigh Valley Science Fair Competition, 1st place
Science Olympiad Health Science, 2nd place
National Piano Auditions, National Winner with Superior Rating</p>

<p>Summers: math classes at CTY and Lehigh</p>

<p>Recommendation Letter from the Chair of the Math Department at Lehigh.</p>

<p>Additional Information: Last summer, I wrote a proposal to change GPA system and presented it to the school board. I then worked with the administration to create a new system for calculating GPA that would be more fair to students. I wrote about this in the "Why Penn?" essay.</p>

<p>Do I have a decent shot at Wharton, or should I just apply to SAS?</p>

<p>If I go to Wharton, then I want to major in Finance.
If I go to SAS, then I want to major in Econ-Math.</p>

<p>Would I still be able to land a job at Goldman Sachs with a Econ-Math major from SAS instead of a Finance major from Wharton?
Also, would I be able to get a PhD in Econ even if I majored in Finance instead of Econ-Math?</p>

2

<p>did u make big donations? if not, you dont have a “decent” shot at wharton…you have a “normal” chance…</p>

<p>most of the applicants look good on paper anyway, just pray your teacher rec/essays make it</p>

<p>the job and phD and all that, no clue</p>

3

<p>I’m just curious, but what does one do after getting a phd in econ or whatever other subject?</p>

4

<p>Becoming a Professor and doing research is a possibility.</p>

5

<p>for all Ivies:</p>

<p>great shot at Cornell
average to good shot at Columbia, Penn, Dartmouth, Brown
average to good at Wharton
average shot at Harvard, Yale, Princeton</p>

6

<p>Would I still be able to land a job at Goldman Sachs with a Econ-Math major from SAS instead of a Finance major from Wharton?</p>

<p>Yes, but being from Wharton may make it easier.</p>

<p>Also, would I be able to get a PhD in Econ even if I majored in Finance instead of Econ-Math? </p>

<p>Yes, but I would say being a math major with hard classes and a top GPA gives you an especially good edge for econ PhD admissions. That’s pretty much what they want.</p>

7

<p>I’m trying to emphasize the role I took in changing the GPA system at our school in my essays. How much will this help?</p>

8

<p>Depending on how interesting you can make it, it could be helpful. Honestly, I don’t know how important essays are.</p>

9

<p>In my opinion it’ll be much easier to get a finance job with a math-econ double major than it’ll be to get an Econ Ph.D. with a finance degree.</p>

<p>For economics grad programs they’ll want to see evidence that you’ve studied theory and will be capable of doing research. You won’t get that in Wharton unless you actively go seek it out.</p>

<p>For a GS (and other finance) jobs, you can get an interview without specific finance knowledge. It’s harder but possible since the companies try to get a broad range of people.</p>

<p>Really up to what you think you want to do more.</p>