I am currently a rising Senior at my high school and looking for advice. I excel in mathematics and have a large interest in finance. I would look to either major in finance, accounting or both as an undergraduate. Please provide suggestions for my senior year and provide opinions below.
Gender: Male
Race: White
Competitive HS In Minnesota
Junior Year (Estimates):
AP Stats: 5
AP European History: 4-5
AP Physics: 4
Likely 5 in AP Micro as a Senior
ECS/Achievements:
High school baseball
2x Junior Olympic Competitor
High school marching band
Stock and stock options trader since age 14 (via my dad)
Attempts at entrepreneurship through e-commerce
Calc 2 completed by age 15 and student aid for calc Junior year
Job at a local grocery store
Again, any suggestions for my senior year possibly in leadership? Do I have a chance?
Hi there! Your stats look pretty good, but I’m sure you realize Wharton is very competitive and most applicants will have similar stats/ECs to yours (or maybe even better). That being said, all is not hopeless :). You need to find a way to make yourself standout from all the other applicants. Do you do other volunteer work besides being a student aid in your calc class? You might want to consider volunteering with a youth baseball team in your area…then you would have leadership and volunteering/ giving back to your community. If not that, then volunteering somewhere in your community if possible.
The other thing I highly suggest is doing a lot of research on the Wharton program and UPenn in general so that when you go to write your essays you can discuss various things that are unique to UPenn and why you really want to go there. You need to make sure you are highlighting things about UPenn and that your essay doesn’t sound generic for any other “USA college”.
My son will be attending UPenn this fall and was accepted to the M&T program in Wharton. These are just some things he made sure he did with his application. Good luck!!
I was admitted to Penn/Wharton this year for undergrad and your stats are a bit higher than I had, so your test scores and GPA are solid. Like @“UMD2021&2023” said, Wharton is very competitive, so those are not going to get you in alone. Your EC’s are pretty good, however the one place you might be a bit short is in leadership (although I’m not sure if you had any leadership positions in your EC’s). Wharton loves people who are interested in business and you seem to have a profile that fits that really well. In your essays make sure to play up your business credentials.
The biggest piece of advice that I can give you is to really spend a lot of time on your “Why Penn/Wharton” essay. Try to give admissions a picture of how you would spend your four years at the university and take advantage of the unique programs at Wharton. Also try and emphasize how you would use those resources to improve the lives of others, not just to make yourself a lot of money.
I’ve heard that Wharton looks at applicants a bit different than other top universities like HYPSM, where they put more emphasis on your EC’s, potential to be impactful in business, and your essays (which should show your potential to thrive at Penn).
Show either your ability to work with another field (ie., you + someone in NETS) or your interest in something else than making money (be it Greek tragedies, Korean cuisine, or Mies Van der Rohe). If you can do both, all the better.
Oh, it better be genuine and you better have examples.