What Are My Chances At Penn?

Hey Guys,

I am a Junior from a public high school. I plan on applying to Wharton Early Decision, so i wanted to know what my chances are.

My grades are solid, I’ve gotten 6 B’s in high school taking very difficult classes. The most characteristic thing about my application is that I took Calculus BC as a sophomore and I’m currently enrolled in Multivariable Calculus at Stanford Online High School. I’ve taken 7 AP’s until now (including this year) - Statistics, Psychology, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Physics C, American Language and US History. I plan to take 5 more my senior year. My GPA is around a 4.3 on a 5-point scale.

As for my extra-curriculars, I’ve been part of Science Olympiad for 6 years and math team for 3. I founded a club and am the president. I have 200 volunteer hours at a local food pantry and also worked a job as a tutor. I also spend time tutoring lower level math students in my school and have a position as a teacher’s assistant for Algebra 2 students. I also have experience working with a doctor at University of Chicago.

I’ve taken the ACT and gotten a 35. I wanted to know if I should take the SAT or any subject tests as well. So far, I think my application is shaping out well. i visited the school earlier this year. Please give any and all constructive criticism. Thanks!

Correction on GPA, our GPA scale is a 4-point scale with AP’s counting as 5.0’s and Honors as 4.5’s.

4.3 sounds low to me for Wharton. What is you unweighted gpa and class rank (approximate if you don’t know exactly)?

Being advanced in math is good! No need to take the SAT but you should consider taking subject tests because even though they’re optional now at Penn, most kids will submit them. Also, you will need them for most of the other schools you’re applying to.

You can be a strong candidate, but it will depend on what you do in the next year. As I see it, your rigor and test scores are your strengths, but your grades and EC’s are on the weak side.

It looks like you have about a 3.75 unweighted and Penn’s average is 3.90. I do understand and appreciate that you have high rigor, but I would still try to raise that gpa, if possible.

Regarding EC’s, what is your interest in Wharton? Finance, entrepreneur, marketing? Do you have any ECs that demonstrate that interest? If not think about getting one.

Also, I would take 2 subject tests right away and try to do very well on them. I would suggest Math 2 and one science.

I hope that is helpful. Keep working hard, and you have a great chance.

@Much2learn my unweighted gpa is a 3.85. I don’t have any economics extracurriculars, nor am I sure I want to be in Wharton, so I’m applying to the college. Took math 2 and Chem and got 800s.

Thanks for the advice!

@BigJah With that background you could also consider SEAS. My D1 had a similar academics to yours. She ended up applying to SEAS and being admitted. She is a CS (actually NETS) major and has finished a math minor in the college, and has partially completed a stat minor in Wharton.

I probably does not matter which school you apply to right now. CAS students can get into SEAS if they can handle the math and science and that doesn’t look like a problem for you.

Just an option to consider. I think the largest engineering majors at Penn currently are Computer science, biomedical engineering, systems engineering and mechanical engineering. There is a lot of demand for these students. You can see that here: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/files/SEAS_2015SeniorCPSurvey.pdf

@Much2learn Thanks for the advice. As for my class rank, I’m top 10 in a class of 800ish. I’m not certain I want to do engineering and I know the internal transfer process at Penn is rough. Do you think I should apply to one of the pre professional schools if I’m not certain that’s what I want to do?

@BigJah

You don’t need to apply to SEAS unless you have some confidence. I am just giving you something to think about because you may not have thought about it, and you appear to fit the profile well. Still it depends on your interest. You could also major in econ, math, stats, or computer science in the college, or something else.

Choosing a school depends on what you want to do with it. If you are interested in Wall Street, you can get there from Wharton, CAS or SEAS. About 20% of CAS students end up in investment jobs and about 25% of SEAS students do too. SEAS students primarily go to work in for areas: the technology, engineering non-tech, consulting, and Investments. It could be worth investigating. One of the advantages of engineering is that it gives you more options. You can interview for investment jobs, but most Wharton students won’t be qualified of technology jobs. Many engineering students also eventually add an MBA later to strengthen their business background.

Transferring into SEAS for CAS students is only difficult for some because they don’t have the math and science rigor. SEAS does not want to admit a student if they are not confident the student will succeed. For a student with strong math and science, it is not difficult.