I am currently a high school sophomore hoping to go to Princeton, Penn, or Columbia. I’ll probably apply ED to one of them. Which one will I have the best chance at and what do I need to improve? Feedback much appreciated!
4.3 GPA
Hispanic Male
Interests and Activities:
National Honor Society.
National Business Honor Society.
National Spanish Honor Society.
Entrepreneurship Club Founder and President.
Politics and Law Club Vice-President.
Junior Achievement Fellows Chief Marketing Officer.
FBLA Vice-President.
FBLA Marketing Committee President.
FBLA Stock Market Committee National Team Vice-President.
Debate Team captain.
Model UN.
Mu Alpha Theta.
Awards and Achievements:
BSA Eagle Scout.
Started my own LLC and patented various products.
Exceptional High Honor Roll (Principal’s List) 2014-2015.
FBLA Stock Market Committee National Level Competitor.
FBLA Public Speaking II National Level Competitor.
Governor’s Honors Program State Nominee for Mandarin Chinese.
Hanban Chinese Bridge Foreign Exchange Student (two-week scholarship in China).
HSK Chinese 2 Proficiency Test exceeded.
Jiangsu Cup Chinese Speech Contest.
Certified in Microsoft Excel 2013 and Microsoft Word 2013.
AP Human Geography Exam Score: 5/5.
FBLA Business Achievement Awards “Future” recipient.
Work History:
Grade level R-9 United States Soccer Federation Referee.
Various volunteer activities totaling more than 200 hours.
Skills:
Fluent in Spanish and French and proficient in Mandarin Chinese and Italian.
Oh! And also I am guaranteed three internships this summer: Merrill Lynch, Prudential, and Charles Schwab. Next summer, I hope to do LWB at Wharton, and again, I am guaranteed two international interships at finance firms in South America and Europe.
I’m assuming that is a weighted gpa? Are you in the top 10% of your class? How is it that you are " guaranteed" all these internships? You’re already an Eagle Scout and your halfway through sophomore year? That’s impressive. The same goes with your proficiency in Chinese. You must have been studying it long before HS because no one gains proficiency in Chunese after a year and a half of HS Chinese. That’s impressive too.
Beyond that, without knowing what your test scores, academics, recs, essays and final ECs will be, it’s impossible for anyone to guess your chances or recommend which school you should apply to. Just keep working hard and doing things that you love and the dots will connect themselves. You might have a completely different list of schools you’re thinking of applying early to in two years. Good luck!
@Falcon1 Thanks for your feedback! The GPA is weighted. My UW is 4.0. I’m probably in the top 20 out of 450 kids. The internships have already been offered to me in advance and yes, I have been studying Chinese quite rigorously. I have some good rec options and towards the end of high school I will probably be president of most of the ECs.
@lostaccount
PSAT: 1520
SAT II Spanish: 800
SAT II French: 800
SAT II Math 1: 800
AP Human Geography: 5
I will be taking SAT II Math 2, Chinese, World History, Literature, and US History. I will be taking AP World History and AP Calculus AB exams as well. I want to point out I will be going on the IB track.
Well, you look like you’re on track to apply to a top school. From what you’ve posted, Wharton or a dual degree program with Wharton seems like the most likely choice of schools for you to apply early but it goes without saying that the competition is stiff. Good luck!
All of those schools are crapshoots, and the competition is tough. Wharton may be a good choice for ED because of your accomplishments, but you should research your choices and apply early to the school that you like the most.
@Falcon1 Thanks for the advice. I’m also open to any suggestions on what I need to improve or do more of. By the way my other options beside the ones listed above are NYU, Duke, and BU. Let me know what you think about those, too.
“three internships this summer: Merrill Lynch, Prudential, and Charles Schwab. Next summer, I hope to do LWB at Wharton, and again, I am guaranteed two international interships at finance firms in South America and Europe.”
And what internships are these? Because these are no easy feat to get. An internship at Merrill Lynch? Thats rather impressive even regular college students don’t have these opportunities. Especially as a high school sophomore. Unless you have connections from your parents/relative you are either amazing or BSing this.
Starting your own LLC and patenting a few products also is quite suspect. You might have “applied” for some patents but have you actually been granted patents already? If so, that’s another one of the “impressive” accomplishments I listed above. Most kids become an Eagle Scout at age 17 and you already have done this. Also, 200 hours in a year and a half is a lot given all the other things you have done.
@thecoolboy1234 connections I have created have assisted me in the internship process.
@ClarinetDad16 I’m fluent in those languages (see skills) due to a multicultural background. I do SAT prep tutorial.
@golfcashoahu I apologize for raising a red flag- this is not BS.
@Falcon1 (correction) I have applied for the patents-sorry for the confusion. The 200 service hours includes the Eagle Scout Project, which I decided to get out of the way quickly.
@gormar099 I’m taking all of those exams to test my skills.
I apologize for any confusion, I swear there is no BS. Feel free to comment back.
@Darknezzerat, any time someone claims accomplishments that are far outside of the norm, it raises suspicions; even more so if multiple unusually high accomplishments are claimed, as in your csse. Exaggeration, embellishment, and outright mendacity are not unheard of on CC.
Assuming your claims are true, you are unusually advanced in your interests and look to be in great shape. Huntsman would seem like a natural fit.
^ But I addressed that. You are in great shape. Just keep your grades up and get solid test scores between now and fall of senior year, and keep to your plan. Ignore the noise.