<p>I'm a rising senior who will be applying for Wharton in the coming fall. Seeing as Wharton is one of the most, if not the hardest, business programs in the country to apply for, it is extremely important to stand out and demonstrate intiative and leadership. I've heard a lot about Wharton applicants doing business internships and camps over the summer. What do you guys usually do in order to show an aptitude and passion in business? Ex. jobs, internships, shadowing.</p>
<p>Haha honestly, I did not have any amazing internships before getting to Wharton. The only mildly impressive thing I had was that I helped in the start-up process of my family friend’s restaurant. I did not, however, focus on that in any part of my application. I had my fair share of jobs waitressing or doing clerical work, but honestly just do something you’re passionate about and share your experience about that. I volunteered at a nursing home and that was one of the most important things to me, so I wrote about how I started doing that before I could drive and walked there every day so I could do that. Show your passion and show your drive; that’s what they want to see.</p>
<p>Like xstingx said, just do whatever you’re interested in…for me, I went to a Chinese language immersion program and went to mainland China and Taiwan under a travel scholarship, because I’m genuinely interested in global studies. Then, I focused my app about the international aspect of business.</p>
<p>----edit—
and you don’t necessarily have to show aptitude for BUSINESS alone. The best part about business is that it is not an autonomous course of study. Almost every aspect of life is run by business principles.</p>
<p>Don’t stress about it too much. I was admitted, and literally hung out, ate, and slept the summer before senior year began.</p>
<p>kaisan, are you a rich kid?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Define rich. The reality of the matter is that most matriculated students to top colleges come from families that can at least live comfortably without some income from their child during the summer.</p>
<p>With the right lifestyle, it’s not even a major concern for many families that would not be considered rich regardless, especially due to generous financial aid policies for the (relatively) poor.</p>
<p>Ya…I definately didn’t do much during my summers that was all that crazy impressive. I volunteered at like the Red Cross, worked at my local medical center, and studied for Acdec. That was about all I did.</p>
<p>It wasn’t meant in the sense of that he needs to earn income for the survival of his family.
I’ve never met anyone who needed to earn money for their family in the summers.</p>
<p>I just can’t imagine that the mindset of a Wharton student would be to just slack off an entire summer, unless you have legacy or are an athlete. Privileged outside the bounds of academia.</p>
<p>@BigTicket</p>
<p>No, I am not. My EFC is below $1,000. I just didn’t have the means or transportation to do anything. I didn’t mention it in my college application at all. It was just something I thought didn’t matter much. I was right. And by no means am I a slacker. I just played it smart, instead of working hard over my summer VACATION. It didn’t affect my admission, obviously.</p>
<p>I volunteered for a local congressman the summer between sophomore and junior year, and then the next summer I volunteered a small amount of time at the red cross and took some extra classes at a local community college. . .so, not too much.</p>
<p>I’ll be going to Wharton’s LBW program this summer… but don’t be fooled, this is the first summer that I’m going to be spending productively, hahaha…</p>
<p>Hmmm, I didn’t do anything summer before senior year, either. Just traveled with the fam and slept during the day. But i WILL tell you what I’m going to do this summer. I’m going to the gym and work out, and will be coming to Wharton with the best body EVER…class of 2014, WATCH OUT!</p>