You get into Wharton by

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>…replying to my post! Haha, sorry to disappoint you guys, but I really need advice. My thread in What are my chances? has kind of died and can’t be revived. So here goes…</p>

<p>Okie dokie, well I’m a junior, so I’m hoping to garner a few awards this year to make me look stellar next year! Please give me advice on what to do about my AP Classes situation, critique my current college list and suggest colleges I should look at. Also, what summer business internships or experiences would you recommend? Thanks! It’s very much appreciated.</p>

<p>Background info.: I’m Asian (yes!) and I attend a rather competitive high school in Northern California.</p>

<p>SAT - 2190 (690-W, 710-M, 790-CR), 2230 (730-W, 770-M, 730-CR). Sheesh, there are MAJOR discrepancies in my scores. Does UPenn take composite scores???
SAT II - 790-Chinese, Math Level 2 - 790
PSAT - 226 - (78-W, 76-M, 72-W)
AP - Biology-5</p>

<p>Current Classes (Junior year):
AP Calculus AB (but thinking to take the BC test, should I?)
AP USH
AP Chemistry
AP English Language
Spanish 3</p>

<p>Additional AP tests for this year:
AP Psychology (online)
AP Microeconomics (online - last summer)
AP Macroeconomics (self-study)</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:
AP English Literature
AP Calculus BC and/or AP Statistics
AP Spanish
Government Honors and AP Macroeconomics (again)
Physics Honors</p>

<p>GPA (unweighted) - 4.0
Class Rank - 1 out of 465</p>

<p>Extracurriculurs:
Advanced Level Pianist (soloist at the State Convention)
Varsity swimming since freshman year
Year-round club swimmer (Jr. Olympics, Far Westerns, stuff like that)
Community and Feature Editor of school paper (hope to be Editor in Chief)
Amnesty International Vice President
Parliamentary Debate Chair
California Scholarship Federation and National Honor Society Member
Good Samaritan Hospital Volunteer</p>

<p>Community Service Hours to date - about 400</p>

<p>Colleges:
UPenn - Wharton
Harvard
Columbia
UC Berkeley
UCLA
UC Santa Barbara
…Basically schools on the east or west coast. GIVE ME SUGGESTIONS</p>

<p>Yay! Thanks for reading this whole thing. Be critical, be harsh… Don’t worry, I can take it.</p>

2

<p>Word of advice: Don't burn out. Everything looks promising for you, so just relax and do great in school. If you're looking into business you might want to consider NYU's Stern (it's great in finance), or MIT's Sloan (great in info tech). I really wanted to see if I could get into those schools, but Penn just took me early. I'm still happy though.</p>

<p>Nice name by the way, it kind of reflects mine.</p>

3

<p>Yes, Penn takes composite scores, so you would be considered to have 790 CR, 770 M, and 730 W.</p>

4

<p>no offense, but you look like every asian applying to penn. stat-wise u look great (way better than me). However, they do want "normal" people, so just chill and have Ec's and awards that you have a passion for, rather than stuff that would make you look good to adcoms.</p>

5

<p>UCs are no prob</p>

<p>but wharton on the other hand... lets just say california residents raised by 50% this year, the applicants</p>

<p>so, who knows!</p>

<p>ps, do u have any jobs? you seem to have a lot of school ECs but few outside of school (aside from piano). </p>

<p>and community service is important when it comes to what you are doing, not how many hours. for example, you should intern in the field you are going to major in. </p>

<p>well, good luck</p>

<p>and make sure youre essays arent generic!! no sports, no instruments, etc</p>

6

<p>Yeah....I really want to get a job, but after failing my driver's license test twice, I really have not transportation. I reaaaaally need to pass on Dec. 27. :) Plus, I don't really have the time between the school and tests and whatnot.</p>

<p>But, over the summer I was a Business/Legal intern at Cadence Design Systems...</p>

7

<p>write about that in your essay!!!</p>

<p>ps, thank god you are a junior... otherwise i have to compete with u!!</p>

<p>pps, columbia, harvard, SB and LA dont have undergrad business schools, fyi</p>

<p>so as my friends here say, its either wharton or haas!! (or death)</p>

8

<p>What about athletics? I was checking out the swimming stats for Penn's women's team. If I were to be on that team, I would definitely be at the slower end. I don't think I'll be recruited though. Would swimming help me in the admission's process? Do you have to be one of Penn's top swimmers to be considered a "hook"?</p>

9

<p>if you get recruited, that would definately be a hook
a kid from my school got in johns hopkins for field hockey, and she had a 1900s SAT!!</p>

<p>im not an expert... sports help but not as much as speech and debate, or amnesty international or something</p>

10

<p>Drivers liscence test? lol where are your skills from SAT preping? ;)</p>

11

<p>"sports help but not as much as speech and debate, or amnesty international or something"</p>

<p>I actually thought sports helped more than the others, I seem to be learning something new everyday here at CC.</p>

12

<p>I really think that sports help as well. Just looking at the racial demographics, I think that doing well in swimming will really help out my chances with college. Our school's speech and debate team is like 90% Asian (no joke), while I am one of the few not-white people on the swim team. In addition, sports (not swimming in particular) are a much bigger draw for money and excitement. For example, there are many more spectators at sports games than speech tournaments. This is my logic, but who knows if it's right?</p>

13

<p>Sports helps if you are getting recruited. Now, if you're not a recruit, sports and other activities are sort of equal in merit, as long as you express your role in and growth through the activity thoroughly.</p>

14

<p>Sooo, what does it take to get recruited? Do you have to be at the top of the team? Because if that's so, then I definitely wouldn't make it. On the other hand, I would make it onto the team, but I would be one of the slower people. So, am I just a regular applicant then?</p>

15

<p>Well, I'm not a recruit, but recruits are, on average, state or nationally ranked and they are well known in the world of their particular sport. However, showing your passion and leadership in the sport, despite how mediocre you may be in it, makes you more than just a regular applicant.</p>

16

<p>im a recruit...and i was recruited to penn for swimming. what i did was....i sent my times in..back in march on the athletics site. the coach called me sometime later. </p>

<p>i wouldn't say you have to be well known in the particular sport. its pretty much what the coach needs...i think the coach recruited a person for every event...im not sure though. but what helped me is i got a junior national time in one event...and i think the coach sees potential in me...due to my lack of training...and im sure he knows i dont train much. but a big thing is there must be great potential, and you have to be relatively good...even if youre not the fastest on your team...you still may be good enough for penn.</p>

17

<p>oh and...i think for recruiting...unless youre an olympian of some sort or just plain ridiculous in w/e you do or the coach has amazing pull, if you dont apply ED you dont really have a shot</p>

18

<p>ohhh....well, I don't have a junior national time or anything...I guess I won't be recruited...this blows...:(</p>

<p>Back to the point of this thread...chances for me?</p>

19

<p>bump.......</p>

20

<p>dude u need to calm down. ROFL
Okie dokie <-- riigghhhtt</p>

<p>"I'm Asian (yes!) and I attend a rather competitive high school in Northern California." ... roflmao</p>

<p>all this aide, o wait Yay! HAHAHA cant help myself</p>

<p>u need to definitely calm down since ur a junior
my advice is to try and NOT look like the typical azn, meaning high scores, random activities, and PIANO (u and I both kno lots of azns play violin or piano) but no leadership or activities that reflect ur interests. Sure, piano is good, but hopefully u have other stuff to write down and emphasis more. When i did my app, i tried to downplay my piano (i had a ton of awards but i took out all the meaningless ones, put in what i thought were the really impressive ones) and really emphasize my sports (since azns dont really play sports). ur swimming is good. stick with that. when i look at ur EC's i cant really find a specific interest that u have. revolve ur ec's around ur major. also, yea i recommend taking BC if u can.</p>

<p>a lotta people have the scores, but they dont fit the agenda. talk it over with ur gc and talk with these friendly people on CC to find out what wharton wants (meaning look at that accepted wharton thread).</p>