Chance: Asian Male Wharton ED Semi-rural midwest school National-level athlete [3.85 GPA, 1530 SAT]

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Chance Me – Finance / Econ, Wharton ED + T20s

Demographics

  • Gender: Male

  • Race/Ethnicity: Asian

  • State: Suburban/Rural Midwest

  • School: Mid Sized public highschool/middle income

  • Hooks:

    • National-level elite athlete (no recruiting)

    • Midwest Rural Non-feeder

    • Significant time commitment outside school (32+ hrs/week training & travel)

Intended Major

  • Primary: Finance / Economics depending on school

  • Secondary interests: Quantitative economics, global markets, economic history/ Agricultural economics

Academics

  • GPA: 3.85 UW / 4.4 W

  • Rank: Not officially ranked

  • Course Rigor: Very high

    • 10–12 APs total

    • AP Calc BC, AP Statistics, AP Physics, AP Lit, AP Lang, others (All 5s a couple 4s)

    • Independent Study (History → financial & economic analysis) (A one-on-one class with a teacher in our school that focuses on a topic not offered by school, info attached to transcript)

    • Online AP coursework to supplement school offerings

  • Grades:

    • A / A- range in hardest STEM courses

    • 2 B+ in Physics (contextualized by 4+ weeks missed for national competition and a 5 on the AP exam)

  • SAT: 1530

  • Could only take 3/5 classes during first two trimesters due to skating commitments for all 4 years, supplemented w/ online classes → less possible ap classes for me to take + 4+ weeks of missed instruction due to competition traveling yearly contextualized in add. info.

Extracurriculars

  • National-Level semi-niche Olympic sport athlete

    • 30+ hrs/week training

    • 2× consecutive National Medalist

    • Multiple U.S. Championships + World Cup Qualifier appearances

  • Co-Founder & VP – Investment Club

    • Built schoolwide finance competition (70+ participants)

    • Led members in 3+ competitions

    • Portfolio analysis, macro discussions, stock pitches

  • NY Fed Challenge – Economics Research

    • Agricultural economics research

    • Policy analysis, data modeling, team presentations

  • Wharton Global Youth Program EoF

    • Valuation, capital markets, investing frameworks

    • Stock evaluation & pitch presentations

  • Chief Editor of my cultural center magazine

    • Led editorial board and publication process

    • Earned Presidential Volunteer Gold Service Award (250+ hrs in 11th grade)

  • Cultural center youth leadership program

    • High-profile event (1000+ people attending) coordination

    • Cultural outreach and cross-community engagement

  • History Club Co-Founder (2 members)

    • History Competition competitor

    • Qualified for a history competition National Championships, (won multiple lower level comps and its a well known competition in history competitions)

  • Kumon Tutor (Paid)

    • Tutored 100+ students in math & reading

    • Coordinated coworkers and supported center operations

Awards / Honors

  • 2x National Medalist (Overall classification, 10th grade, 11th grade)

  • Presidential Volunteer Service Award – Gold (11th grade) Bronze (10th)

  • national history competition – National Championships Qualifier + attended

  • Johne Locke Essay Comp High Distinction

  • AP scholar with distinction

Essays

  • Strong narrative writing background, pretty good essays

Letters of Recommendation

  • APUSH teacher: Strong

  • English teacher: Decent, nothing crazy

  • Counselor: Contextual, explains athletic travel, independent study, online coursework

Schools

  • ED: UPenn Wharton

  • EA / RD:

    • Michigan Ross

    • Cornell (Dyson / Econ)

    • Columbia

    • NYU Stern

    • Duke

    • Dartmouth

    • Brown

    • Princeton

    • Harvard

    • Berkeley (Haas interest)

Concerns

  • A few B+ grades in highest-rigor STEM courses (contextualized w/ my skating time commitments/missed instruction, and got a 5 in the ap test)

  • Finance focus w/o internships as I only determined what I wanted to major in late in junior year.

2

Cost constraints? If so, have you checked net price calculators?

Do you have non reach schools on your list?

1 Like
3

I wont have any cost constraints as my parents saved money for my older brother’s college, but he got a full ride to Georgetown! So that money trickles down to me and im financial free, and grateful. I have a direct admit to a very decent school that I would be ok to go to, so im just shotgunning towards these reaches.

2 Likes
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Need based aid or an outside scholarship? I didn’t think Georgetown gave full rides except for need based awards.

In my opinion, you are a strong student with a very top heavy list of colleges. At this point, keep your fingers crossed for that ED acceptance. It’s good that you have a sure thing for admission already…just in case.

:crossed_fingers:t2:for Georgetown. Please let us know!

5

It was need based at the time as one of my parents were unfortunately laid off/unemployed for an extended period of time, and this was 6 years ago, but were pretty stable now.

6

I’m not an AO - so it’s purely a guess so don’t give up hope because of me.

I’d say no to all on your list. But being a top skater - that could move the needle so my analysis could be all wrong.

I hope your list is longer - in addition to your state flagship, you might consider both Babson (high target) and Bentley (safe) as well as schools like Pitt, which has strong outcomes, Syracuse, U Denver, SMU, Elon, and if you like flagships since you have U MIch, then Minnesota Carlson is excellent as is Indiana Kelley, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and even Iowa Tippie if you’re from Iowa.

I wish you luck. You have a fantastic background.

7

Berkeley does not give aid to out of state students, so I would not recommend it given your middle income status. (I’m assuming the money your parents saved won’t disappear if you go somewhere cheaper).

Then again, given your savings, even the full need met colleges night expect you to exhaust those saving before giving any aid, leading to them all being full pay.

I agree that your list is reach-heavy, maybe consider adding some schools with top tier business schools which might be less reachy like Notre Dame (they really value athletics), Emory, WUSTL

8

schools which might be less reachy like Notre Dame (they really value athletics), Emory, WUSTL

Those are still reachy