Applied for fall 2024
Demographics
- International student
- From the UK
- Top 3 ranked school for Alevels in the Uk
- Female, Black, African, Dual citizen (Nigeria, England)
Intended Major(s)
Economics, Finance (to some schools)
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
- School doesn’t do GPA or Rank
- 9 A*s in GCSE/IGCSEs, Predicted 4 As at A level (Maths, Economics, Physics, EPQ)
- Test optional
Coursework
- No AP or IB classes (not offered in uk school)
- Fluent in Spanish, (speak read write) (taught in school for GCSEs and continued learning on my own)
Awards
My counsellor told us to leave the honours section blank because I don’t think he knew we were supposed to put awards here, and I wasn’t aware either until after i applied sigh. So this section is unfortunately blank, and I think it’s too late to email my remaining schools about it.
Extracurriculars
- Founded and is president of my schools first newspaper
- Student council, was elected as promotions officer
- Video editor, self taught and gained adobe software proficiency and has been making video edits since 2018, instagram account with over 30k followers and most viewed edit at 200k views (this might seem like an odd ec to put down but i put it down for 8 hours a week for all 4 years because its something i spend a lot of time doing and also wrote about it in some supplements)
- community service, volunteered with a science outreach program delivering free science workshops to primary school kids that lack resources
- community service, volunteered at the visitors centre for a monument in my city, was a tour guide and worked at the gift shop etc
- Research, EPQ; my dissertation was discussing whether the Korean government is taking the right steps to capitalise on the kpop phenomenon (from an economics perspective)
- Music, vocal: Trinity College London Musical Theatre grades 3,4,5 achieving a Distinction, Trinity College London Pop&Rock grades, 6,7,8 achieving a Merit +
- Athletics: club, captain of my schools Netball team and competed in southwest regionals
- Music, Vocal: School choir, was promoted from 3rd to 1st seat and performed at retirement homes and local concerts
- Academic: Wharton youth investment competition, won best team in school and therefore earned funding for a Bloomberg online work experience
Essays/LORs/Other
Common app Essay - Strong:
My main common app essay basically touched on a lot of things because i used a time capsule narrative and whether 8 year old me would be proud of 18 year old me. It was family centric, discussed some of my ECs, and my sexuality. Overall i think it was a strong essay, i had it reviewed by a Berkeley Alum who’s doing post grad at Oxford right now (she was super sweet).
Upenn Essays - very strong:
My Upenn Wharton supplement was heavily based on the research I did for my EPQ and I mentioned the Wharton Social Impact Research Experience and related the two.
My Gratitude question was directed at my internet best friend from Manila whom I met from my editing account. (I made a really sad banana fish edit that got 70k views and she dmed me about it sobbing then we became friends lol - i basically thanked her for inspiring me to never stop creating and making me recognise the impact my art can have on others, and the value of contributing to such a global community etc). I actually did share the letter with her and included that it made her cry lol she does a lot of crying (love u cam<3).
My community question talked about how i used the Daily Pennsylvanian as inspo for creating my schools first newspaper (1st EC listed). My school campus is like all over the city so i wrote about how I created the newspaper to create a sense of community that basically did not exist before. Then i referenced the Daily Penn for things like ideas in structuring the website etc and then mentioned how i’d love to continue my publication journey there. I also mentioned how I really value the power being part of a paper has in integrating yourself into a community.
Upenn Interview
My Upenn interview was so good i felt like crying after. My interviewer was so into my passion for my ECs, we spoke about my interests, why wharton (he really loved my answer, said it was unique and he’s never heard something like it before), I also used the interview as a chance to talk about the Bloomberg work experience I did, a start-up I couldn’t list in my ECs (no space) that was for the Tycoon enterprise competition, and my other work experiences at banks that I couldn’t list in the common app. At the end he said he was going to write me a really good report, that he hopes i get in, and he has a kid at Upenn and even offered to connect us if i get in so they can help me get orientated. He asked me what other schools i applied to and after i mentioned some he was like “you’re definitely overqualified for some of those” (very questionable i think he was just being nice lmao). He was just so kind and super eager about our interaction. Like after that i was just grateful to experience such a good interview regardless of what the outcome might be😭 I’ve heard UPenn admissions officers find interviews really helpful so hopefully this works out in my favour. (I’m aware UPenn interviews are not evaluative but they do write a report).
Cost Constraints / Budget
Income: >400k (not applying for financial aid)
Schools
UC Berkeley
Boston University
NYU (CAS)
Stanford
Cornell
University of Southern California
Yale
Harvard
Princeton
Columbia
University of Pennsylvania (wharton) 
I’m aware I didn’t apply to any safeties, my safety options are in the UK!!
Overall
Upenn is literally my dream school and I know my academics are strong, but my ECs aren’t anything crazy (didn’t do any of these DECA things that wharton applicants always have, tbh i dont even know what DECA is…), but I am really passionate about them and conveyed them in my essays. Also apparently UPenn doesn’t really admit kids from the uk…? Something I’ve heard, not sure though. Please chance me for UPenn or any other school listed, thank you!!
