Is Wharton as hard to get in as HYPS?

Colleges & Universities University of Pennsylvania
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<p>I don’t have test scores yet, but here is my current profile. </p>

<p>If everything goes according to plan, I will have held a state leadership position for two years, received my Gold Award (Girl Scouts), be a congressional intern, and several other qualifications.</p>

<p>ACADEMIC:</p>

<p>I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA and I’m in the top 1% of my class. I’m planning to take AP Calc AB, AP English, AP US History, AP Bio, and AP Psych next year as a junior…and also Marketing and Band, which are both extracurriculars of mine. I plan to take Band all four years. Is this enough to show commitment? It’s the hardest schedule possible, and I’m really determined to maintain my 4.0, and I know I can do it if I work hard.</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS:</p>

<p>I recently campaigned and won a state officer position in DECA, so I have a state officer position as a sophomore and I plan to continue that leadership position as a junior. I’ve won lots of DECA awards, and I’ve heard that having a state officer position is extremely impressive to adcoms. Is this true? Because I just won my position but I heard it takes a lot of time, so I’m not sure if I want to do it again next year. Also, my state officer position relates to volunteering, and one of my focus areas is volunteering (see next paragraph), so will this help my application?</p>

<p>I’m also in band, which I’ve won lots of state comps. I play flute and I take lessons outside of school too. I intern for McNerney’s campaign for congress, and I have lots of volunteer hours at the library, tutoring in India, as a Girl Scout (working to get Gold Award), for VT Seva, human rights club, and Unicef club. I’m treasurer for the human rights club, and I’m also an officer in VT Seva. This year, I’m going to run for an officer position in Unicef club and I know I will win because I already have so many leadership positions. Will having four leadership positions (DECA state officer, human rights club officer, VT Seva officer, Unicef officer) be enough for HYPS? If not, what other clubs should I join to get more leadership?</p>

<p>TEACHER RECS:</p>

<p>My teachers have told me that I’m very smart and talented. I know I’ll get really good recs, and I’m planning to get them from my AP English teacher next year and maybe AP Bio. I’ll also get one from my DECA adviser, and since I’m already a state officer, I know that rec will be good too.</p>

<p>I try to talk and visit my counselor a lot because I know he’ll be writing one of my recs. He’s already wrote one for me for my DECA state officer campaign, so I know that he’ll write a really good one.</p>

<p>Am I qualified for Wharton? What about HYPS? Are they about equally selective?</p>

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<p>It is pretty hard, but im not sure if it would be AS hard as HYPS. just get around a 2200+ and you should be pretty competitive. and don’t forget about sat 2s!</p>

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<p>Wharton compares to MIT moreso than it does HYPS. It’s a specialized program that attracts a brilliant subset of people. If you fit the attributes Wharton wants, then it’s easier than HYPS. If you’re just a generally strong all around applicant but without the math/leadership/focus and other qualities Wharton wants, then you’ll have an easier time with HYPS. </p>

<p>But trying to compare difficulty of admission is arbitrary. What if I said it’s an 8 out of 10 on a difficulty scale? Would it mean anything? What’s harder, winning state champs in swimming or in track? Who knows. Just do your best in all things. No one can ask more of you than that.</p>

4

<p>I would agree with wwjr. it all depends on how you define how hard to get into.</p>

<p>in terms of acceptance rate- absolutely, I believe a couple of years ago the acceptance rate was just under 9% I don’t have any actual figure but I read that somewhere.</p>

<p>But as wwjr said, they don’t necessarily look for the same things as other top schools do.</p>

<p>and lets not forget penn as a university is also great, not just wharton ;]</p>

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<p>I’ve heard that it’s below 10% from a few different sources as well.</p>

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<p>Wharton is an incredibly difficult school to get into. Only around 7% of applicants are accepted, which makes it more difficult than other areas of UPenn. However, you are definitely on the right track with your GPA, your math, DECA, and your leadership positions. I wouldn’t spread yourself too thin; you’re better off with a couple of significant leadership positions than with several that look like you’re padding your resume.</p>

<p>My only other suggestion is to do something more entrepreneurial - start a business, even something school-related. Wharton is full of entrepreneurs who have already started successful businesses. You must show a passion for business. Your UNICEF involvement does sound interesting, though . . . this will make you stand out as a business applicant who is socially responsible, something that business schools look for.</p>

<p>I am a Wharton grad.</p>

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<p>From a purely numbers standpoint, the acceptance rate of Wharton floats right around HYPS (7-9%). But as mentioned above, there are some different criteria for Wharton kids (emphasis on leadership/math). Though these things are also helpful in any college admissions process. </p>

<p>I, for example, had ample leadership and perfect math scores etc. However, my application was essentially devoid of anything business related, which makes me think my application would have been suited for HYPS as well. Personally, I think that the difference in what Wharton vs. HYPS are looking for is rather small.</p>

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<p>Keep in mind though, that even Penn CAS is not that easy to get into. I have a couple friends who got into S that didn’t get into Penn :confused: I would imagine that Wharton would be even harder.</p>

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<p>There are around 475 single-degree Wharton students per year, and Wharton’s yield is around 77%. That means that between 615 and 620 students are accepted per year. Wharton’s website says that less than 9% of students were accepted during the year that the webpage was last updated. Assuming that “less than 9%” was the figure for the Class of 2014, that means that around 6,900 students applied for admission to Wharton’s Class of 2014. Penn’s overall applicant pool increased by about 18% this year, from 26,930 applicants to 31,600 applicants. If we assume that each of the four undergraduate schools experienced the same percent increase, Wharton would’ve received about 8,140 applications for the Class of 2015. If the same number of students were accepted this year as last, Wharton’s 2015 acceptance rate would be around 7.5%.</p>

<p>Of course, these are rough approximations based on numbers I’ve seen on Penn’s websites and from other internet and print sources. However, since Penn does not release Wharton-specific statistics, I think that these calculations give as close an estimate as possible of the undergraduate admit rate. Assuming 7.5% is close to the actual admit rate, then yes, Wharton is statistically as difficult to get into as HYPS, which had these admit rates this year:</p>

<p>Harvard 6.2%
Yale 7.4%
Princeton 8.4%
Stanford 7.1%
(numbers from huffingtonpost.com)</p>

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<p>As for your chances for admission, I think you have as good a shot as any qualified applicant. At the end of this whole process, I really have come to believe that there is no formula for gaining admission to a school. The admissions committees are looking to shape a diverse, promising class, and if you happen to be the best representative of one of the qualities they’re looking for, you’re in. </p>

<p>I don’t think that Wharton admission is as contingent upon a demonstrated interest in business as CCers tend to think it is, either. I had very limited business involvement in high school; I competed in DECA all four years, but never at the national level, and never had the opportunity to take a business course because of the size of my high school. I had solid stats, but I also wrote in my supplement essay that I was interested in a non-finance concentration and I think part of my acceptance may have been based on the fact that Wharton is trying to branch out and make a reputation for itself in business disciplines, like social impact and environmental policy, that don’t necessarily correlate to careers on Wall Street. </p>

<p>I know you’ve heard this before (and you’ll undoubtedly hear it again), but the best thing you could possibly do is be yourself. Make sure you use your essays to convey your personality to the rep who’s reading your file. If the admissions committee thinks there’s a niche for you at Wharton, you’ll get in. If not, you have a resume that will make you a good candidate at other reputable schools, too. </p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

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<p>“If you fit the attributes Wharton wants, then it’s easier than HYPS. If you’re just a generally strong all around applicant but without the math/leadership/focus and other qualities Wharton wants, then you’ll have an easier time with HYPS.”</p>

<p>I completely disagree with that, as well as what suchann said about doing something entrepreneurial. I did absolutely nothing entrepreneurial or business-y AT ALL my entire life (well, in high school//that went on my college apps, anyway). I think my college app boasted of one unusual varsity sport (for three years), head photographer of my award winning high school newspaper (and a photographer for our yearbook), and some cultural clubs (and also a semester abroad in high school). I’m pretty sure that’s it, and I got into Wharton with no hooks (I also didn’t get into yale or stanford–didn’t apply for HP).</p>

<p>There really, really needs to be a note that someone sticks to the top of the message board that says “YOU DONT NEED BUSINESS EXPERIENCE or anything business related” to get into Wharton. While I’m sure it doesn’t hurt, and probably helps in certain scenarios, it’s much better to do something you’re passionate about than do something for college admissions. I don’t even know how many times I have repeated that.
There should also be a note somewhere on CC that says “COLLEGE ADMISSIONS IS A CRAPSHOOT if you don’t have any URM hooks” because there are so many people that get into one top school but not another, etc.</p>

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<p>^ That’s a great post.</p>

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<p>Oh, and I forgot to add to my post (of you don’t need business experience, etc.) that I also didn’t take economics OR statistics in hs, despite the option of taking both (which I’m sure Penn knew about because they matriculate several from my school every year). I took a history elective and a term of painting instead (no, really, I did). </p>

<p>While occasionally I wonder “how in the hell did I get in?” (people at the DP, our paper, are always disbelieving when they find out I’m in Wharton, because I’m a photographer), I think Wharton realizes that a) some people don’t have any intention of doing business until they really think about colleges senior year and b) you can use a business degree however you want, so any good student can really take advantage of the Wharton education. My “Why Penn” essay was kind of terrible, but I think in my Huntsman essay (I applied but didn’t get in, but I sometimes wonder if it wasn’t that essay that got me into Penn) I talked about being in Japan fall '08 during the financial crisis and how that made me realize how important business is and its worldwide effects, etc, is. (not exactly what I wrote, but yeah)</p>

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<p>@scribbler, despite the fact that you think your Why Penn essay sucked, it was the one to get you in. If you are denied Huntsman then your app goes to the general Wharton admissions committee, and they never have any idea that you applied for Huntsman, that way it keeps it all fair. So congrats on getting in with a “crummy” essay, haha.</p>

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<p>@konradph: those might be the percent admits, but admittance rate does not equal selectivity. Penn as a whole is more selective than Brown, Dartmouth, etc, but this whole post is ridiculous. Who cares about the difficulty of getting in–Penn is amazing and Wharton is the best undergrad business school, so why does relative admittance matter? Plus, Wharton is a specialized school, so it does not make sense to compare it to whole universities.</p>

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<p>@thewikiman, thanks, but I do think they view it. Besides the fact that I mentioned Huntsman in my Why Penn essay (which really was terrible and generic and I can pm it to you–assuming I can find it–to prove to you how bad it was if you really wish), I think whoever is reading the file would receive the whole file…I can’t whatever committee evaluates Huntsman applicants removes the essay! In terms of your keeping it fair idea, I think the way it works isn’t that some people weren’t “good” enough for Huntsman or another dual degree program; rather, it’s probably like regular admissions in that there are lots of great applicants but you can only accept so many, so they choose what they think will make the best class, benefit the most from it, etc. So when regular adcom receives it, they don’t look at it as rejection but rather just another piece they can use to evaluate? I’m not sure how much of this is what I was actually told by people involved in the process and how much I’m assuming, because I applied so long ago, but yeah.</p>

<p>I would also like to add that I’m not normally one to self-deprecate…I just try to be honest with myself. Also, there is a lot of irony in my above paragraph because I’m actually going to be one of the RA’s (resident advisers) for the Huntsman floor next year LOL (for program floors, who they assign as RA is not random…RA in general is pretty selective and for programs, faculty tend to be pretty particular in their selections).</p>

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<p>^He’s right, Penn as whole is definitely more selective, though you could make a case of those schools being equally selective.</p>

<p>College of Arts and Science (CAS): 9% Overall
Wharton: 7% Overall
SEAS: 18% Overall</p>

<p>Overall for UPenn: 12% ; 9.5% for Regular Decision </p>

<p>The Dean of each program emailed the admit rate to admitted students to their respective programs. I was admitted to College of Arts and Science so I can only forward that email to anyone who wants to see it for themselves.</p>

<p>These are the rankings of the Ivy League according to USNWR for 2011, the most followed and accepted ranking:</p>

<h1>1 Harvard</h1>

<h1>2 Princeton</h1>

<h1>3 Yale</h1>

<h1>4 Columbia</h1>

<h1>5 UPenn</h1>

<h1>6 Dartmouth</h1>

<h1>7 Brown</h1>

<h1>8 Cornell</h1>

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<p>I never got an email telling me the acceptance rate, and I don’t know why i would receive one. I don’t think Penn releases individual school admit rates. The acceptance rate for wharton is around 10%, but that figure is a few years old.</p>

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<p>^ Are you sure? I can email you the one I received if you want, maybe I interpreted it wrong?</p>

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<p>^ Could you just post it here (deleting your name, of course)?</p>