UPenn Class of 2021 RD Results

ShehryarK
Sat, 01 Apr 2017 19:23:22 +0000

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted[/color][/size]** Wharton

SAT I (breakdown): New SAT: 1540 (800 math and 740 reading and writing)
ACT (breakdown): 34 (35 writing, 36 math, 35 reading, 28 science) and 35 superscored with a 33 in science in a previous sitting.
SAT II: 800 Math II, 790 Physics and 780 World History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96 (school doesn’t weight)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank but low-key somewhere in top 5
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus BC (5), World History (5), US History (5), Physics 1 (5), Physics 2 (5), Physics C: Mechanics (5), Physics C: E&M (5) and English Language (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, AP English Lit, AP Government, AP Microeconomics, AP Biology, AP Chem and Multivariable Calculus
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National AP Scholar, National Merit Scholar, Voice of Democracy (State winner)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Founder and Chairman of a private investment firm and I run its blog/manage a $10K portfolio (not as big as it sounds, trust me), Founder and President of FBLA chapter (qualified for nationals), Nat. Dir. of Fundraising for JSA and VP of chapter, UIL captain of math team (regional qualifiers), pres. (9/10) and treasurer (11/12) of STUCO, founder and captain of school’s powerlifting team (regional qualifiers), Varsity basketball (9/10)
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Coached a 4th/5th grade girls basketball team for 4 years through this community organization; volunteered at this refugee help center near the US/Mexico border, helping refugees get across the border and to family in the states; volunteered at this nature park my freshman summer, planting trees, cleaning ponds and such; various math tutoring and NHS as well.
Summer Activities: Nothing big, FBLA National Conference, a JSA summer program at Princeton

Rate out of 10
Essays: Common App: 9/10, it was about powerlifting and how it was a factor in my intellectual development, everyone who read it loved it. Supplement 7/10, really showed that I did my research in Wharton but wasn’t written really eloquently-- I honestly think they just look for raw information as to how you’re going to use your Penn education in this one.
Teacher Recommendation: First one was from my calc. teacher (10/10), full of anecdotes and he loves me to this day; second one was from my English teacher (8/10), she writes like 20 recs a year so idk how much time she gave mine but she’s a good writer.
Counselor Rec: 6/10 didn’t read and don’t have personal experiences with her
Additional Rec: 9/10 got it from my boss at JSA, 2 pages long as really anecdotal.
Interview: 7/10 she said 30 minutes but it lasted an hour… hard for me to connect with a pre-K teacher who didn’t know too much about finance though.
Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Nope
Intended Major: Finance
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: too much for aid, too little for comfort
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nope

Reflection:

Strengths: A lot of business related extracurriculars and test scores
Weaknesses: Nothing extraordinary community wise and I’m not the best writer
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think they really saw my passion towards business. Considering the only schools I got into were solely business schools, this seems like the reason.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted: UT Austin (Business Honors Program), Wharton; Waitlisted: Harvard (deferred and then waitlisted, make up your mind!); rejected: Princeton, Columbia and Stanford

General Comments: Creating an application is an art, honestly. You could do many things but if you don’t craft it correctly, you’ll get denied everywhere. After this process, I truly believe that each university has its own identity that it looks for in its candidates, and they’ll only accept you if you fit that identity, regardless of what extraordinary things you’ve done. My passion was business and I got into the best business school in the country. When y’all are writing your applications, make sure you think about what your identity you want to portray and then make sure every single part of your app bolsters that image.