Benyamin Shaker accepted into the Wharton School at UPenn
As the school year officially comes to a close, the majority of graduating students have made their decisions on where they are going to study in September. One of the earliest acceptances happened this past December, when Benyamin Shaker received the news that he was accepted into the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
“When I received the offer from Wharton, I was first and foremost relieved that all of my university worries were over by the end of first term,” says Benyamin. “As I was interested in studying finance and investments, I specifically applied early, which meant that I had to submit my application by the end of October. Applying early also had the condition that if I was accepted, I had to attend. Given that Wharton was my top choice institution, this was not a problem.”
Wharton was ranked fourth by US News in 2016 for business schools in the United States and first in the world by Business Insider. Notable alumni of the Wharton School include Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, and business magnate and philanthropist Warren Buffet. HGS alumni Debi Ogunrinde’12 also attended Wharton and graduates this year as a Rhodes Scholar.
Benyamin’s application process to Wharton included SAT standardized testing requirements, essays, recommendations, a summary of extracurricular activities, and an interview. The SAT requirements for Wharton consist of the regular SAT test in addition to two subject tests. The American application process can be harder for Canadian students as they are usually not familiar with the SATs. Benyamin credits being able to write the practice SAT in Grade 11 and to Ms. Laura Brock for giving plenty of guidance on how to study for and when to write the SATs.
“The chief lesson I have learned from my time at HGS is the importance of critical, independent thought in terms of questioning and challenging commonly accepted assumptions and dogmas. The capacity for and will to independent thought will without a doubt aid me in both the academic environment of the coming years and thereafter.”
