Admitted to Wharton Class of 2011!

I haven't received it yet..

W is really busy with getting all the Round 2 decisions out of the door. I dont think theyre really concerned about us at this point. That will likely change in the next few weeks

Well, looks like I have a ton of reading to do to catch up on this thread, but I am a new R2 admit. Can't wait for admit weekend!

Congrats to all the R2 admits. I think these are all the GMATClub admits:

R1:
businessm
chifootball
CompanyMan
Virflo
zoinnk
Jen357
Mikus
goldfishee27
msday
sterny
sebycb976
jjright

R2:
Paradosso
Hardestadt
pallavi79us
matterhorn762
TheGuy
rosav
Zoemoe

Who's going to admit weekend (Apr 16-18)?

So when does school start? I have to plan my wedding around that now. It will be a pain, but I am happy about it!

Congratulations to all R2 admits! Join the boat

As the cruise co-ordinator here (sorry zoinnk!), I would like you all to peruse the previous pages on this thread for everything ranging from Kroll to Housing to Loans to PennKey. As you can see we haven't done much work since we all got our acceptances back in R1 and we don't expect any better from you either

Congratulations once again guys! See ya'll at the admit weekend.

Pre-term starts Aug 3.

Actually, we've done a lot of work. Just not related to our jobs. There is a decent amount of info in the previous pages (except for the first 4 pages when everyone is whining about Kroll).

Feel free to PM me if you guys have any questions with all the matriculation stuff. Or you can always find me on chat.

it feels good to write on this thread.

sterny - i would like to pick up your brain on transitioning from H1 to F1..
Would like to travel before starting the program.
so far i know of 2 options to change the status - apply within US (Heard can take 2-3 months) or go back to the home country and enter with F1 Visa

For Others -
I have a non-quant background, other school i was admitted to recommended taking calculus. do you guys know anything about it. i am trying to plan my summer so it would be good to know if i have to sit on college calculus class..

thanks and see you all in Fall!!

You'll take it during pre-term.

pallavi79us-

Here is what my research on the visa process shows:

You are right in that there are 2 options for obtaining the F-1 visa if you are currently on H-1:
1. Change of status to be applied from within the US
2. Applying for the visa at a local consultate outside the US

1. Change of status
Wharton will send you an online form to be filled out to obtain your I-20. Once this form is filled out and submitted you will fax some key documents (passport copies, H-1 stamp copies etc) to Wharton. Wharton will then send along your I-20 to you.

Wharton will also be sending you an award notification letter (ANL) after you have submitted your needaccess and other financial forms (fellowship apps etc.) I have been told by Wharton that this letter is sufficient to establish proof that you can finance your education for the visa application process.

This is where things get tricky:
- You have to apply for the COS yourself by mailing the documents (ANL+immigration docs+I-20) to UCSIS
- USCIS will then respond to you with a reciept that they have recieved your application. The receipt is sufficient for you to start school in Aug
- You can only quit work within 30 days of the program start date (Aug 3)..this means that you can only quit work after Jul 4th
- The actual visa will come in 3-5 months AFTER you have submitted your appication..i.e around Oct/Nov

Based on this, I see that most people apply for the COS around May, get the receipt around June..and quit work after July 4th.

Note that this option means that the next time you leave the country you HAVE to get your passport stamped in order to come back to the US under F-1.

2. Applying for the visa at a local consulate outside the US

Fairly straightforward- take all your documents to local consulate and get interviewed and get your visa stamp. This option entails the risk that you may get denied (although this is very very rare).

Finally once you have your visa stamped, you can come back to the US ONLY if it is within 30 days of the program start date. Once again, that means you can only enter the country after July 4th.

Hope it helps!

Thanks sterny for a detailed response on H1 to F1..I am thinking i'll go with second option. I have not been to my home country for 5 years..

thanks zoinnk !

Has anyone find out how easy it is to waive core classes in your first year? I understand that it is possible but not sure how easy. Let's say if you have a finance backgroudn with a CFA, can you get out of all the intro finance classes? I certainly don't want to have to take an exam to waive them...

My understanding is that you take a placement test and place into more advanced courses if you test well. I'm not 100% sure on this, though. Maybe Audio or xerox can weigh in.

You either waive by taking a test or satisfying the class/grade requirements. In some cases the grade requirements are really strict (e.g. 3 A's), but the test is not too difficult and vice versa. It is up to the specific academic department how they choose to set the requirements. Sounds like you might be able to waive at least a couple of classes, but you still might need to take tests depending on your grades. I think all the details come after you pay your deposit and they send a package of materials.

As an engineer, I am pretty sure I will have to take all the core classes (except maybe stats) which kind of blows because I think you can make the first year a little easier if you waive. Depends on what classes you replace them with.

I see. Thanks for the explaination. What is the grade requirement that you are talking about? Is that the grade you had in similar classes at the undergrad level?