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M&T Freshman
is Top National
Scholar
Freshman Beeneet Kothari
applied early admission to
three schools – Wharton/
Penn, MIT and CalTech –
and got into all three. But
he says his decision to enter
Wharton and the Jerome
Fisher Program in Management
and Technology
(M&T) was easy.
“I came to Penn in April
on Spring Fling day,” recalls
Kothari, who was aggressively
courted by a host of other
Ivy League schools. “And
when I saw all of those students
on the Quad, I knew.
The people were actually
smiling at Penn. I knew it
was a great place to be.”
Kothari, who won first
place in this year’s Intel
International Science and
Engineering Fair and was a
finalist in the Intel Science
Talent Search, earned a perfect
800 on his mathematics
and writing SATs as well as
a perfect score on all 11 of
his Advanced Placement
(AP) exams. For this, he was
named an AP Scholar of
Distinction by the College
Board. Kothari’s six-page
resume details dozens of
similar honors, but during
a recent telephone interview,
the 18-year-old from Long
Island sounded like any energetic,
enthusiastic freshman
anticipating an active social
and academic college experience
and wondering what
career path he ultimately
will choose.
“As an undergraduate,
I really don’t want to restrict
myself,” he says, explaining
his reasons for choosing the
M&T program over a more
science-focused program at
MIT or CalTech. “I’m a science
person, but I still want to take a good
English literature
course.” The M&T program
is a unique and internationally
regarded multidisciplinary
program that offers
select students the chance to
earn concurrent degrees
from Wharton and from
Penn’s engineering school.
Kothari, a native of Rajasthan,
India, was 10 when
he and his family packed up
and moved to the U.S. Beeneet
was not fluent in English
at that time, but after
studying English for a few
years, was accepted into an
Advanced Placement (AP)
English class. His awards
and honors include winning
the prestigious CalTech Signature
Award for science and
mathematics, the Rensselaer
Medal for math and science,
and serving as president of
the National Honor Society,
among others. He credits
his parents – Naveet, a
radiologist, and Beena, who
works in technical support
at Chase Manhattan Bank –
for his strong science
orientation.
But like most college
freshman, Kothari isn’t sure
what he’ll do once he graduates.
“I’m interested in
research as well as business,
and I hope to do research
in biology during my spare
time during the next four
years,” he says “I wouldn’t
be surprised if I didn’t earn
my MBA from Wharton
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