For Sara Ilieva, Christmas came earlier this year! After two years as part of EducationUSA Bulgaria’s community—first in our virtual cohort and later as a participant in the selective Opportunity Funds program—Sara received the news many students dream about: admission through the Early Decision round to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. A mathematician, economics enthusiast, folk-dance devotee, and all-around curiosity collector, Sara has spent the past few years proving that solving equations, building startups, and mastering Dunavsko horo can indeed go hand in hand. We sat down with her to talk about competitions, essays, economics—and why Philadelphia might soon learn to appreciate both Tarator and Bulgarian dance rhythms.
Hi, Sara! Could you introduce yourself in а few sentences?
Hi! My name is Sara Ilieva and I’m currently a 12th grade student in First Private Mathematical High School. I was recently accepted in the Wharton School of Business during the early decision round and as you can imagine I’m beyond excited to start this new chapter of my life at UPenn. I compete in mathematics, economics and finance competitions but I like to spend my free time enjoying music, going to concerts, learning to play the guitar, writing poetry, taking traditional bulgarian dance classes and anything artsy I can get my hands on.
How do you combine a trophy-laden career as a math competitor with being a dance aficionado? Any skills that help with both?
I would say that all my interests flow into each other in a way. I enjoy the art of mathematics by finding my own solutions to all types of problems, and I explore the mathematics of dancing by staying on beat while following the sequence of moves that leads to a synchronous result. Staying consistent with both requires a very specific interest in the activity which only you can find within yourself. And most importantly a lot of will power. I can’t even count how many times I’ve forced myself to keep going to dance classes or math competition even when I didn’t feel like it at all. I can safely say I don’t regret doing it either. That’s also what inspired me write my personal essay.
On another note, dance and math competitions don’t always come with a trophy or a medal. Thus, doing an activity only for the recognition wouldn’t get you far, so make sure you enjoy the things that you choose to spend your time on.
Yet, your chosen field of study is Economics? How did that come into the picture?
For me there wasn’t a specific moment where I suddenly realized it was the thing for me, instead I feel like the idea of studying economics has been slowly materializing throughout my academic journey, becoming clearer with every activity I took on. Starting off with math competitions I later on had the chance to try their different “genres” and so I started competing in financial mathematics. Additionally, being a math tutor taught me to question everything (which is also known as the 11th principle of economics), it showed me the social aspect of economics and the challenges its problems impose. More recently, I dove into the world of startups and without expecting anything of it, along with a team of friends with whom I share similar ambitions, we brought to life our very own student-led business. Later, with my participation in the International Economics Olympiad, I got a small taste of what economics is actually like and found out that it combined all my academic interests but its full understanding also required humility and compassion. Economics affects the lives of all people and whether that impact is positive or negative depends entirely on the study of the subject and how policymakers use it to steer towards different outcomes. In that way, economics feels important and impactful in the real world.
Being accepted at Penn’s Wharton School of Business is certainly a dream come true. How do you think you managed to impress admission officers there?
I think having done many seemingly unrelated activities during highschool can easily leave the negative impression on admissions officers that you’ve done just anything to fill your CV trying to look more impressive. And I would say they value seeing the person behind the application instead of just their accomplishments. So I went into the essay writing process hoping to show just that. I wanted to tell a story connecting me to my interests while simultaneously portraying myself as someone who also constantly learns, faces challenges and overcomes them. So my advice is, just be completely honest and true to yourself.
What are your expectations for the next four years at Wharton? What would you bring from Bulgaria to Philly?
Obviously, in first place I’m excited to dive into economics at Wharton and I hope to try one of the ABCS (academically based community service) courses I wrote about in my supplemenals. On the other hand, I’m ready to jump at every opportunity to try new things and maybe even find something unexpected to be my next passion. And honestly, I can’t wait to meet so many new people and get to live, work and enjoy college life with them. One thing I’ll definitely bring to UPenn is my love for traditional Bulgarian dancing and my culture, so I look forward to teaching Penn students the good old Dunavsko horo and maybe also showing them the wonders of Tarator on a hot day.
How about your plans after graduation? What kind of career do you imagine for yourself?
All I know is I want to study economics and possibly concentrate in finance but I’m going into my undergrad education open to anything. I know I’m going to be met with so many unexpected challenges and honestly I can’t wait to find new interests through them. The main reason I decided to apply to US universities was that I would have that opportunity to explore different fields and subjects, to take classes I wouldn’t have taken otherwise. So yeah, I think it’s ok for me to not know what I’ll be like in 4 years.
Finally, how could one follow in your footsteps? Do you have any advice for Bulgarian students who would apply to U.S. universities?
Start early! Don’t leave everything for the last months before the deadline because you need to do a lot of research for each university, brainstorm ideas for each essay type, alter them to fit the specific university and edit until they’re exactly what you want.
Write your essays about something the admissions officers wouldn’t be able to find out about elsewhere in your application. Don’t just write about achievements and activities because all of those can be found in your CV/activities section/honors section. Instead show something unexpected about them that only you would know, something that inspires you to keep doing that specific activity and how it has contributed to your development as a person. Or choose to write about some aspect of yourself that provides a look into your personality or day-to-day life, one that you feel is important to you.
Read successful essays. Watching youtube videos of admitted students for example helped me get an idea of what each university is looking to find out about you through their specific essays. Plus, they can also give helpful insider info about clubs or other things that they’ve enjoyed about studying there which you can use in one of your essays.
Thanks, Sara, and best of luck at UPENN!