Moneyball Academy
Are you great at math and passionate about sports? This unique course, offered by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, approaches the world of sports management from a statistical and data science-driven angle. Learn more about the science and math behind the country’s top professional sports recruiting programs.
Wharton Moneyball Academy: Training Camp is a one-week program broadly introducing students to statistics through a sports lens. Hosted by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Sports Analytics and Business Initiative (WSABI), the Wharton Moneyball Academy: Training Camp welcomes talented high school sophomores, juniors and seniors intrigued by statistics. Students applying to this program should have strong math skills and an interest in sports.
The summer experience serves as an entrée into the sports statistics world as it is not heavily focused on computing but rather the fundamental principles of sports statistics. Wharton professor Adi Wyner in conjunction with PhD students teaches the program.
How do I get started? Go to their website and apply
How do I expand this narrative arc? If your narrative arc includes sports, and you want to show that you’re more than just a great athlete or super fan, think about expanding and deepening both with one of these opportunities:
Spend part of your summer attending The New York Times Summer Academy - Sports, in which you’ll learn more about the intersection of sports and business
Create public art on a local basketball court with Project Backboard
Help your school establish a better concussion protocol with Heads Up
Start a fundraiser for a sports team in a nearby low income community with Support Youth Sports
HOT TIP: The title of this course sounds really fun, but when you dig a little deeper it actually looks very robust and challenging. If you’re looking for something to unite your strengths in math with your love for sports, this course could be a dream for you. But if you cringe at the idea of math homework, or the idea of spending your summer thinking about math (even in this applied and highly relevant context), you might take a pass on this program. See below for more information about summer programs in general.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT SUMMER PROGRAMS: College admissions officers are very adept at identifying “resume padders”: expensive, one-off programs paid for by your parents which do not mesh with your narrative arc. Therefore, make sure any summer program or course you consider falls into one (or more) of these four buckets:
Highly selective/competitive
Totally unique + linked to your narrative arc
Evidence of adulthood (long hours, multi-year commitment or simply hard work)
A jumping off point or expansion for an authentic narrative arc.
If none of the above apply, a program could still have value to you if it allows you to test a potential interest. However, if it does not end up being a jumping off point for further interests, then you may not want to mention it in your high school resume