Advice for Finance major

NiceUnparticularMan
Tue, 24 Mar 2026 19:41:11 +0000

Yes, low-single-digit admissions rate programs are obviously a tough nut to crack in general, and I do think some people get sort of trapped into thinking they need to try to do all the same things almost everyone else who is applying is doing, but just more of it.

All the indications are your best bet is actually to somehow distinguish yourself from that crowd. But I think that is a difficult challenge to put to HS kids, or indeed parents of HS kids.

Be different in some really compelling way! How, you ask? If we gave you a formula, then it probably wouldn’t work. You have to just be different.

But I truly think the one big “formulaic” thing a lot of kids are missing is the social/nice aspect of all this. Which again is a real challenge for a lot of the high-achiever types who want these slots. But that’s why it is such a powerful filter for these admissions offices. If you largely just filter out the kids who are not getting recommendations saying how friendly and kind and funny, and well-liked and so on they are, you can quickly get down to a much more manageable applicant pool.