Aiming for >T20 [VA resident, 3.9 UW, 1540 SAT, neuroscience/pre-med/business]

Chance Me / Match Me
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In certain professions you are 100% correct. If you want to have options and access the more prestigious schools tend to have a meaningful benefit.

In fields like MBB or I banking where 50%+ of employees typically come from a sample of 30ish schools, it is an undeniably well worn path. Certainly other schools amongst the 5,000+ “non super elite” colleges will be represented in these fields, but the small fraction of sub 1% “target schools” of students representing such large populations in these careers is significant.

If not sure what specifically you want to do but seeking the flexibility to pursue various lucrative options, the greater the schools cache the better. Frequently these advantages are lost on those that haven’t witnessed or experienced them first hand but the numbers don’t lie.

Lastly, I will highlight that what you do is just as important (if not more important) in many ways as where you do it. For instance being from a tech school in IT at GS doesn’t make you an investment banker (nor do you get paid like one). Being in HR at Bain from a lesser school doesn’t make you a consultant.

This disproportionate over representation of elite schools tends to be even more pronounced in client facing roles as those paying the bills associate prestige as having credibility and value. LinkedIn and anecdotes can prove an aberration but the larger realities are a different story.

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Really because I find plenty of Va Tech at top consulting and I Banks’by doing a LinkedIn search.

So let’s say Neuro is too STEM-y for you and you don’t get into McIntire ahead of your junior year ( I’ve heard it might be moving to 2nd year althiugh the website doesn’t show this ) - then what ?.

My daughter just interned at arguably the top think tank in Washington DC. They hire Northwrstern, Gtown, Johns Hopkins…and now College of Charleston. She majors in a social science…it’s not business but same concept. Same with my engineer who interned with Ga Tech and works with Michigan and has offers from high level firms - from an unranked school - that he chose (fit into ranked). He hustled. That matters no matter where you go.

I can show you a million kids from a million schools. The name alone isn’t getting you a job. The right program, how you handle yourself, your persistence does.

UVA is a great school but if you think that UVA will get you where you want just because it’s UVA, you are misinformed.

My bigger concern though is what you want to study. One is stronger in neuro (a leader in fact) and assures you study business. The other leaves you in danger of not being able to study business.

You are living in the past I believe. Perhaps I’m wrong. Oh and Va Tech is extremely well known for a lot of majors….A LOT - not just STEM - oh and the nation’s best college food (ranked top 3 by most every study).

Hope you prove me wrong.

Best of luck.

Ps - what if you don’t get into UVA - then what’s Plan B? I agree it’s likely but I wouldn’t ever say it’s a safety. Not UVA.

W&M will be an easier admit and is a great b school but also is not direct admit. You apply 2nd semester 2nd year.

Good luck.

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But, wasn’t she in more of an administrative and not in any policy related internship?

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It always depends what you define highly ranked as.

I want to own a business. That’s my plan A and B. I’m not altering my life based on what school I get into, but I’d much rather go to a better one. Willingly or not, I’ve shown my business prowess.

You made a good point earlier that totally made me reconsider my outlook on college; I don’t want to become a doctor, but my parents have etched it out as my career path since I was a baby (my first book was “The Human Body Encyclopedia”). What should I do otherwise to guarantee a cushioned income? Like I said, I’m kinda weak in science, so most people commenting have crossed out med school for me.

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When you said science and you didn’t work or whatever words you used, I sort of figured med school wasn’t your idea.

I respect business owners. They are great risk takers, strategists, and at least early - great operators.

Again you will determine that success.

You have a great resume. Make sure you can validate each and every item.

Best of luck.

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Add me to the choir on this. If you do decide to apply to medical school, you will give two GPAs. Your cumulative total GPA, and your sGPA (the s stands for science).

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47

If business is what you really want to do, have you considered Babson or Bentley?

Additionally, if you want to start your own business, you may want to look into entrepreneurship programs. If rankings from various organizations, here are some links that you might want to peruse:

And this site, which partnered with Princeton Review, but goes into greater depth describing the undergraduate entrepreneurship programs:

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Her duties, according to her, were consistent with the other interns including grad students and regularly involved attending a lot of lectures (which she loved) and preparing transcripts in AP writing style for publication which is a lengthy process.

Grunt work - like interns at my last two organization do - but impactful and more important to her - she loves listening to politicians, subject matter experts, and world leaders. And she would always excitedly call after a session that she loved.

And for anyone fortunate to work in DC in any capacity really - and so many kids from all over the country do as many colleges have a DC program - a great exposure to see what it’s really like vs what we imagine from watching the news etc.

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Thanks for clarifying. Many might assume it was an opportunity to do public policy.

When my sons interned in large companies, it was helpful when they interned to be clear with what they did (they were engineers).

When students intern in companies that offer a variety of opportunities, it’s ideally helpful to clarify the type of internship they completed.

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In post #41, you said:
“Same with my engineer who interned with Ga Tech and works with Michigan and has offers from high level firms”.
Is this a typo, @tsbna44? Did your s intern with GT? That is not consistent with what you have posted elsewhere on cc. Is that a misstatement or typo?

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Not sure the point of the inquiry?

My son lived with and interned with two Ga Tech kids after sophomore year. At a global company.

He went back after Junior…was told after Sophomore they wanted him back. That when internships posted, tell them which interested him and they’d get him in - and sure enough, that’s what happened and quickly. It was nice he didn’t have to run such a hard job search. He had two offers, the second better paying and in NY - but quickly declined it for the return to company A - and stopped looking early.

The two Ga Tech kids told him they didn’t get invites to come back (they stayed in touch for a while) and did not have success in applying to go back to the company. My son said one is in grad school now and the other working in Atlanta.

The point of all this is being:

  1. Too many kids think you have to go to X school to be successful - and that’s not true. You have to work hard and be persistent. I remember a great story of a Ga Tech kid - in his dorm or apartment - writing on the window, using “Post It Notes” to shape his image - and it said hire me - in big letters. Creativity - that’s another great tool!! Link to article below.

  2. Too many kids think that by going to X school, you’re assured a path. Also not true. It may help you get in the door (I acknowledge) - but it won’t keep you there.

So I give the anecdotes for those who are like - I must go to this school and it’s the only way I can have success in life. Otherwise, I’m a failure.

My kids both got into reaches (or what I’d deem reaches…not sure my son did but Purdue engineering - maybe a match). But these kids chose safeties because they were the right fit.

While one never truly knows what the right fit is til they step foot and live on campus, it behooves someone to choose a place where they could be happy for four years, day after day vs. it’s just a big name.

As for my daughter, I don’t know what the future holds. She’s got lots of schooling left but so far has worked for the state in the summer and a think tank in DC. btw - I know everyone says DC is hard but she had 7 offers (5 paid), and I think again - if you work at it, apply to enough places, you can be successful - and that’s the message I am trying to share with these kids on here who are over pressuring themeslves that they must be at Gtown and if not AU and GW and that’s it - it’s bunk!!

My son and it’s different because he was engineering and the demand (at least last year) was sky high judging by the amount of interviews and that two top shelf companies offered him a job the day of the interview (very unimpressive to him as they didn’t know him and vice versa).

As he tells me, he’s in the exact same job that he would have had had he gone to the other schools (he knows this by the schools the kids in his cohort, both high pedigree and third tier) - that it’s the parents (including me because I wasn’t happy with his choice) and press that is bringing all this stress to kids - but it’s not reflective of the real world. In his field it’s different as they require an accreditation which his school had.

Any time I see OP “freaked out” because they have to settle…these are, in my opinion, good lessons. Others may be tired of reading them (sorry)…but they are for the kids/OPs and not the other readers, if you will. And I get some nice follow ups a summer later from some on here telling me about how their kid landed a great internship from x school that isn’t known - including the one my son went to…

As for internships and what kids are doing at them - my son’s first one was helping to repair a line as it went down - or something like that. His second one was process oriented but outside the plant. According to him it wasn’t engineering and I asked - why do they want engineers then in that role? He said - because they want people who “think” like engineers. But there’s a stat out there that 75% of engineers don’t work in engineering jobs - so it makes sense. When I got my MBA, the engineers with MBAs were the hot commodity - vs. the “journalism and history” guy like me. We still got our jobs, but they got the “hot” jobs.

I read good and bad stories about internships - we all do - on here. Some are great and involved. Others it’s almost like - and I see it at my company - why did they give me this person and what do I do with them? I think my daughter kind of had that in summer…but while she busted tail in the fall, she was exposed to many parts of DC operations, and for that she’s appreciative. And for the $8K she earned :slight_smile: My son seemed to regal in both summers…so that was lucky.

But honestly, the advantage, in my opinion, of an internship - good or bad is - it’s on the resume. Experience begets experience.

Getting that first internship is super super hard for many. I think the second one, for most, likely comes easier.

Not sure of the reason for the inquiry - but hope I answered your question.

Georgia Tech student uses sticky notes to land an internship with a tech company | CNN

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53

Please move back and forth discussions between users to PM and get back to the OP’s question. Thank you!

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55

This varies with the individual. However, many people who make “buckets of money” end up with spending habits that include spending buckets of money. These highly paying jobs are also sometimes in areas that are expensive to live (such as financial people who live in New York City). This can make it impossible for them to quit their day job and take a risk with a startup.

Most (not all) of the people who I know who went to be early employees of a startup had graduated university with no debt, had a relatively modest income and very modest spending habits, had gathered some expertise in a growing field, and took the chance to take a job at a very small starting company with low pay but meaningful stock options. Of course in most cases the startup went belly up and the stock was worthless and then they took a different job, but these individuals did not end up rich (at least not the first time). In a few cases the company succeeded and the stock ended up worthwhile. However, to take the risk in the first place they had to be able to go with a “moderate to low income” job that might not pay off but that seemed like a good idea at the time. They needed to have spending habits that made this possible. I do know a small number of people whose first startup risk failed, but who succeeded the second or third time around.

A lot of these people started with very frugal spending habits, which allowed them to take the risk.

And the most successful people know I know got their bachelor’s degree at a very wide range of universities. Most got their bachelor’s at a university that is considered at least pretty good for computer science or EE or related fields (such as mathematics), but I am thinking “pretty good” on the Michigan, UVA, U.Mass, Rutgers level probably more often than the MIT, Stanford level. Also, the fact that this list is high tech heavy is really just based on the fact that I spent my career working in high tech. Someone who spent their career in biotech might have a similar experience but knowing people with a different type of degree and a different expertise.

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56

Dartmouth is fantastic but VERY different from Wharton or U Toronto or Northwestern…obviously produces a ton of people who are high up in business and also Tuck is obviously incredible, but undergrad experience will feel very different.

No undergrad business major, in a very rural area, etc. It kind of stands out.

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57

you need core academic teachers from your HS for Dartmouth (and ivys)… A Professor can not speak to your work in a classroom or how you engage with peers or what sort of student you are. They will likely be dubious of a “marketing” teacher too…

Math, Science, English, History, Foreign Language, etc.

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To follow up on this, if you (OP) aren’t on the finance track, you might, once out of college, explore jobs with smaller start-ups. Sure they are risky, but they can pay off, and put you in a position to be with people who might partner with you on your next venture.
And if you don’t graduate with debt, you might be in a position to take a riskier job, before other commitments (marriage, kids, etc) make that harder to do.

ETA: sharing this addition only because it’s relevant to your question and goals, @walterc92 . One of my s’s preferred working with start-ups, not big companies (which he determined after interning at 2 big, well known companies), and he chose that route after college. Two of them didn’t make it, but the third one did, and he has been very fortunate, not only financially and career-wise, but it connected him with several folks who became high profile in their fields, and who have invited him to join them in other business ventures.

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59

U have a good chance I recommend you “shotgun” any school you’re willing to go to and try to be more unique in how you present yourself. Similar profile to you and I found success in the app process. Feel free to dm me if u want to learn my story or anything

As to how u can verify ur ECs, you will need to work with your counselor on that and how they can put that into their rec letter for you.

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