No legacy (sibling in cornell, not sure if that counts)
Upper middle class in Northern NJ
Household Income Bracket: 200k+
Applied for aid but told CSS I we would be able to pay without any
Intended Major: Finance or EE
SAT: 1520 (superscore 750 reading 770 math)
GPA: 4.25 weighted ~3.7 uw
Coursework (11 APs, rest are honors):
Comp Sci Principles - 5
Calc AB - 5
Chem - 5
Macroeconomics - 4
Microeconomics - 4
Calc BC - 4
Lang - 5
Bio - 5
Calculus 3/Vector Calculus (advanced school course, weighted as honors for some reason)
Comp Sci A - not taken yet
Stats - not taken yet
Physics C - not taken yet
Awards:
National Merit Commended Student (grade 11)
Coffee Fest Latte Art World Championship Qualifier (64 qualify worldwide)
2024/2025 AP Scholar w/Distinction
Science National Honor Society (grade 11-12)
Math National Honor Society (grade 11-12)
Extracurriculars/Activities (I can PM competition/event hosting history that I attached to my app but I do not want to share publicly for obvious reasons):
Competitive Latte Artist (Espresso State of Mind / CoffeeFest)
Competed at international level, taught intermediate classes, collaborated with milk brand Oatly on a segment about the future of specialty coffee
Coffee Roasting Business Manager
Managed logistics of popups, rollouts, and outreach campaigns/events. Worked on bar at events, maintained/cleaned equipment, dialed in drinks.
Underwater Robotics Electrical Team Lead (MATE)
Designed and implemented electrical systems in an ROV, mentored other students, and encouraged a welcoming and open working environment.
Competitive Powerlifter
Top 3 placement in local/improv meets. Numbers are around regional/state level. 855lbs squat/bench/DL total @ 140lbs BW.
Planned monthly campouts/outings, led and taught 30+ scouts. ~120 hrs volunteering w/service projects, trail cleanups, clothing drives, etc.
[redacted] Community Event Coordinator
Arranged transit/accommodations for fans, fostered relationships w/frequented venues, collaborated w/other planners for hosting larger (180+ person) events.
Volunteer/Popup Barista and Teacher (at a community center/collective in NYC)
Setup/cleanup for vendors market, community dinners, and workshops/programs for disadvantaged community members; taught small group latte art classes.
Competitive Freestyle Skier
Qualification in 5 local railjams and competitions with up to 64 person brackets, capable of repair and upkeep of skiing equipment and park features.
Essays/Rec Letters:
Only asked teachers that liked me a LOT to write rec letters and who have previously written with students who got into top schools
Common app essay is strong and reflective about work ethic stemming from my preperation for latte art world championships
Supplementals are various reflective vignettes and some are abt my experience in volunteering for my BSA service project and volunteering directly with underprivileged communities
Schools: NYU Stern (Finance | ED 1), Columbia (Finance), Cornell (Finance), Princeton (Finance), UPenn (Finance), Brown (Finance), UMich (Finance or EE), Fordham (Finance | EA | shooting for scholarship), Boston College (Finance), Cooper Union (EE), Rutgers Honors (Finance | EA), CUNY Baruch (Finance or accounting), Stevens (EE | shooting for scholarship), Montclair State (EE), NJIT (EE)
Might apply if I have time (delusional): Harvard (Finance), Yale (Finance)
You’re delusional - Harvard nor Yale have finance.
Please research the right school for you vs a big name. This is a four year experience. What will you do when you get to school and it’s the ‘wrong’ school to study what you want ?
That’s just looking at your might apply. You have in your regular list too.
I’ve done research on every school except for harvard or yale they were kind of just big name schools that I was going to hail mary hence why they werent on my actual list.
Yes wall street is the goal. But realistically I am good with any analytical finance job or electrical/computer engineering role.
I did take college/clep accounting, I should have put it on my course list. Also I was hoping to take the finance honors class in my high school for senior year but they ended up not running it. I really should have done FBLA.
You have some real reaches there but also a number of likelies and safeties, so as long as you are happy with everything on your list you should have some good options.
For stern specifically- the ED admit rate will be a little higher than the overall sub-5% admit rate but it’s still tough. Stern no longer breaks out its undergrad class stats specifically but historically when they did their SAT scores were towards the higher end of the NYU range (latest 1470-1570, so you’re right in the middle for the school overall but likely a little under for Stern). Same for GPA, uw 3.7 is average for NYU as a whole. So you’re in the running, but it will be how they assess your ECs (and the latte angle is interesting and different) and essays that tip the scale one way or the other. So Stern, like all the other reaches, is a reach. I’d think Fordham is likely, as are the ones you’ve listed from Rutgers onwards (for admissions- not sure about scholarships/honors). I’m going to assume you have discussed with your parents whether NYU or any of the other reaches that only give need-based aid are affordable; Stern is probably going to hit $100k a year next year (it’s barely under that at the moment).
I chose finance at all the top schools with the impression that getting into larger firms is a very hard upwards battle coming from a school like NJIT or Stevens. At that point I’d rather enter a field that seems to be less stressful than finance but one that I still have interest in and pays well.
I go to a public high school. I can understand conversational Cantonese and Japanese but can’t speak either enough for it to be considered in my application.
Yea to Fordham, Baruch, Rutgers, Stevens, Montclair, NJIT.
What’s your budget ? I ask bcuz you are applying to schools that will cost $400k yet you note - hoping for a scholarship at Stevens.
If you get that, would you choose it over a $90k plus school? If budget matters, you can go to solid b schools for as little as $25k given your stats - and for engineering a bit less. You’d have to leave your comfort zone geographically.
You might add IU and Babson to this list for finance. UMD if serious about engineering but has a great finance program too although you are late to apply.
Frankly you can look up most publics in the Easy, whether a Va Tech or UF or Bing on LinkedIn plus investment banking and find people in IB analyst roles. . It may not be easy but it’s not impossible.
Only seeking scholarship at stevens and fordham because my parents (justifiably so) dont think it’s worth 80-90k/year for a school marginally better than a school like rutgers.
However they would be willing and able to pay over 100k for a school like NYU or cornell
Thank you for the suggestions, but I really prefer to stay in the northeast if possible. Babson seems like a good consideration.
Also, about trying to network my way into IB from virginia tech/UF, what would be different from trying to do the same out of Rutgers or Baruch?
