Chance a cooked GPA for top schools (Business/Econ) [TX resident, 3.86 GPA, not top 10%, 1550 SAT super score]

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Demographics: Male, Asian-American, Texas, competitive top private school in Dallas area, no hooks.

Intended major(s): Economics/Business

Academics:

UW/W GPA: 3.86 UW GPA, school doesn’t weight GPA (one B in freshman year and one B+ in junior year) - Also did a summer program at UChicago for Economics and received an A-

Class rank: school doesn’t rank, but definitely not in the top 10%

SAT: 1550 super score (770 RW, 780 M)

AP Scores: AP Biology - 5, AP Statistics - 5, AP Government - 5, AP Chemistry - 4

Coursework: Max course rigor, school caps APs to 4 per year for junior and senior year, 0 for underclassmen. Senior year course load - AP Calc BC, Linear Algebra first sem, AP Environmental Science, AP Spanish Language, AP European History

Awards:

>$6,500 GRANT funding for npo I cofounded and mentorship earned from school VC pitch comp; org. featured on Dallas Morning News

PVSA Silver (175+ hours in a single year)

AP Scholar w/ Honor

National Merit Commended

School High Honor Roll

LORs: Very good LORs from teachers (AP statistics and 11th grade english), very good LOR from directed study finance professor also

Extracurriculars (I think this is the strongest part of my app):

1. Co-Founder & Vice President of [501(c)(3)] with major impact - Delivered 1K+ resources to DFW shelters via 5+ donation partners; secured >$6.5K funding & mentorship through VC pitch comp; built sustainable growth model.

2. Founder & Owner, Custom Art Business - Built hybrid a business serving 120+ customers; create pop culture merchandise & custom digital/sketch commissions; donate 12% profits to charity.

3. Independent Researcher & Author, SIUE - Analyzed student performance incentives; applied regression & econometrics techniques on natl. public datasets; presented paper to global repository.

4. Technology Sector Leader, Business Club - Manage tech sector of $340K+ student investment portfolio; produce monthly reports for companies like AVGO/TTWO; collaborate with other sector leads.

5. Finance & Operations Intern - Managed payroll and financial systems for a multi-million dollar firm; increased annual revenue by 2% through strategic client-employee partnerships.

6. 1-on-1 Directed Study Student @ SMU Cox School of Business - Analyzed research on corporate financial misconduct; performed lit reviews & synthesized financial trends; explored applications in business decisions

7. Soccer, Captain, (ECNL & ECNL-RL leagues) - Led team to regional conf. title; 3x Player of the Week; Dallas Cup qualification; competed in national showcases.

8. Youth Service Leader & Fundraiser - 330+ hours for established NPO; led 60 volunteers in campaigns; raised $5K+ for hospital construction in Asia; secured corporate sponsors

9. Soccer, Team Leader - 4-year Varsity starter; drove team to conference 2nd place; team-leader in assists; co-ran skills camp for younger students during last 2 seasons.

10. Advancement Office Intern for School - Raised $10K+ for campus project; solicited donors through meetings; met with board chairs and staff to strategize school advancement.

Schools:

Reaches:

UChicago ED0/SSEN

Cornell ED

Stanford RD

Brown RD

UPenn RD

Duke RD

UMich EA

UT Austin Canfield BHP EA

Dartmouth RD

UC Berkeley

UCLA

UCSD

Carnegie Mellon RD

NYU Stern EDII

Rice RD

Targets:

Purdue EA

University of Wisconsin-Madison EA

UIUC EA

University of Washington Seattle EA

UC Irvine

Safeties:

SMU EA

Indiana University EA

UTD

Texas A&M

2

Do you have a budget? Or unlimited budget?

Since you listed some UCs, it would be helpful to calculate your UC GPAs. There are three of them (unweighted, weighted capped, and weighted uncapped) and they only use courses from 10-11 grades. Follow the instructions carefully (most OOS honors courses are not weighted, but AP are weighted): GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub

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If your school Is private, talk to the counselor. If you’re not in the top 10%, sounds a lot of grade inflation.

I think you’re applying to too many.

For business or econ, I feel, sans UCI which doesn’t look at test, that your targets and safeties are all safe.

For your reaches who knows. Why not though

For business, one could argue Indiana (if you like it) is as strong as many of your reaches.

Not sure of your ultimate desire outcome wise or budget….

4

Are you going to apply to all of those colleges you have listed?

That’s 24 colleges…and yes, I know the UCs use one application, but that is still 20.

What does ED0 mean?

You can only apply to one college ED…so which is it…Chicago or Cornell?

I guess I wonder why you need so many reach schools on your application list.

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ED0 is Chicago’s early notification program for summer school attendees. Decisions are out by Oct 31, and the ED application deadline at Cornell is Nov 1, so yes this student has the option to apply ED to Cornell if they aren’t admitted by Chicago.

This number seems fairly typical these days for high stats unhooked applicants (at least in my area, and it’s likely similar in other high performing school districts).

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If you’re applying to the UC system, you need to make sure that you have taken a one-year graded course of visual/ performing arts like AP Art History.
I didn’t see it on your list of courses but it’s a biggie for the UC system.

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Yes I do have that in my schedule, I’ve taken 4 full years of visual art.

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I don’t have a budget,and my UC GPA is over a 4.1 weighted uncapped, I dont know exactly what tho. Its a 3.94 unweighted tho.

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You can calculate your UC GPAs using the RogerHub link. Because the UCs are test-blind (they won’t see your very strong SAT), the UC GPAs are the primary “stats” that can help you estimate your chances at these schools.

Note that UW Seattle is also mostly test blind (they say that they only look at SAT in rare borderline cases).

10

What is your goal with the degree ?

Are any of your targets/safeties higher of importance to you than all these reaches because you need to cull.

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My goal is to break into top tier finance roles like Quant trading or Investment Banking. Therefore, I prefer the higher reach schools over my target ones, but ofc all of the schools on my list I have done extensive research on and would be happy to attend.

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I think, if you like them, SMU and Indiana, can help you clear some apps. Forget your categorization, they will outperform.

Also, check out Arizona State’s IBIS program.

Jane Street, by the way, will send you their test no matter your school. My son was an engineering major at Bama, applied at the suggestion of someone here. The next day they sent him the test.

I think you can cull. The UCs are a lot of app work. Do they get you what IU and SMU can’t ? I don’t think so other than a larger bill, assuming merit at SMU. You could even get Cox BBA Scholars. Seems to me Finance or Econ may not be the right majors for Quant training. Most I read on line say math, CS, physics and more and often a Masters is needed. Good luck

https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/dataverse/top-feeders-banking/

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This might be true, but it doesn’t mean they will offer you a job. It’s sort of like secondaries to medical school applicants. Everyone gets them…sort of meaningless in the big context.

I agree, SMU and Indiana are good choices and if you like those, that’s great! W and L has increasingly become noted for its fine graduates into the business/finance fields.

Your reaches are…reaches….but if you have the time and you want to apply…AND you are happy to attend your sure things for admission…go for it.

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this is 100% true.
The online test is sent out automatically, but if you aren’t from a small subset of elite schools (or referred by a senior leader in the firm), it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be offered an interview, much less a job.

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Your targets and safeties are solid and you should be accepted to all of them. It is hard to chance your reaches since they are called “reaches” for a reason. Ordinarily I’d say your gpa is a little lower than they like but if your school is a feeder that may not matter as much. Do many students from your school outside the top 10% get into reach schools - that will tell you more than we can. You might consider culling the list of reaches because the number of essays will be overwhelming. I do think you have a reasonable chance at Stern EDII - especially if you are full pay - it’s still a reach but less so than the others.

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No place offering anyone a job is a guarantee.

None - zero, zilch - short of nepotism.

But Jane Street, like most everywhere, has non elite s hoop employees.

But can you take it ? Unless they’ve changed - yes.

We have no idea what might happen from there.

Anyway, back to my point, OP can cull a lot of schools. Getting into a ‘name’ for IB likely isn’t an issue although getting a job will be.

Quant finance might require an entirely separate major/skill set.

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I think you have a solid shot at UChicago through SSEN. Just make sure your essays are stellar. My high stats kid didn’t get in, and it was most likely his essays. Most of his friends with lower stats than his did get accepted.

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Agree.

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Thanks, that’s definitely the goal.

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I don’t understand the headline. Chance a cooked GPA.

The stress you put on yourselves. We all fall short daily. You needn’t be perfect in life. Thus hardly cooks you - likely the same odds at most places if you had straight As.