Chance me as an International Student with US Citizenship [US citizen outside the US, 36 IB predicted, 1420 SAT, D2/D1 recruitable, finance]

Chance Me / Match Me
,
1

Demographics

  • International student with US Citizenship (born in the US)
  • International School in Panama
  • First Gen, was recruited for D2 and small D1 unis for soccer
  • Lived in Panama my whole life, went on a gap year in Paris in the middle of 9th grade until the start of 11th grade.

Cost Constraints / Budget
Not applying for Financial AId

Intended Major(s)

Financial Economics @ Columbia

Finance everywhere else

Intending in applying to law school after undergrad studies

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • International Baccalaureate Predicted Grade: 36
  • College GPA: School doesn’t report GPA
  • Class Rank: Not reported
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1420 (submitted everywhere but Columbia)
  • TOEFL: 104

List your HS coursework

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

  • English L&L HL
  • Math AA SL
  • ESS SL
  • Economics HL
  • Language other than English: Spanish L&L SL
  • Business HL

Awards

MUN:

Best Delegate (1x)

Best Diplomat (2x)

Best Research (1x)

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

Internship at a law firm in Panama last summer. Worked with private clients, M&A, acquisitions, wealth management, and fiduciary work.

Captained my soccer team in Paris and Panama, and was named most valuable player in international tournaments in Belgium and Barcelona. Also played for club level in Paris and Panama but dropped out to focus on school.

Went to Africa for a month of my summer, volunteered, helped build, and refurnished a school in Namibia (504 hours)

Father owns a charity where we help pay tuition for students in Colombia in order for them to go to college. Go very often to Colombia to meet candidates we want to help. (203 hours)

Volunteered multiple times on weekends to go help rural parts of Panama to help construct better living spaces and schools. (114 hours)

Went to the Pre-College program @ Columbia for the Business, Finance, and Economics program. Was taught by an ex-Investment banker, and in a competition we had where we were funded 100k paper money, and at the end of the program (3 weeks), we would see who had the most, I generated a 50k return and had the highest return.

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)

Essays:

Personal Statement is about obstacles I’ve had in life, like when I moved to Paris without knowing how to speak french and how I struggled to fit in because of that, but I eventually learned and learnt how to overcome that linguistic obstacle. Physical obstacle, an ACL injury I had before the Barcelona tournament and how I overcame that and won team MVP. Talk about Volunterring work and how that has helped remove obstacles other people face.

For supplementals, I talked about my father’s foundation and how working there has sensitized me as well as the trip to Africa. Also, some schools like Villanova and Boston College, I talk about my Catholic faith, and how the foundation is called El Padre Leon, which for those who don’t know, is directly tied to our faith. Also used my Extended Essay on evaluating Ultra-Processed Foods in Colombia and how the government taxed it has lowered the negative externality of consumption it has on Colombian people, it is very personal and passionate for me because my Grandparent was dependent on UPFs and sometimes felt addicted to sugary drinks, had diabetes because of it. Also, use my business IA to showcase how I began my curiosity and interest for the world of Finance, Business, and Economics.

LORs

Business Management Teacher (Strong, predicted a 7)

Economics Teacher (Also strong, predicted a high 6)

Columbia Professor (I would say it is very strong, it was my professor during the pre-college program, and we bonded well, I asked him for a letter of rec and he said we would be honored, he did undergrad at NYU, MBA at Harvard, and is a professor for the grad school of business at Columbia, Used the LOR at Columbia, NYU, UMICH, and BC)

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if unsure, leave them unclassified)

Columbia - Financial Economics (ED)

Northeastern - Finance (ED)

Villanova - Finance (EA)

Babson - Business Finance, 2ndary option Mathematical and Computational Finance (EA)

University of Michigan - Finance (EA)

Boston College - Finance (ED2)

NYU - Finance (RD)

Bentley - Finance (RD)

Penn State - Finance (RD)

Georgetown - Finance (RD)

GW - Finance (RD)

2

You can not apply binding Early Decision to more than one private school. Hopefully you meant you applied EA to Northeastern!

3

Yes, sorry, I must’ve gotten mixed up

1 Like
4

You are a US applicant living abroad, not an international student. For US admissions, that’s a huge difference.

Unless they recruited you for soccer, and it looks like they did not, consider Columbia a no go with a predicted 36 and less-than-ideal subject choices for rigor. I hope you have success with a less selective college.

3 Likes
5

I have no idea your chances but if you get in no where, there will be time to add other schools. Where you go undergrad will matter, little if at all, for law school.

Best of luck.

1 Like
6

Not that you really need anymore school suggestions, but if you don’t get into your ED choice I would consider adding Notre Dame to your list in RD Your Profile seems to be a match to the type of student they look for, your test scores are on the lower end but they are test optional. Good luck with admissions you will do great wherever you end up!

1 Like
7

I appreciate the feedback, a 36 was lower than I expected for my predicteds, I was expecting a 6 in Math and got a 5, also expecting a 7 in ESS and only got a 6, I was hoping around a 38, but I’m sure it won’t make that much of a difference. I forgot to mention but I’ve been going to New York ever since I was 5 and I fell in love with the city, even more when I did the pre-college program, so I decided I wanted to take the shot. Some of my supplementals for Columbia were about the fact I’ve been close to New York for so much. Again, thanks for the feedback.

8

Thanks, I really do appreciate that suggestion, I am a bit annoyed that my school only allows 10 schools per student, and Notre Dame was definitely one I was looking at, I’ll try and convince my counselor to let me apply to a few more, but I doubt it. Thanks for that last sentence too, really made me feel great during these tough college admissions times.

1 Like
9

Thank you, I have been thinking a lot about my time after college, like law-school or if I decide to stay on the business track and do an MBA, I did notice that it won’t matter that much but as a first gen you always want to try to do as best as you can you know, my parents scraped and fought to put me in a position where I don’t have to worry about student loans or debt and they are financially free to pay it off themselves, so I am not only appreciative of that but I also want to repay it by getting the best education I can. Already studying in the US is a huge step forward in the right direction, now I just want to go to a school that has prestige but also matches me and what I want to study. Thanks again, really makes me feel great to know that in 5 years, I will be looking back and reflecting on how stressed I was over nothing, I’m sure I’ll get into the university that is right for me.

10

A top 50 MBA program will want work experience and that will be far more important than where you go.

It’s great to shoot high and you have no budget constraints. I was just noting if you get in nowhere - as I have no way to understand your profile so I don’t know if a GW or PSU are realistic or not.

If all fails, you’ll still have opportunities to get into other, less selective schools - although of course, you’d want to know why you didn’t get in somewhere - perhaps you haven’t met a minimum course requirement.

But there is definitely time to get into fine schools, that are simply less selective.

Hope you get into some on your first round.

Good luck.

Your parents, if they scraped together, can hold money back in savings. And the best education you can get is not necessarily at the most prestigious. Please don’t conflate “prestige” which is perceived vs. a quality education. They are not the same thing.

Good luck

1 Like
11

If you love NYC and can do another application you may consider Fordham (Gabelli business school) as a safety.

3 Likes
12

I was definitely considering it, but as I said somewhere above, my school only allows 10 applications per student, so I’d have to beg for another spot, really sucks tbh. Thanks for the advice though.