GPA: 3.8/4.0
Magna Cum Laude (A in AP Stats will be determining factor between Magna and Summa)
ACT: 29/36
AP Classes - Statistics (current), English - 4
ECs
Because of my family’s financial circumstances, I often had to (and still do) work until 3 am on school nights and this schedule restricted my ability to participate in extracurricular activities that made my peers stand out on their resumes. In spite of this, however, I tried to make the most of my free time…
Started 2 online companies (one had international sales)
Elected CEO of Company A2 at The Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week (PFEW)
Internship - Agresti Real Estate - was in charge of Marketing and Social Media Platforms (my work was noticed by one of the Fortune 500 executives I interviewed)
Interviewed 2 Fortune 500 executives
Gentlemen’s Association (Treasurer)
Hired into Accounting Office at my job (work around 20-25 hrs/week)
Mentorship with largest accredited investor in my city
Mentorship with largest commercial developer in my city
Upcoming internship at local bank
Gifted Individuals Program
AWARDS
Top RONA (PFEW) - most financially profitable company at business simulation
Scholar Athlete Award - Varsity Wrestling and Soccer
President’s Education Awards Program (I really don’t know if this even means anything lol)
Honor roll since pre-K
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Immigrant to United States from Snizhne, Ukraine
Fluent in Russian and English (some proficiency in Spanish)
Played 4 instruments (Piano, Saxophone, Guitar, Violin)
Used to be triathlete (soccer, wrestling, football) until financial hardships required me to discontinue sports
Used to volunteer at Bible Club (~120 hours total)
APPLIED TO
University of Chicago - rejected!
University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) - pending
Georgetown University (McDonough) - pending
University of Michigan Ann Arbor (Ross) - pending
Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) - pending
New York University (Stern) - pending
Babson College - pending
Villanova University (VBS) - pending
University of Pittsburgh (CBA) - accepted
Pennsylvania State University (Smeal) - accepted
Fordham University - pending
After going through some of these “what are my chances” threads, I do not consider myself anything special apart from a hard worker, and I do not think I stand much of chance of getting in to the majority of the schools I applied to. Honest brutality is welcomed and encouraged.
Not to different sittings meant 29 out of possible 36. Math was 27. Gentlemen’s Association and Gifted Program are organization at my school that i am a part of. The GA representing students with high character and integrity while gifted is for intellectually gifted students where we get more goals and targets to master in core subject areas. Hope that clears it up.
Have you compared your ACT to the middle 50 percentiles at each of your colleges? It may be too low for your top colleges. But, you already have some acceptances, which is great if they’re affordable. Middle 50 percentiles for class of 2021, for the whole university (sometimes you can find data more specific to the undergrad business school on the school’s website, and that’s worth a look too):
University of Chicago - 32-35 (was a big reach)
University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) - 32-35 (big reach)
Georgetown University (McDonough) - 30-34 (big reach)
University of Michigan Ann Arbor (Ross) - 30-33 (big reach)
Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) - 32-35 (big reach)
New York University (Stern) - 29-33 (reach)
Babson College - 27-32 (match)
Villanova University (VBS) - 30-33 (reach)
University of Pittsburgh (CBA) - accepted - 27-32 (match)
Pennsylvania State University (Smeal) - accepted - 25-30 (match)
Fordham University - 27-31 (match)
Also note that top undergrad business programs like Wharton look for calculus on your transcript.
I have looked at the requirements for most and from speaking with a lot of students from some of these top colleges, they say grades are important but they are more interested in your spike (mine being business) which I can only hope can persuade admissions counselors to overlook some of my shortfalls. My interviews for Georgetown and Penn were stellar too so that’s always a plus. I always thought I would just go straight into Real Estate after school so I never worried too much over taking some very important classes like calculus which I now sincerely regret. I really started considering college in October, and my standardized test scores were not yet available to apply for early action to most schools, another major regret.
@ivanbond you wrote that “they say grades are important but they are more interested in your spike.” They are wrong. At the top competitive programs they are most interested in your grades, standardized test scores, rigor of your high school course selections, recommendations and essays. To the extent that business as “a spike” matters at all, it is only as a differentiating factor to select among students who met the basic requirements - where a 27 ACT Math (and less than rigorous math course choices) will not cut it. That being said, plenty of people go on to highly successful careers after majoring in business at schools like Penn State, Fordham and UPitt. Good luck!
@tdy123 I agree I am not a particular outstanding candidate and my view was flawed. For math, I took almost every math credit I could including the business math electives like accounting, the only one i haven’t taken is calculus. All honors aswell But i do see what you’re saying, looking back now I probably shouldn’t have applied to most of them.
Also – if you haven’t done so yet, be sure to check affordability (run net price calculators) because that is a big part of the college equation especially since it sounds like family finances are tight.
@happy1 I’ve went through all of them and surprisingly babson and georgetown would offer me the most amount of money due to our situation, but it’s a matter of getting in first which I am not so sure about.
