Chance me: Indian, rising senior, praying to not get rejected by every business school [TX resident, 3.8 GPA, 1400 SAT]

Why these schools - what is the post grad goal or did I miss that?

The brutal honesty is that instead of picking out the very best schools and taking the SAT over and over again until you make that magical grade, you should look for schools matching your academic profile and where you would be HAPPY. What makes me happy is learning new things where knowledge provides advantages, which is why I am here soaking up information so I can help my daughter in her college search.

A 1400 is a great grade. Be proud. You beat me! That score makes you competitive at a lot of great schools.

Know what your EC list is missing? Something you do ONLY for fun. Schools want to hear that you sing in the car.

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I love this. I would add though - OP is picking out the highest US News ranked or best known schools. It doesn’t mean they’re best.

There’s great Texas schools not on the list - A&M and Houston plus privates TCU and SMU.

And we don’t know the end goal.

The where may not matter much. Or schools best known in the specific fields/majors might be off names like Arizona Eller, ASU Carey, Tennessee Haslam, or Illinois Gies vs the names OP listed. These schools are leaders in certain disciplines like accounting, supply chain and info systems, etc.

I have no financial constraints; I am able to pay for any college.

That’s very unusual for a first gen student - lucky. Be sure to thank your parents!

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Here are some similar universities with solid UG business majors more in range -

Maryland
Wisconsin
Indiana
Pitt
Penn State
Delaware
Ohio State

You have little to no chance for Wharton, NYU, Michigan, Columbia (no biz).

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Maybe OP does genuinely enjoy his activities?

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Good additions. OP should definitely consider these schools

UMD, however, will be a tough admit. 1400 is below their 25th percentile.

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@austinaut can you please clarify what you currently hope to do with a business/finance major after you get your degree. This will help folks give better recommendations. As written, this is very broad, and could encompass many areas of work.

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While I understand people wanting to know what the ā€œultimate aimā€ after business/finance is, as is often said on these boards, students change their minds all the time. It is entirely possible that during the course of their undergrad they find an area of interest that hadn’t occurred to them before. While it’s possible more colleges might come to mind if they specify a particular interest, I don’t think it’s too wise at this stage to restrict choices based on what may or may not still be a desired goal in 5 years’ time.

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Agree that all but UTD are reaches.

Why Columbia? I don’t believe they have an undergrad business school. There is some business program for undergrads (don’t know if it is competitive or open to all) but I don’t think it offers a full undergrad b-school curriculum.

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Yes but sometimes people want a focus on Investment Banking which might require a different list but then there are hidden nuggets like IBIS at ASU, an easier and very solid school to get into although the IBIS program itself isn’t.

If it’s general or corporate finance at name your company - Chevron or Southwest Airlines to stay in state - the where likely matters little.

If you have a strong interest in AI, then U Texas at Dallas might be a great option for you:

https://infosystems.utdallas.edu/bs-business-analytics/

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But…it might help direct recommendations if the student has some direction in mind. Just my opinion.

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But they’re domestic, no?

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Yep, that’s why i said might add suggestions, but I wouldn’t restrict any based on what they think now.

This is a U.S. citizen. Do they want to do entrepreneurial things? Do they want to work in NYC only? Do they want to do venture capital things? If they don’t know…that’s fine. But say so.

I think SMU should be added to their list. It’s not a sure thing, but closer than UT McCombs or the other reaches on their list.

They need options where they will be accepted.

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I would possibly go test optional for that one and maybe a couple others.

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It is not safe, but I think he would pull Fordham.

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Final note from me… I do not agree that your GPA is not good enough, depending on how it looks on an official transcript. For example, if you have a combo of A- and A in very difficult classes, you are fine in this department for top end busines schools. The tests are your issue - 1400 is ok, but just good. And when you go test optional, when it is offered, you will be competing in a very competitive pool of applicants.