Chance Me! Italian student

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hi guys, how are you doing?
I’m an Italian student with a gpa of 7.62/10, that should be a 3.62/4.00 converted. I have a SAT superscore of 1510 and a 7.0 IELTS score.
Here it is my cv:
EDUCATION
Sep 2013 – Jun 2016 “Ada Negri” middle school, Lodi, ITALY
• Middle School diploma
Sep 2016 – Present  “Liceo Scientifico G.Gandini” high school, Lodi, ITALY
                                           
July 2016 – July 2019 Summer Schools:
• Malvern St. James, 15 Avenue Rd, Malvern, UK (July 2016)
• University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK (July 2017)
• Liverpool University, Liverpool, UK (July 2018)
• University of San Diego, San Diego, CA (July 2019)
HONORS AND AWARDS
 
Oct 2018                               Sanmartinese Award:
• Municipality award for sport commitment, excellence and results (1st place in regional championship for the first time in the history of the town)
 
June 2016: Ada Negri School Excellence Award
• Final grade 10/10 cum laude
 
Dec 2016                          Scholarship from Manager Italia (Italian Executives Association)
• Awarded for school merit

INTERNSHIP AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
 
June 2017-2019                Basketball Coach, BASKET Lodi A.S.D Summer Camp, Lodi, ITALY
• Coach and tutoring of a group of 30 6-13 years old (40hrs/wk, 9 wks)
 
June 2017-present Sailing Instructor, Circolo Velico Marina di Pietrasanta, Marina di Pietrasanta, ITALY
• Teaching basic sailing techniques and tutoring of 12 6-13 years old (10hrs/wk, 16 wks)
 
June 2018 Intern, CERN, Meyrin, Switzerland
•  
 
SCHOOL CLUBS AND ACTIVITIES
 
Nov 2017-May 2019 Teacher’s assistant during English classes for non-English teachers (2hrs/wk)
Oct 2018, Oct 2019 Representing school during Open days for middle-schooler (8 hrs)
Sept 2016- Present Member and Captain (since Sept 2018) Captain of the Liceo Gandini basketball team (2hrs/wk)
Sept 2016-June 2019 Member of Liceo Gandini athletics representative (15 hrs)
Feb-Mar 2018 Extension Physics class before CERN Internship (15hrs)
27 Nov 2019 Workshop Numbers 2 in Bocconi: mathematics, artificial intelligence and data science (5 hrs)
19 Oct 2019 General assembly of engineers (4 hrs)
Sep 2017-June 2019 Optional Spanish class (2hrs/week)
 
 
 
 
 
ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENTS

Sep 2016- June 2019 Robur et Fides Somaglia, Lodi, ITALY
• Trained for 10 hours per week in preparation of championships (2 matches per week) and tournaments
• Top scorer in 2016-17 and 2017-18 Seasons
• Won 2 Championships in a row as the team captain in the U18 team and in the senior team in C league
• Selected for the regional representative team by the Men’s National Teams Sector
June 2017-Present 3x3 “Fake Ciancio” Streetball team, Lodi, ITALY
• Founded with some former teammates of mine, played in several tournaments and ranked 2nd at SBT 3x3 Tournament gaining national final pass (2019)
• Ranked 5th at “Join the Game” Tournament and 5th at the regional finals of “Basketball School tournament”
• Ranked on “fiba3x3.com” in 2018-2019 season
Sep 2014-Present Circolo Velico Marina di Pietrasanta Sailing Team, Marina di Pietrasanta, ITALY
• Trained 10 hours a week during summer and 6 during the rest of the year
• Competed in the National Championship with different classes (Optimist 2014-2016, 420 2016-2018, RS Feva 2018-2019) and in a world championship regatta (June 2016 Hobiecat Dragoon) and placed 10th
 
SKILLS AND INTERESTS
 
Languages: Italian (Native), English (C1 CEFR), Spanish (School Class)
Computer skills: Microsoft Office, Adobe, Prezi, JavaScript, C++, python, html, penetration testing, cybersecurity intermediate level, Unix, Linux, “tryhackme.com” courses, “udemy.com” courses
Interests: Food, Travelling, Finance, Cybersecurity, Cars (former go-kart pilot), Fantasy books, Deep sea fishing, Skiing, Music.
I’d like to apply to the following schools for finance:
Btw i think i will do
ED 1: UPenn/Dyson
ED 2: NYU
EA: Georgetown, University of Michigan, UVA , UNC.
Will I have a shot? Any other suggestions?

2

Just to clarify: you know that UPenn is Wharton & Cornell is Dyson, right?

Can your family pay $65+K/year, or do you need financial aid?

3

Another question - where does 7.62/10 put you, relative to your class? Grades, especially from different countries, are difficult to evaluate. If your teachers barely give grades over 8, and you have a GPA which is in the top 5% of your class, it would be different than if your GPA put you in the top 25% or the top 50% of your class.

4

Yep, I know that UPenn is Wharton and Cornell Dyson, but I’m not sure where to apply.
My parents could pay the 65k.
I don’t actually know where I’m ranked il
my class or highschool since we don’t have high school rank, but for sure I’m in top 25%

5

For tippy tops like Penn and Cornell, it’s not gpa. They’ll look at the actual transcript and see course choices and actual grades. Most important will be core classes and those related to your possible major. (Not overall gpa, which can include misc classes.)

6

Actually In Italy we cannot decide our courses. What I can say is that I’m in the hardest school (Liceo Scientifico), in the hardest class and I’m for sure in top 25% even if we don’t have class rank. The things I rely on are my cv and my sat score.
Now that I’m here I have another question, do you any suggestions to give me in order to write an awesome essay?

7

What is the breakdown on your SAT scores ? Highest math score ? Highest verbal score ?

Top 25% ranking is likely to significantly harm your chances at UPenn-Wharton, Cornell-Dyson. These are not realistic options, in my opinion.

Georgetown likes money so you should do well as a full pay student.

Michigan-Ross and North Carolina (as a non-North Carolina resident) are reaches.

Virginia is possible.

NYU-Stern is possible if your SAT math score is high.

8

Consider: Indiana University & SMU (Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas).

P.S. It might help if you sat for & did extremely well on three SAT subject matter tests–including math.

9

Your “GPA” is strong but not excellent, but for an Italian applicant your scores and EC’s are topnotch. So, depending on your school’s reputation, you may have a strong to topnotch Italian application. The fact you’re full-pay will definitely help you.

What sport do you play (U18 team etc)?
If you’re recruitable - and it sounds like you are - reach out to Penn’s or Cornell’s coaches to see if they’d consider you recruitable. You’d have to introduce yourself, academic stats, and athletic stats + video.

My guess is that your school doesn’t rank, since it’s a selective, specialized school. Unless you have an actual rank, don’t invent one.
Make sure, however, that your guidance counselor

  1. explains what percentage middle school students get into your school (ie., among an age cohort in Grade 9 or Grade 7, 40% go to a Liceo, 30% go to …, 30% are enrolled in trade programs; among those admitted to Liceo in your town, x% are admitted to your Liceo.)
  2. grade distribution:
    a) in your school, % with a 7.5 or higher, a 7 or higher, a 6.5 or higher, a 6 or higher, a 5 or higher.
    b) if there’s inflation or deflation - how well do students from your school with a 7.5 or higher do with Esamo di Stato? Do students at your school ever get the “lode”?
10

If applying to undergraduate business schools as a potential finance major, a more reasonable list of schools would be:

SMU

Indiana University

Virginia, but Virginia does not offer direct admission into its undergraduate business school

Georgetown University since you are a full pay student

University of Illinois

University of Minnesota (very cold weather)

Arizona State University Barrett Honors College

Wake Forest University

Boston University

11

Other than the possible athletics angle, I find it hard to sort through what OP has done. And bear in mind the middle school activities or notice don’t factor. The misc things like taking a Spanish class, Microsoft, or attendiing a conference aren’t the sort of impact these adcoms will look for. Liking food and travel? Do you see how this does not focus on what the colleges expect to find? It begets the question whether OP understands what they do value and, overall, the process.

I know it’s hard for kids at some international preps to accumulate opportunities or the same sorts of hs clubs/activities. But it will be up to OP to present the best full app and supps that he can. We can’t second guess. One that lets adcoms see why he belongs at a Wharton or Dyson. One that shows both the right record and the right thinking behind it.

12

Assuming the assessment in post #8 is around accurate, I wouldn’t rule out NYU. Full pay is an advantage for internationals, SAT is in line for Stern admits, ED is a bump, and they like geographic diversity and I don’t *think * there are a lot of Italians there.

13

Thank you all for you suggestions.
Actually for the cv I did not get any help, and neither for all the rest of my application. If anyone is willing to help me I’ll really thanks him.
Just to clarify I already have a very good safe school in Italy, so I will be applying only in school better than that, and there are not a lot.

14

Your advantages are that you have an SAT score (many do not due to the novel coronavirus pandemic) & that you are not seeking financial aid (and are, therefore, a full pay applicant).

For 2019, the average SAT scores of students admitted to the business schools at these universities are:

UPenn–Wharton–1505 (6.7% accepted)

Univ. of Michigan–Ross–1500 (12% accepted)

SMU–Cox–1500–(10.9% accepted)

NYU-Stern–1492–(7.6% accepted)

Cornell-Dyson–1478–(6.4%)

Georgetown–McDonough–1431–(16.2% accepted)

Indiana–Kelley–1430–(44.5% accepted)

Michigan has EA, not ED option

Penn, NYU, Michigan, & Indiana have well respected finance programs as do Virginia & UNC.

(UPenn-Wharton & NYU-Stern offer superior programs in finance and are the two most respected finance programs on Wall Street.)

What is your highest math score on the SAT ?

15

My highest math score is 800, rw 710

16

With an SAT math score of 800, you should be a very competitive candidate for UPenn-Wharton, NYU-Stern, and MIT-Sloan as well as Michigan-Ross.

17

Don’t underestimate the need for this OP to strongly edit and clarify the non-stats aspects here. It’s a jumble, includes m/s years, some seminars, personal interests (!) and not what makes him compelling for a most-competitive business school.

He needs to clarify his understanding of what those top colleges do look for.