Chance Me: KS resident, 3.85 UW, 1570 SAT for Business: Finance, Econ

Chance Me / Match Me
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I am currently going through the whole college admissions process, and I would appreciate any feedback regarding my chances and what schools I should list as safeties, targets, and reaches. Thanks.

I live in Kansas; I am a US Citizen; Went to a public school; Male

My intended major is Finance, and if a school doesn’t offer it, I am open to Economics.

I graduated high school at 16, two years ahead of my peers, and I am now applying after taking two gap years. For me, graduating HS at 16 meant that I started freshman year at 13; I did all four years. Details about what I did during the gap years are below.

UW GPA 3.85; W 4.4 GPA;

**I had some family problems in my second semester of Junior year that caused me to focus more on making money than on school to help my family. I got four Bs this semester, and I plan on explaining the scenario in a supplement.

No Class Rank; SAT 1570 Cumulative, 800 Math, 770 EBRW, and I am retaking it on Saturday.

I took 7 APs and 10 Honors classes.

Awards:
Magna Cum Laude
Kansas Scholastic Society
Kansas Scholar
Principal’s Honor Roll all 4 Years
Center of Professional Studies Student

ECs (IMO my strong point, and it showcases what I did at 16 and 17 during my gap year):

Sales Closer | Top Revenue Producer at the Company; Closed real estate wholesaling deals; $500,000+ closed in 6 months; Brought in over 50% of the company revenue out of a group of 5 closers (Gap Year)

Sales Closer | Top Revenue Producer at the Company; Brought in on average $10,000 in profit to the company per week; In a company of 50 people, I brought in over 25% of the profit (Gap Year)

A Real Estate Marketing Company for realtors in the Midwest; Worked alongside realtors and brought them in clientele; marketed for them through social media; at the zenith, I brought in $10,000+/pm in revenue (11th-Gap Year)

Baseball; Nationally Ranked Athlete; Captain of multiple teams; Played in national championships; Recruited athlete by D1, D2, D3 programs (Whole Life)—For baseball I do have some offers to D3 LACs, but I don’t see myself going there. I am hoping to get an offer to UChicago or NYU this fall.

Chief Executive Officer | Founder; Coaching: Nutrition + Lifting Coach for Baseball Players; Helped 10+ baseball players with weight loss/gain and nutrition. Recuring monthly revenue of $2,000+. Helped athletes get offers to college programs. (10th-Gap Year)

Chief Executive Officer | Founder; L---- Window Cleaning; Managed a team of 5+ employees. Nurtured a pipeline of 50+ clients. Brought in $5,000+ a month in company revenue. (Gap Year)

Nationally Competitive Chess Player; Achieved a rating of 1750+. Won multiple tournaments per year across the state. Competed nationally; Was ranked #2 in Kansas City. (Whole Life)

Chief Executive Officer | Founder; L---- Home Solutions: Helping families with their outdoor home needs; Worked 100+ jobs per fiscal year. Nurtured relationships to have long-term clientele. Used sales techniques to manage a pipeline of clients. (9-11)

Chief Executive Officer | Founder; V----- Lead Solutions: Partnering With Influencers to Grow Their Brand; Worked alongside 10+ social media influencers to grow their brand. Used marketing skills to promote their brand online through ads and the algorithm. (Gap Year)

Sales Closer: Closed Marketing Package Deals; Closed 10+ marketing packages in 4 months. Brought in over $100,000 in revenue during my time. Managed a pipeline and nurtured it. (9-10)

These are the 10 ECs I have on the app.

Essay: I am currently drafting an essay, and many people have told me that this is the part that will either get me into half of my list or a few.

I plan to write about my academic advancement, how I was two years ahead, graduating at 16, and how that put me in a position to explore the real world of business and the profound impact I have had in my gap year(s).

My LORs are from my AP History teacher, my English teacher, and three people from the business world that I worked under.

Regarding budget, I am looking for the best option to get me into investment banking. Ex. UMich offers a full ride over UChicago at full price, then UMich. This is why my list has 28 schools at the moment, and I am hoping to get the best deal.

Here is my current list. Please let me know what schools would be the best match for my lopsided GPA (3.85 UW) and resume so I can narrow this list down.

  1. UPenn
  2. Northwestern
  3. Michigan
  4. Texas
  5. UMiami
  6. Florida
  7. Cornell
  8. UChicago
  9. Boston College
  10. Stanford
  11. Duke
  12. Dartmouth
  13. Brown
  14. Yale
  15. Columbia
  16. NYU
  17. Indiana
  18. Illinois
  19. SMU
  20. Penn State
  21. Princeton
  22. Georgetown
  23. UNC
  24. Duke
  25. Vanderbilt
  26. USC
  27. UCLA
  28. Virginia
  29. Cal - Berk

Any comments at all are appreciated. Thank you.

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You already have a thread. See results there.

Ps - no school can get you into any job. Some can help open doors but only you can get yourself into a job - any job.

Ps look at your background - seems to me will have the confidence and ability to see through anything you set out to do.

You said you like Miami - why not reach out on linked in to a few of the grads in IB…ask if you can spend a few minutes learning about their background and asking how they got to where they are. Or ask the school for some alums who would be willing to talk with you. You can do that for any school.

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Here is the link to the original thread Where Do I Stand? Is this list good?

I will close that one with a link here.

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That’s a good idea since I am unsure about UMiami and their track record sending students into IB. Will get on it.

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They don’t send anyone. No school does.

Students who have the door cracked sell themselves.

Look at what you wrote you’ve done at 16….if anyone can break it, you can.

They won’t let me post people’s names but a quick google search will find you kids at Jeffries, BNP Paribas, Solomon Partners, etc….thats for Miami. But you can do similar for any school or just ask the school.

Someone said something before - where would I U be on your list vs others ? As it’s a given, for any schools you wouldn’t choose over IU, you can pull them off. You need to shrink your list.

Did you see the ASU flyer link I listed on the other thread. They (the school) lists where they are placing in IB.

Btw u know who also is placing ? KU. Citi, Lincoln, and more.

Now I’m not in investment banking. Some say don’t look at LinkedIn. To me, if someone says they’re an Investment Banking Analyst, why would I not believe them ?

Are there different avenues in IB ? Like any field - of course. What these kids do day to day, I don’t know. I know a recent grad at Goldman - he’s back office.

His title is not IB Analyst. He’s not in IB so why would he say it ? He wouldn’t.

Others want to diminish public sources - school outcome lists or LinkedIn. Everyone, of course, is entitled to believe what they want.

I don’t agree with people say that you can’t get good intel on LinkedIn. But you do what is best for you. I’m personally not a believer that people blatantly lie on their job titles. After all, they connect on LinkedIn with their bosses. But again, others think otherwise and that’s fine too. You decide what is best for you.

In the end, there are target lists but there are kids from many schools that they state are in investment banking. How they got the jobs - I don’t know. But I’d be a great thing to ask kids and the college career centers as well.

Best of luck.

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Will you/your family qualify for any need-based aid? Run the Net Price Calculator (NPC) at Princeton, as it tends to have amongst the most generous ways of calculating need. If you don’t get need-based aid there, you won’t get it anywhere. In which case you’re looking at full price for UPenn, Northwestern, Cornell, Stanford, Duke, Dartmouth, Brown, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, and Georgetown.

Then you have schools like Michigan, UCLA, Cal, and NYU. Those schools offer extremely little merit aid and no full rides. Expect to pay full price for those. If that’s not desirable or affordable for you, then eliminate them. Penn State’s sticker is a bit lower than these, but there’s no significant merit aid here, either.

That then leaves Texas, UMiami, Florida, BC, Duke (you have it on your list twice), Indiana, Illinois, SMU, UNC, Vanderbilt, USC, and Virginia where there is at least the potential for a big huge scholarship.

I don’t see your GPA as lopsided, but I can understand your desire to have the financial support for your family understood. That information is best coming from a third party and not from you. Who will you have write your counselor recommendation? That person would likely be the best person to mention the situation your junior year.

That said, however, even with that GPA I think you will competitive for the schools on your list. Make no mistake, though. These schools get far more strong/competitive applicants than they have space for and the vast majority of strong applicants are going to get a denial/waitlist.

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Oh I missed the budget aspect. SMU has the Presidential. W&L the Johnson. W&M the 1693. Near impossible to get but Michigan is 75k +the first two years and $80k the last two.

If you can demonstrate financial need, UVA and UNC are the only publics that guarantee to meet your need OOS.

I get you’d prefer a scholarship over not but as @austenut wrote - what can you afford or is your family willing to pay? And do they qualify for need?

Miami is $88k a year (now, more next year).

No matter your goals, like in life, you need to ensure you can afford the product you are purchasing. Or you find an alternative !!

https://npc.collegeboard.org/app/miami

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Unless you have a firm athletic offer from one of the colleges in your OP, it is my opinion that the list you posted is very top heavy for finance or business.

UCLA and Cal likely will offer you no aid (are you recruited there…maybe money for that). If not recruited, they will need to come off of your list if not affordable.

If you haven’t read this thread from an IB expert, please do so now. There is a LOT of excellent information in it. It was written by a CC vetted professional in the banking sector.

Indiana Kelley in the list. You are likely auto admit there. That’s the only sure thing I see.

I’m curious why Fordham isn’t on your list…and why Bentley and Babson arent as you have started your own businesses.

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Any update, OP?

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