Although I don’t know more about what exactly it is you want out of college, I’m going to guess that you’re more interested in a career in finance and would only select econ if it was at a Top X college that doesn’t offer finance. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
One thing I didn’t ask about before but that you will probably want to give some thought to is, but do you do best when you’re surrounded by people who are constantly doing amazing things and you have to hustle to strive to keep up? Or do you do better in an environment where you’re one of the top dogs and are given special opportunities because of that? Depending on your answer (and there is no right or wrong answer), that may influence which type of school you want to attend.
Remember that every school is going to have its top 5%, top 20%, 50%, bottom 50%, etc. At many of the schools on your reach list, most of the kids will be used to being in the top 5-10% of their school. One week after school starts, half of them will be in the bottom 50%. If that were to happen to you (not saying it would, but it could), how would you feel?
With that said, these are some schools with finance majors that you may want to consider. They are some combination of being in/near places that are on your current list, in/near places with strong ties to finance & investment careers, have strong networks/alumni links to finance/investment careers, and/or have a certain cachet to them, overall and/or for business. These would all be mid-size to large schools, in alignment with your previous list.
I built this list on the assumption that your family is willing and able to be full pay at any university. A number of the schools where you are likely or extremely likely to be admitted would also be likely to give you some generous merit aid. So even if it’s not financially needed, as someone with an interest in investing, you can figure out what the financial impact of any monetary savings (between a full-pay school at $80 or $90k/year compared to a different school that might be less than half of that) and how that can equate to very large sums of money when invested over the long haul (whether that benefits you, your parents, or both of you).
Without further ado, the list:
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
- Creighton (NE): About 4300 undergrads
- DePaul (IL): About 14k undergrads
- Loyola Chicago (IL): About 12k undergrads
- Saint Joseph’s (PA ): About 5100 undergrads
- Seton Hall (NJ): About 6k undergrads
- U. of Delaware: About 19k undergrads
- U. of Nebraska-Lincoln: About 19k undergrads
- U. of North Carolina-Charlotte: About 23k undergrads
- U. of Pittsburgh (PA ): About 24k undergrads. As you have so many city schools on your list, you might want to consider this one.
Likely (60-79%)
- Bentley (MA): About 4100 undergrads
- Binghamton (NY): About 14k undergrads
- Fairfield (CT): About 4800 undergrads
- Fordham (NY): About 10k undergrads
- Providence (RI): About 4k undergrads
- Southern Methodist (TX): About 7100 undergrads
- Texas Christian: About 11k undergrads
Toss-Up (40-59%)
- CUNY Baruch (NY): About 16k undergrads, test-blind
- Lehigh (PA ): About 5600 undergrads
- U. of Wisconsin-Madison: About 36k undergrads
- Villanova (PA ): About 7k undergrads
Lower Probability (20-39%)
- Wake Forest (NC): About 5400 undergrads
Low Probability (less than 20%)
-All the schools on your list outside of IU and Penn State