Chance me student from NY (2.8 UW, 1300 SAT, Finance or Business Undecided)

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Demographics (location, residency, HS type, legacy, US or Int’l, gender, etc)
New York resident, U.S. citizen, public high school, non-legacy, domestic applicant

Intended Major(s)
Finance (plan to apply undecided to some schools)

UW GPA, Rank, and Test Scores (also weighted GPA for systems like UC/CSU)

  • Overall GPA: 2.7 (Unweighted)

  • Rank: 70th percentile

  • SAT: 1300

GPA by Year:

  • Freshman Year: 2.0 GPA

  • Sophomore Year: 3.0 GPA

  • Junior Year: 3.3 GPA

  • Senior Year: 3.7 GPA (in progress)

2.7 GPA w/o senior grades 3.0 GPA with

Coursework (college coursework for transfer applicants)
College Courses:

  • Marketing, Accounting, Business Law — Westchester Community College

  • Psychology — SUNY Potsdam

  • Literature — Mercy College

AP Courses:

  • AP U.S. History

  • AP Language and Composition

  • AP Psychology (also earned college credit through Potsdam)

  • AP Government

  • AP Statistics

  • AP Literature

  • AP Microeconomics (self-study)

  • AP Macroeconomics (self-study)

Awards

  • Seal of Civic Readiness (expected)

  • W!SE Financial Literacy Certification

  • FBLA Top 5 Finalist – Data Analysis

  • FBLA Top 8 Finalist – Sales Presentation

Extracurriculars (including summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

  1. Intern – Office of Assemblywoman (6 months – present)
    Organized policy memos, conducted legislative research, and supported constituent outreach in a high-volume district office.

  2. Intern – Career Help Firm (6-month term)
    Researched market trends, drafted investor proposals, and authored biweekly reports that improved client engagement.

  3. Local President/Treasurer – Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) (2 years)
    Launched Tap to Pay (+30% revenue), managed $4K budget, and expanded membership from 25 to 70+ through the GROW initiative.

  4. Member – District Student Advisory Council (1 year)
    One of three selected to represent 2,200 peers; participated in district hiring panels and policy discussions.

  5. State Officer – Future Business Leaders of America (4 months – present)
    Elected State Treasurer; published statewide reports for 130 schools and led financial literacy initiatives across NYS chapters.

  6. Student Advisor to Principal (1 year)
    One of seven student representatives; advised on grading reform and technology integration policies.

  7. Press Secretary – Student Government (2 years)
    Managed schoolwide communications and social media, increasing event participation and student engagement.

  8. President – Music Culture Club (2 years)
    Founded and led a 40+ member club exploring global music, culture, and cross-cultural dialogue.

  9. Founder – Car Detailing Business (6 months)
    Created and managed a mobile detailing service, earning $5K+ and developing marketing and client relations skills.

  10. Independent Investor (4 years)
    Managed personal investment portfolio using trend and risk analysis; consistently outperformed S&P benchmarks.

Essays / LORs / Other

  • Essay: Focuses on how a close friend’s influence during sophomore year helped me push outside my comfort zone and sparked lasting personal growth — showing resilience, maturity, and academic improvement that mirrors my GPA’s upward trend.

  • Letters of Recommendation:

    • AP Lang Teacher – strong writing and analytical growth

    • Assemblywoman – speaks to character, professionalism, and maturity

    • AP Stats Teacher & FBLA Advisor – highlights leadership and initiative

    • Guidance Counselor – discusses charitable work, school impact, and leadership in clubs

Cost Constraints / Budget
No financial constraints or budget limitations.

Schools Including:

Safety:

  • Michigan State University

  • Delaware State University

  • Pace University

  • Queens University of Charlotte

  • Hofstra University

Match / Semi-Reach:

  • Fordham University (ED2)

  • Penn State University

  • Rutgers University

  • Ohio State University

  • Bentley University

  • Indiana University

  • Southern Methodist University

  • Florida International University

  • Texas A&M University

Reach:

  • Baruch College

  • University of Wisconsin–Madison

  • University of Maryland

  • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  • Champlain College

  • George Washington University

(Applying EA to all except Bentley and Baruch.)

2

Your GPA and class rank will be issues at all of your reach and semi reach schools. All of them. In my opinion.

5 Likes
3

How did you do on your AP exams? Are there any extenuating circumstances relating to freshman year a counselor can address? Your GPA is going to be a challenge. I’m wondering about finding some need aware schools that might like your full pay status and upward trend. Best of luck to you.

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4

I got a 4 on all my exams except AP Lang where I got a 3 somehow. There were no circumstances for my GPA except that I hung out with the wrong crowd, which is what my essay is based on and how I broke out of that.

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5

I cannot chance you. However I just want to say that in the long run I am confident that your uptrend is going to help you a lot. Congratulations! I know that this is not easy.

Keep up the good work.

4 Likes
6

congrats on the upward trend. Agree with Thumper. Good SAT score, but a <3.0 will not have much success, anywhere. Altho some schools won’t place much weight on Frosh grades, if at all. I’d put teh schools you listed as a Safety into the Reach category, as GPA is the primary admissions criteria.

If you were my child, I’d recommend skipping the self-study AP;s. and focus on your senior classes. Attend a community college for 2 years, ace it, and transfer to a 4-year. As a New Yorker, look into the juco with a good transfer rate to Cornell.

Good luck.

4 Likes
7

Include SUNYs - you can apply to 5 of them for free Oct 20-Nov3.
I would recommend Albany for a reach, perhaps 4 from Oswego, New Paltz, Alfred, Fredonia, and Plattsburg (all of these have business or Finance, and you’d have a shot; if you apply to these SUNYs you would be sure to have one solid admission).

Remove all the unreachable reaches from your list and replace them with a few others, such as these.
For a reachable reach, what about Susquehanna’s School of Business?

Another reach could be Drexel in Philadelphia.

Finally, look into Manhattan University.

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8

OP- congrats on all your hard work and on turning things around academically!

Find another City University in addition to Baruch. Agree your list is reach-heavy. Drop the self studying. Your goal is to finish the semester as strong as you possibly can with real live courses in your HS taught by teachers.

Are your parents OK paying out of state fees for some of the public U’s not in NY on your list? If not agree with others that doing some homework on the NY State public U’s is worth your time.

2 Likes
9

I agree that Madison is out of reach for business or finance with that GPA.

I see you have Michigan State. Perhaps look into Central Michigan. They have school spirit with some D1 sports and solid diversity.

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10

My parents are fine paying whatever tuition is necessary - there isn’t a set budget in place formally. I’ll definitely be looking into some other city colleges. Possibly city College of New York.?

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11

Thank you

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12

Michigan State has a high acceptance rate but I don’t think it’s safe. Hofstra is unlikely.

I don’t see any match or schools coming in except maybe one - see note below.

If you need more, let us know.

Note - I know nothing about your reach Champlain but it has an 88% acceptance rate so maybe it’s safe ? It doesn’t appear to have finance though but a bus admin major

Best of luck.

1 Like