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)
Intern – Office of Assemblywoman(6 months – present)
Organized policy memos, conducted legislative research, and supported constituent outreach in a high-volume district office.
Intern – Career Help Firm(6-month term)
Researched market trends, drafted investor proposals, and authored biweekly reports that improved client engagement.
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.
Member – District Student Advisory Council(1 year)
One of three selected to represent 2,200 peers; participated in district hiring panels and policy discussions.
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.
Student Advisor to Principal(1 year)
One of seven student representatives; advised on grading reform and technology integration policies.
Press Secretary – Student Government(2 years)
Managed schoolwide communications and social media, increasing event participation and student engagement.
President – Music Culture Club(2 years)
Founded and led a 40+ member club exploring global music, culture, and cross-cultural dialogue.
Founder – Car Detailing Business(6 months)
Created and managed a mobile detailing service, earning $5K+ and developing marketing and client relations skills.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.?
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
Colleges now get overwhelmed with applications, so it is harder to explain issues or show improvement. For many people in this situation a community college or 2-year stint at an easier school is often recommended. City College would be a good option. All of the SUNY schools favor transfers from 2- and 4-year SUNYs and CUNYs. SUNY-Albany would be a good target for their business programs with a transfer.
The other option is to interview with admissions at the schools you favor, and that are not such tough admits. If you make a good impression a counselor may try to help your application.
You might also consider colleges in the area like Seton Hall and St. John’s University. The Catholic schools may like your story of change, the SAT score sits squarely in their wheelhouse, and Seton Hall in particular has a good business program (I’m not as familiar with St. John’s program). Seton Hall likes demonstrated interest, so if you attend their open house soon then you can show some interest, get your app in quickly, and hopefully get a relatively quick decision as they’re rolling.
Also, I think you have WAY more choices than you might think. Smaller colleges, especially ones in the NY/NJ area might work well for you.
I agree with adding some SUNY’s (Buff State, Cortland, Oneonta, Potsdam, Plattsburg).
You have nice EC’s and have taken many AP’s, which is good.
Your list is very heavy. I agree with others to revamp your list and concentrate on those schools that are more on the “target” side (not many schools are true “safeties” anymore).
FWIW, Queens University Charlotte has been purchased by Elon University. Not sure how that will sort itself out in the end or how this round of admissions is affected (I’m sure you can find more info on Queens’ website). I say this only because Elon is generally a harder admit than Queens would normally be. Again, not sure if this year’s application round will have fully switched over to Elon or not. It may end up being an advantage during the transition. In any event Queens is a lovely campus.
I agree with this suggestion. And I would add Manhattan University to the list, as suggested earlier above. Good business school with a big alumni network in the NYC area. And they love to work with underachievers to help them realize their potential. Money Magazine named them the #1 transformative college in the country a few years ago for this very reason.
U of Iowa is a most likely an admit, but not directly to the business school. You should have little trouble transferring in Soph year based on your recent academic history.