Chance my son for business finance major (TX resident - 3.81 UWGPA, 1450 SAT)

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US Citizen
  • State/Location of residency: TX
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public
  • Other special factors: Moved from Midwest to Texas in sophomore year. I already created chance me for other twin applying for materials engineering

Cost Constraints / Budget
(60k per year) flexible.

Intended Major(s): Business Finance or Accounting

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.81
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.82
  • Class Rank: N/A, First quarter as per TAMU
  • ACT/SAT Scores: SAT 1450 Superscore and 1410 composite

List your HS coursework

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

  • English: AP English Lang & AP English Literature
  • Math: HiGap, AP Pre Calculus, AP Statistics, AP Calculus BC
  • Science: AP Physics 1, AP Physics C, Biology Honors, Chemistry Advanced
  • History and social studies: AP World History, AP US History, AP Government, AP Economics, AP Human Geography, AP Psychology
  • Language other than English: German Level 1,2,3
  • Visual or performing arts:
  • Other academic courses: AP Computer Science Principles, CS 1 Advanced

Awards

FRC Robotics - Rising all star team award

KPMG & ACAP business pitch competition 2nd place.

Rocket for schools NASA Competition in Wisconsin 3rd place

AP scholar with distinction

National school recognition and NRSTA.

Extracurriculars
Discover accounting program at University of Nebraska Lincoln

ACAP program at Southern Methodist university

Business intern for district manager at a private firm

Varsity/Jr varsity soccer player

Varsity mid distance runner

National honor society

Various leadership positions in DECA, investment banking club, FRC, Rockets4school, CodeKong Hackathlon etc.

Volunteering 100+ hours at temple.

Essays/LORs/Other
Good writer and couple of good recommendations. Adding more essays and supplements is not an issue.

Schools

  • Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability): ASU WP Carey business school with (54k scholarship) admitted, UMN admitted, Texas A&M Mays business school admitted, UTD Jindal business school admitted.
  • Extremely Likely: N/A
  • Likely: SMU, Indiana Kelley, Fordham
  • Toss-up: UGA, Ohio State, UF
  • Lower Probability: UVA, Notre Dame, UIUC, Northeastern
  • Low Probability: UT Austin McCombs

I was checking to see if he should even try for UMich, University of Chicago, Northwestern which he is very much interested. His dream schools are Notre Dame, Northwestern and UMich in this order.

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U of Chicago and Northwestern both fill the majority of their class in ED. Also zero chance of coming in under budget unless you qualify for need based aid. (The COA at NU is in now in the mid 90s and they donā€™t give merit aid).

UMichigan added binding ED this year for the first time so itā€™s unknown how that will impact RD.

I think Notre Dame will love his volunteer hours. Hopefully he played that up in his application!

I just want to add a big kudos to you and both of your twins for having well balanced lists with affordable options! Great job!!!

3 Likes
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IU is too tough to know - last year though it was a safety but now they are holistic.

SMU or Fordham likely wonā€™t make budget.

UVA and Notre Dame are high reaches. UIUC is a reach and Northeastern is as well but unpredictable. But again, unless the NPCs hit budget, why are you applying to any of them? Are you Jewish? If so, why UND? UVA has secondary admissions - so business may not happen.

U Mich - no - because itā€™s over budget.

U Chicago - no - because they donā€™t have finance or even business.

NW - yes, but again, run the NPC as thereā€™s no merit. I put on your other thread.

With his stats, he will be 0 for 3 with the dreams - sorry - and I donā€™t think itā€™s even close.

What is the ultimate goal? Is it Wall Street because if itā€™s general finance, the where will matter little. And there are others that are cheaper than will get you there. And if it is Wall Street, make sure he applies for IBIS at ASU. I put the link below.

Iā€™m more concerned with budget because it sounds like itā€™s $120K between the two - and yet your list is not built with that in mind. Much but not all of it is - and if the NPC shows $90K and the school is need based aid only, itā€™s a wasted app when you can find other schools.

Good luck.

Investment Banking Industry Scholars | ASU W. P. Carey

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Thanks for the response. I am hoping at least one of the twins will get some aid (merit or need) will help since 120k for both will be too much. My son is still hopeful for Notre Dame which he knows itā€™s high reach. He probably may not apply for U Chicago or U Michigan. He is fine with TAMU Mays business school admission for now and planning to apply northwestern since other twin also applied might help.

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You need to check the Net Price Calculator. I put one for you above. Each school has one.

You donā€™t need to hope. The NPC will tell you. Thatā€™s why they have it.

Northwestern has no merit aid. UND very little. I donā€™t see how he can get into either with his stats - sorry.

But if you get in and find out itā€™s $95K, why not check now? You donā€™t want to have the - but itā€™s my dream school conversation and relent to let them attend.

Hope is not a plan.

The tools are out there for you to understand the costs so that you can remove ā€œhopeā€ from the equation.

What is the ultimate goal with a finance degree? If itā€™s I just want to work for a company in the finance department, the where wonā€™t matter - A&M, U Houston, Louisiana Tech, etc.

If itā€™s investment banking or consulting, it may be different.

What will he major in at Northwestern because it wonā€™t be business? They do have a minor.

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He is interested in investment banking. His first choice is finance and second choice is accounting. Thanks for sending the ASU IBIS program link and I asked him to look into that.

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Getting into investment banking from some of the schools on your list (Fordham, Michigan, UT Austin, Chicago, NU) is possible but not easy. From the other schools on your list, itā€™s pretty much impossible.

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Iā€™m not as familiar with outcomes from the other schools you listed but I am with Chicago. Ultimately, I am not sure if UChicago is going to end up on OPs sonā€™s list but, at least historically (D graduated in 2022), a good number of students do end up in investment banking - at least a fairly large number of her friends did. Economics is a strong major at UChicago - not sure if thatā€™s a major OPs son would consider - but students interested in a business focus can pursue the Business Economics focus within the Economics major. That path requires a significant number of Booth classes.

1 Like
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As a Texas resident you have a decent shot of getting merit from SMU - ESPECIALLLY if you are from Dallas. I know a lot of higher stats kids who got about $25K per year. That wonā€™t get you to $60Kā€¦more like $70K. Cox does pretty well with finance and investment bankingā€¦not Wharton level but they claim to be ranked #23 nationally for IB. There is also the Texas Stock Exchange. Truth - I donā€™t know anything about it but itā€™s based in Dallas so that will only help SMU on that front.

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I know this is the common perception and maybe itā€™s true but you can find kids in IB from any major school based on LinkedIn profiles.

A&M BS kids shows kids at UBS, Moelis, RBC and more. There are also kids in internships for IB Analyst jobs. .

Even a school like U Houston has Evercore, Baird, Truist and more. Being in Houston likely gives it access to energy jobs.

Even a Bama, that would cost you low $20s with automerit, has Solomon Partners, UBS, RBC and more and has an IB Academy.

So while itā€™s no doubt brutally hard and some schools will confer iā€™m sure a sizable advantage, iā€™m not sure impossible is the right word.

I donā€™t know what OPā€™s combined budget is (apparently not $120k although they listed $60 per kid ), but Iā€™d ensure they stick within budget and honestly like could be at $30k total - take ā€˜rankā€™ out of the equation and you could realize hundreds of thousands in savings.

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Congrats on having some great admit options already!

Is he thinking Wall Street or corporate IB? The latter pulls from many colleges. Networking, getting involved in finance-related clubs and internship opportunities are important no matter where he goes.

If ND is his dream school and it wonā€™t be affordable, better to address that now (are any of his dream schools affordable?) Itā€™s unlikely that heā€™ll be awarded some kind of magic scholarship from the unaffordable schools. Heā€™s an impressive student but so is everyone else who applies.

Iā€™d move UF into the lower probability category as an out of state student. UGA has also become very popular with OOS students, and it gets harder to get into each cycle with not much merit. Any interest in FSU? There could be an opportunity there, but they typically look at the ACT for merit. Also check UofSC if he is thinking of coming south. Darla Moore is a great business school, and he could possibly get honors + merit.