I am graduating next year, and I do not have a clue on what colleges to look into this summer. Here are my statistics. I’m looking into business management or logistics (possibly). Help please.
Freshman:
Geometry Honors
Physics Honors
US History I
English I
Spanish II
HEPE I
Intro to Engineering Design
Intro to Business/Sports Journalism
Sophomore:
Algebra II Honors
Chemistry Honors
US History II Honors
English II
Spanish III
HEPE II
Personal Finance/Marketing
Computer Integrated Manufacturing
Junior:
Pre-Calculus Honors
Biology Honors
AP World History
English III
Spanish IV
HEPE III
Virtual Enterprise
Public Speaking/Career Exploration
Likely Senior:
AP Calculus BC
AP Chemistry
English IV
HEPE IV
Debate I/Advertising
Political and Legal Education Honors
Accounting I
Principles of Engineering Honors
ECs:
4 Years, including next season, of Varsity Lacrosse (Goalie)
Boy Scout for 7 Years
Eagle Scout
4 Years, including next season, of First Robotics Business Team on a Nationally Accredited Team, CFO for 1 Year
Future Business Leaders of America
75 Hours of Community Service
Unweighted GPAs:
Freshman: 3.4
Sophomore: 3.7
Junior: 3.7 (pre-finals)
Race: White
School: Medium, Public
Location: Central NJ
Religion: Catholic
Rank: School Does Not Rank
I should have noted. But, virtual enterprise is one of the schools most rigorous courses.
What did you get on the PSAT? Have you taken the SAT or ACT yet? Financially, what can your family afford?
There is a college search tool called SuperMatch right here on CC… that’s where you should start.
This is a pretty good thread to read:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/767486-where-did-your-3-3-3-6-gpa-child-get-in.html#latest
I bet if you count up the volunteer work you’ve done to become an Eagle Scout you have hundreds of hours of community service and many leadership positions. You should name some of those positions.
Good luck!
Osprey, I didn’t count hours working on my own eagle project. I spent about 30 hrs doing that as my troop built bleachers and a dugout at the middle school baseball field.
TheDidactic,
My PSAT scores were as follows:
80 Math
70 Writing
65 Critical Reading
My family can afford $55k per year for my education without making any adjustments. We do own a second house that my family has considered selling to help pay for my education, and my older brother’s education (RPI, $60K-ish)
Great ECs, probably will have strong test scores, weak GPA. Penn is probably not possible. The best supply chain schools are u.tenn Knoxville, Arizona state, Michigan state. Indiana has a great business school. Are you attending a private or highly competitive high school where a 3.4 freshman year can be explained? With the strength of your ECs any school would be interested in you but your grades, particularly freshman year will be an issue
My high school is not all that competitive, but what drags my freshman GPA is a B- average in English I. I have never ended a quarter with a C or recieved a C on a final, but I’m hoping that my steady English improvement (A- avg. this year) can help me with essay and etc. when applying. By next year, I will have taken every business class my school has to offer. My school has a large drop off after the top 30 to 40 students out of 250. Although my school does not rank, I figure myself to be top 10% or better.
And in Boy Scouts, I have served one term as Senior Patrol Leader and one term as Assisstant Senior Patrol Leader.
So, here’s a place to start :http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/business-supply-chain-management-logistics (I chose this because it’s more restrictive than ‘top business programs’ - generally, if they have good logistics, they will have a good business program too.) There are lots of similar lists. Use them to get ideas. Now get your Fiske or some other college guide and start reading about schools so you get a feel for what’s out there and which ones sound ‘like me.’ If you see something you really like, check the Common Data Set for that school (google it) and look at Section C for the academic profile of admitted students: It’s the most reliable way to chance yourself.
The key question is what do you want in your educational experience for the next 4 years? You need to develop criteria - size, distance from home or part of the country, attributes that matter (sports? frats? culture? weather?)…You already have one good one, which is a good business program with logistics as an option. Since networking is very important in business, you may want to think about what part of the country you want to end up living in right after you graduate, and go to school there - because the network you develop in school and the alumni network is likely to be densest in that region after you graduate.
Most important of all, make sure you have a good mix of ‘reach’ schools, matches and safeties. People spend a lot of time strategizing how to get into their reaches, and too little making sure they are happy with their safeties. A safety is a school you can definitely get into (with a 95+% certainty), can afford, and will be happy attending.
And make sure these are all schools you feel good at even if you change your mind about business: Many kids go into school with one major and end up graduating with something else entirely, so you want to have options.
Great test scores. 3.6 isn’t a totally bad GPA. IF you can keep up the upward trend and perhaps get yourself to a 3.7-3.8, you have a good shot at solid business programs. Especially since your budget is so generous.
Through the SuperMatch tool (http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/), I found Johns Hopkins, George Washington University, Carnegie Mellon, Bucknell, Villanova, SJU, Penn State etc.
Thanks for all the help guys. I definitely know that I would like to go to a school with a good d1 football or basketball team (I’m a fan of both) and would like to avoid cold climates. But with that and my grades, what do you guys think is a good match for me? Hopefully I can get into a Penn State or Michigan State (MSU looks likely at this point). If somebody could give me good business and/or logistics schools by region that would be a big help.
Look into UNC Chapel Hill and OSU, but they are probably reaches.