Final-ish College List Thoughts? [WA resident, 4.0 UW, TO, for Business in south or midwest, small to med school]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Ok, we’re back with a pretty concrete list that I would love opinions on. Particularly, the match and likely categories.

Son wants to study business in the south or midwest, smaller to med size school with a good business program/major. Good career outcomes and internship opportunities are really important to S25, but I am interested in great teaching and relationship building with professors because I know he’ll want that once he’s there.

I should note that S25 is not the finance bro type and is aiming to run his own company, not work in investment banking, but wants to study business and work for a few years before getting an MBA and “do something cool”. I see him more in the start up world than consulting or IB.

  • US domestic *US Citizen
  • State/Location of residency: *Washington
  • Type of high school *Private Catholic
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): Male
  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): W&L multi-generation legacy, sibling attends Trinity U, Grandfather attended Notre Dame.

Intended Major(s) Business/Finance/Accounting (not sure yet)

**GPA: W 4.0/UW 4.3

  • Class Rank: 5/90 but doesn’t report (counselor will say top 10%)
  • ACT/SAT Scores: Test Optional

Coursework
*10APs 7 Honors, 4s and 5s on AP tests to date. World History, Human Geography, Physics 1, English Lang, US History, Biology, Stats, Calc AB, English Lit, Comp Gov.

Calc AB is highest math-he’ll take it as a senior, only 3 years of Spanish (teacher is terrible), 4 years of science (bio/chem/AP phys/AP bio), 4 years social studies (AP HUGS, AP World, APUSH, AP Comp Gov), 4 years of English, 2 years (junior/senior) of Concert Band.

Awards
Nothing really, NHS, Top Honors at school, Service awards, some AP award this summer

Extracurriculars - a little weak because he climbs so much
National level climber/Captain of team, highly ranked in region (16hrs a week)
400+ service hours at local hospital
NHS
Trivia Bowl Varsity Captain - made state finals
Avid and talented guitarist, started club at school
Plays percussion in school concert band
Works part time as lifeguard

Essays/LORs/Other
*No idea but I would think good. LORS are English and Physics teachers, English will be excellent, Physics teacher loves him but I have no idea how well he writes.

Cost Constraints / Budget
No cost constraints

Schools
*NO ED, S25 doesn’t feel like he’s drawn enough to one school for ED, will REA to Notre Dame.

  • Likely *
    Elon
    Miami U - Farmers

  • Match
    Furman
    SMU-Cox
    Trinity U (sister attends)

  • Reach
    Notre Dame (REA, Grandfather attended)
    W&L (multi generation legacy)
    Wake Forest
    U of Richmond

He knows that being test optional hurts him with all of these schools but he would be very happy at SMU, Furman or Elon. Do you think he needs more options or do these likelies/matches seem reasonable? It feels like a short list :slight_smile: Thanks!

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School categorizations seem good.

Why is he not taking an SAT or ACT?

Note that Wake Forest will have competitive secondary admission for business. What would he major in at W&L?

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He is taking the SAT next weekend but bombed his first try (mid 1300s) so not counting on a big bump. It’s odd because he’s always done really well on standardized tests.

Yes, I think he just loved Wake and would be happy as an Econ major. W&L probably straight Business, could be Accounting.

Sorry just saw your Math question. Calc AB senior year in addition to Stats, he wants to take both and drop Spanish.

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You tagged “first generation.” Was that a mistake?

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Yes! Sorry, not sure how that happened.

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No problem. I removed it.

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Richmond is fine w/ test-optional - my son got Presidential Scholarship as TO, and also I know of a few others admitted EA/RD in the last couple of years. All needing some sort of aid as well, so TO not really an issue IMHO for UR. GL

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For overall sorting of schools, I’m in agreement with your categories. For the schools that have separate entry into the business programs (Cox, Farmer, etc), I honestly don’t know. If you haven’t already, I’d review the results threads for the last year or two to see what you think of your son’s chances for the business schools.

If you’re looking for a safety, has your son considered U. of Dayton? It’s not far from Miami of OH and many people who like Notre Dame like it. Alternatively, if you’re thinking that 3 likelies = 1 safety, then has he considered Texas Christian? It seems to go with the vibe of the other schools listed.

Has your son visited any of the campuses yet?

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If he’s ok going to school in Texas, this might interest him?

https://ga.rice.edu/programs-study/departments-programs/business/entrepreneurship/

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Thanks! I liked U of Dayton (we visited) but S25 couldn’t get past Dayton as a city. Too bad really because we have family there.

I’ve wondered if we should rethink TCU. My daughter has a great friend that attends that is very into Greek life and partying and I think it turned S25 off. I know he’s applying to many schools with Greek life, but it seems we know more outwardly serious students at SMU and at Wake for example. But I am going to have him look more into TCU, thank you.

Yes, we’ve visited all of the campuses on his list, so he’s pretty comfortable with them. We’ve tossed around Gonzaga, which he likes but not as much as Elon or Miami, and U of San Diego, which we haven’t visited but has a strong history with his high school and is test blind. He’s pretty set on Elon or Furman though if his reaches don’t pan out, I’m worried that he’ll slip through those though and wind up without a choice he likes.

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That’s not a bomb and I believe this should be included in apps for likely and match schools. That is well within all their ranges and could help get more merit scolarships! Good luck!!!

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When reflecting on a situation, I often turn toward the data. Here is some that I compiled for the schools under consideration, with the acceptance rate info and test submission info pulled from the Dataverse aggregator. Because SMU’s and Trinity’s RD acceptance rates looked so surprising to me, I checked their Common Data Sets (section C22) and found their EA acceptance rates. Thus, they were shared as well (and give further evidence that people should apply EA whenever possible).

Also, I agree with @Ae1231 that a mid-1300s is not a bomb and should be submitted to a number of the schools on his list.

School RD Acceptance Rate Test submission max 25th percentile SAT
Elon 71% 3% 1170
Miami U. 88% 72% 1160
Furman 67% 56% 1260
SMU (81% EA) 27% 38% 1370
Trinity (59% EA) 14% 63% 1310
Notre Dame 9% 67% 1420
Washington & Lee 14% 54% 1410
Wake Forest 21% 57% 1380
U. of Richmond 15% 38% 1400

Looking at these data, these are my guesses as to his chances of admission (which also means that I no longer have an itch to find more extremely likely admits for him). I’ve also indicated the schools where I’d be most tempted to submit his current score.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • Elon, submit test
  • Miami U., submit test

Likely (60-79%)

  • Furman, submit test
  • Southern Methodist

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • Trinity (close to likely), submit test

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • U. of Richmond

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Notre Dame
  • Washington & Lee
  • Wake Forest
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Wow! Thank you for doing all that work for us. Very much appreciated. I like your odds for him :slight_smile:

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You’re welcome! Just don’t forget that these are my guesses for entry into the colleges…not into the business schools. :slight_smile:

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I think coming from WA will help at Elon, Richmond and Furman (and likely others) since I don’t think they get a ton of applications from there (and visiting shows you’re fairly serious since that’s a big trip). Elon’s rep came to D24s school in WA and also offered up coffee chats at a local Starbucks- great way to show Demonstrated Interest. U of R had a few virtual interview opportunities so be on the lookout for those.

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Has he tried the ACT? Some students find one test easier than the other.

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Also he might have taken the paper SAT previosly and not the digitial one. Very different experiences.

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