Just Finished Freshman Year at a C-College with a 3.94 GPA, what's next?

Transfer Students
1

I have finished my freshman year of college with a 3.94 GPA at a C college. I’m double majoring in finance and management. My current problem is that I feel like a big fish in a small pond who isn’t challenging himself to learn more.

In high school, I ended with a 2.8 GPA and a 26 act because I didn’t care about school. I only cared about business classes. I was CEO of a class that placed top 5% in the nation on a business plan competition in NYC. I was president of my marketing class which broke school records. I had a 3.998 business gpa and was recognized with an outstanding business student of the year scholarship award. I’m extremely passionate about business to the point where I shut everything else out.

I’m extremely intelligent and know that I could excel at a top-notch business school. I also know this is important since I want to get an mba from an Ivy League school. I have learned from my mistakes in high school. I finished my first year of school with a near perfect GPA, founded a club, and was involved in several other club’s leadership.

My current situation is very tricky. I applied to the Unversity of Wisconsin, but they denied me because I had only 15 college credits completed at the time. Wisconsin is my dream school, but because of the way their business school works, I would have to sacrifice too much to get there.

I’m now awaiting decisions from Ohio State and Indiana University. They don’t require high school transcripts and they have my full 31 college credits. I feel very confident I will be admitted to IU and OSU. The only problem is that I tried really hard to like IU and both times I visited I left more confused because I felt nothing for the school. Their campus is too bland to me. The nature is awesome, but I don’t feel like I’m on a college campus. In addition, there seems to be a very small area of shops for college students to walk around. It’s also much more disconnected from campus than UW. When I visited OSU I liked the campus, but the business school was too far away from the oval and the library. I thought their business school was bland and its rankings also concern me because I need to be in a top #25 business school. Not a business school that is average among other state schools.

I know that if I tried in high school I would be at Wisconsin right now with no worries. I’m capable of holding another year at my C college and getting straight A’s. I assume 60-70 credits of a 3.9 gpa would heavily boost my chances on getting into other schools. I’m just not sure if it’s worth the wait. Indiana has a perfect program for me, but I can’t see myself there.

My sense of belonging and how much I like a school matter a lot for me. I’m a white male, but adopted. Not sure how much this hurts me. I also own my own business which I imagine some schools may like.

In closing, I’m a changed student that no longer has the attitude of a 2.8 hs me. I have 31 credits and a 3.94 gpa. I’ll likely be admitted to IU and OSU which both leave me desiring more. I’m a white male who was adopted. I own my own business and tuition money is not an issue for me. I’m looking for a top #25 business school that has a lot going on and hopefully over 10,000 students. Should I just go to IU or OSU? Or should I wait another year to have 60-70 credits of a 3.9 gpa? If I wait, which schools would you recommend?

Thank you!

2

How about going to IU or OSU for a year and transferring to Wisconsin for junior year if you’re not happy.

3

continue to rock the juco for another year and then apply broadly to transfer. If you keep up your grades, you can even add some top national b-schools, such as Michigan-Ross, NYU, Carnegie Mellon. Even Wharton might be worth a (long shot) app.

4

@bluebayou Thank you for the advice! It may be worth mentioning that I’m at a state university that’s geared for 4 year students.

@nw2this That’s a great idea! I may decide to do this, but not for Wisconsin. Wisconsin caps the amount of credits you can have to apply to the business school. While they also require a minimum of in system credits. This would make it impossible.

I started a semester at an Illinois university and transferred the next semester to a Wisconsin university to give myself the best chance at Wisconsin.

I’m now at the stage that I need to decide to transfer back to Illinois State or go to IU/OSU since I’m not a fan of the Wisconsin school I’m at.

5

To get the best advise you may want to state what school you are at, so business people on here can weight in on OSU versus Indiana versus your current Wisconsin 4 year school. Are you sure Indiana U is stronger academically than where you are at? Look for the MBA placement stats for the Wisconsin school you are studying at now.
Transferring too much is not a good idea. You have already transferred once, that could be why Madison denied you, especially if the Wisconsin 4 year college is very reputable, you just may not have a good reason to transfer, although I understand you feel under challenged.

If you do stay at Wisconsin 4 year school, Take a lot more math to challenge yourself. Figure out all the math that might matter, for any career you may go into, and get As in those classes. So stats and linear algebra, if you might want to be a quantitative Wall Streeter. What is your career goal? That could also point to other classes. Can you get a triple major at the Wisconsin school in mathematics, finance and economics? That might impress many top MBA programs, along with getting a top test score and the right internships. How is your current school lining you up for business related internships?

6

It may be helpful to you to figure out your strong academic interests between finance, accounting, micro and macro economics, or international business. That may then point to a school thats the best fit.

Accounting is a very good major, although often overlooked, as it gives you a solid skill to bring to any job, and some of your college options may teach it better than others. Students with accounting background can go really far. You can get a masters in accounting specifically and become the top financial officer of a major corporation for instance. Its one of the highest paying fields, but it can also be a fun small job too, accounting is very very flexible, for a degree program.

I would focus way less on campus feel, because you are not spending much time there, its only 3 years now.
So the feel of the campus matters not. You can make friends at any of these schools, so pick the strongest academic
program and live with the campus issues. Being flexible will go a long long way. The goal here is for you to get
recommendations for an MBA program and find summer internships. You are going to have to work overtime to get to know professors in your new school because everyone else has 4 years and you only have 3 to make connections . I think any school has positives and if you stick three years at the next school, you will find those positives.

7

@Coloradomama Thank you for all the advice! I’m currently at UW-Whitewater. I hate to talk poorly of a school, but this school is far from a good fit for me. In addition, I’m not sure how to find the placement rates of undergrads in top mba programs. Their websites all push their own mba programs and job stats. Already found an internship for next summer.

8

I found out I was was accepted to both OSU and IU. @bluebayou I love both Michigan and NYU. Do you think I’d have a fair shot at acceptance if I apply next year with 50 credits and a 3.92 gpa?

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@Realdonaldtrump You should be able to go to the Whitewater business department headquarters and ask if they keep MBA placement data. See if they will share it with you. They probably keep it but do not publish it. Also then ask under CC U of Wisconsin page about placement at Whitewater, there is not a page for Whitewater, I bet, though, but ask on the Madison site, might get some answers there. . Also, ask seniors at Whitewater what programs they got into.

10

The good MBA programs will expect a bare minimum of two years of increasingly reponsible work experience after finishing your bachelors degree. They prefer more work experience than that. Your undergrad GPA, your GMAT score, your academic and professional letters of recommendation, your professional resume, and your own esaays and statemen of purpose will matter for admission. The name of the college/university on your undergrad diploma and the field of your undergrad major won’t matter much at all.

So focus less on transferring to a “big name” institution, and focus more on landing solid summer jobs and internships that can lead you to a good job after graduation. You want to land at a place where you can continue to grow professionally so that you are positioned to apply to a good MBA program in two to five years.