Match Me between the school I have been accepted to

Chance Me / Match Me
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Guidelines

  • Please check back to answer questions.
  • Please do not share identifying information.
  • Please do not include your race.

Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student: US
  • State/Location of residency: PA
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public
  • Other special factors: (first generation to college, legacy, recruitable athlete, etc.): FGLI

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.): $15k-30k, 35k max

Intended Major(s): Finance

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: (calculate it yourself if your high school does not calculate it): 3.365
  • Weighted HS GPA: (must specify weighting system; note that weighted GPA from the high school is usually not informative, unless aligned with the recalculation used by a college of interest, such as CA, FL, SC public universities): 3.605
  • College GPA: (for transfer applicants)
  • Class Rank: 60th Percentile
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1420 superscore, 1410

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: honors 9th, honors 10th, ap lang, honors 12th
  • Math: (including highest level course(s) completed): honors geometry, honors algebra 2, honors pre-calc, ap stat/calc ab
  • Science: (including which ones, such as biology, chemistry, physics): honors bio, honors chem, ap bio, honors physics, apes
  • History and social studies: honors world history, apush, ap gov, ap econ
  • Language other than English: (including highest level completed): spanish 2, 3
  • Visual or performing arts:
  • Other academic courses:

College Coursework (Transfer Applicants)
(Include college courses taken while in high school if not included above.)

  • General education course work:
  • Major preparation course work:

Awards

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience):

  1. community/nonprofit org internship- create budgets for all the basketball program, developed concession stand generating $300+/wk in revenue, create graphics for upcoming events
  2. business camp: my role was financial lead, where i would manage our business’s financial plan in a business simulation competition
  3. senator internship: helped with campaign through community outreach, phoned constituents, door-to-door to inform about voting process, data entry for voting preference (validify/data entry for petition signatures in similar internship)
  4. Target job- worked as a seasonal tech consultant
  5. youth leadership org- visited businesses and learned about them/networked with professionals
  6. rec basketball ref

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
family moved during pandemic before freshman year, parent had to leave sophomore year to find work after being laid off, limited in extracurricular/after school activities as one guardian was managing both my brother and i.

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if unsure, leave them unclassified)
sju (cost: $18k)
psu smeal 2+2 (18k after loans)
upitt cob (13k after loans)
drexel (40k)

just so i dont need to make another thread, should i transfer after my first semester in college if i attain a 4.0? dont plan on going to cc and dont want to transfer too late, esp due to recruiting and clubs

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You have some acceptances from which to choose. Please try to choose a college with the intention to stay there and get your degree. I would not suggest planning to transfer after one semester. If you do that, you won’t be trying to become a part of where you are enrolled…you will have one foot out the door.

You can likely achieve your bachelors degree goals at any of these colleges. So…choose one, and grow there. Get involved with that college community.

Having said all that…if you find you wish to transfer for a second year start, then maybe consider that.

But really one semester…and transfer…no.

So…which if these colleges are you most drawn to?

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i attended a public hs and am currently deciding which school i want to go to, many of which are state schools. i gotten an uw gpa of 3.356 and w of 3.605 (due to family moving circumstances) and a superscore of 1420 and regular of 1410. my best options atm are upitt and smeal 2+2, but im thinking upitt because i would not like to stay at a branch campus that long on the off chance i am unable to transfer. i was wondering when is the earliest reasonable time to transfer because i dont want to miss to opportunities for networks, recruiting, clubs, etc. im thinking after first semester of freshman year. my intended major is finance. please give me opinions, recommendations for school to check out (esp for transfers), etc.

ps. this is to keep my options open on the chance i dont feel like i fit in

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I answered this question about transferring on your other thread.

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im not really happy about my college decisions because i know if i was in the right environment, things would have turned out different. im trying to use college as a fresh start to that environment as i get space alone for myself. im not actively trying to transfers, but im looking to that option if i am not happy at where i am even when giving it my all.

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As gently as possible…

Please don’t be thinking of transferring…now!

Get to your new school, and fresh start, and make the most of the opportunities offered there.

If we are voting, I would say Smeal is a good choice…but the decision needs to be yours! So…concentrate on making a decision amongst these options of yours.

Have you visited these colleges?

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not yet, but im a bit against smeal because i have to spend the first 2 years at a branch campus and i believe the location best for my major would be near the city so im thinking u upitt, just looking around for people’s experiences there so far

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You are the one going to college. Assuming these are all affordable, you should make the choice. Pittsburgh is a great smaller city with a lot of what the bigger cities have to offer. And Pitt is a great school.

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Congratulations on the four acceptances you have! All four of them are very good schools and great places to study business.

Are there no loans at St. Joe’s or Drexel? And are the loan amounts listed per year or for four years? Which of the schools are affordable for your family? Since you indicated you’re FGLI, I’d be surprised if all of those schools are within budget.

Like you, I’m a fan of choosing a school where you can stay all four years. Thus, I would be leaning toward Pitt or St. Joe’s, as I don’t think that Drexel is worth an extra $22-27k/year more than the other schools on your list and you were branched for PSU. @MYOS1634, do you think it would be worthwhile for OP to ask PSU for reconsideration for DGS with a summer start?

Absolutely not. In fact, there is a parent who posts on the forum whose kid had a 36 ACT, 4.0 GPA from a top school, excellent ECs, etc. The student went to a Top X school and hated it and didn’t continue for a second semester. When the student went to apply to transfer schools, many schools that had previously admitted her wouldn’t even allow her to apply because she hadn’t completed a full year.

Join clubs your first year where you enroll. Start networking with alumni, get to know professors, and ask them for recommendations and leads. There is absolutely no need to wait until you transfer to a different school to do that. Shine at the school where you land and build your network and roots there. You can be successful from any one of the schools you’ve been admitted to.

I realize this is not your preference. If it’s your only affordable option, however, my advice about shining where you enroll still stands. They’ve got clubs, honor societies, etc. Impress the professors, and then when you’re finished at cc, you can have glowing recommendations to get you into schools you hope to transfer into.

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When you say after loans, how much are the loans ? Loans have fees and need to be paid back with interest.

What are your interests in finance ? What type of role ?

Pitt is wonderful and you wouldn’t get in anywhere ‘superior’ if that’s your thought after one semester. And getting a 4.0 is far from a given if you had a 3.2 in hs.

Assuming the loans aren’t insane, drop Drexel and pick one of the three you like most. Go there with the intent of staying four years and crush it.

If you didn’t like any of these, why did you apply to them ?

What’s your rationale - are they not good enough ??

If you like the big school, Pitt is a national leader so I’d go there.

Good luck.

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Pitt is $13k after loans? How much are the loans?

I would drop Drexel because of cost.

I would choose Pitt over PSU 2+2 every day. Pitt business is direct admit and small. PSU supposedly will be closing/consolidating some satellite campuses. Something else to consider.

If SJU is St. Joes it would be my second choice but if you like it more than Pitt go there and be happy.

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I would totally choose Pitt.
However, some details are needed:
How much are the loans for Pitt? Is it 13k for tuition, fees, room, and board (= you qualify for PHEAA grants, a Pell grant, and some Pitt scholarships +5.5k federal loans?) Can you and your family cover the 13k?

The only reason I’d pick 2+2 is if you can commute and cut down costs. Which branch campus did you get into?
The transition to UP is automatic if you get the grades in the required courses. (You should be able to waive some requirements - with a 4 or 5 on the AP Calc exam, for instance, you can simply take Math 111 a 2-credit applied calc class, rather than a weedout calc class.)

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Already some good answers for transferring. Please pick a school you like and can see yourself there for 4 years. Put down roots and lean-in. Try to enjoy college. The grass isn’t always greener is true.

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