16 yr old female
3.8 unweighted at competitive private Northern CA school
750 math/720 verbal
1/2 Chinese, 1/2 white, US citizen
Algebra 2
AP History score: 4 (10th grade)
Currently taking 2 APs
Normal extra-circ, not leadership but well-rounded activities, varsity athlete but not at a recruitment level.
Does not need money or loans.
Likely business major.
Open to anywhere in the US, open to mid-size/large schools.
Appreciate any suggestions! Thank you!
You should seek counseling at school as you go private. Perhaps it will come later, like junior year.
I could give you a list of 300 schools.
Do you like urban, rural, suburban ?
Weather preferred ?
Sports ?
Greek life ?
Geographic diversity ?
Will you be in pre calc or calc senior year ?
Consult with your private school college counselor.
I would suggest you look at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University. Great college, great program.
Congratulations on your accomplishments in high school so far!
Knowing some additional information will make it easier to suggest colleges.
Thank you all so much! Not really a party person so things like a big school for sports or a vibrant Greek life are not important. I wouldn’t rule out those schools but I don’t need that stuff.
List that I’ve considered so far (but am not sure if these are realistic or not, because I know that plenty of people with the same stats will apply).
U Michigan
U Wisconsin
U Washington
BC/BU
Wesleyan
NYU
Dartmouth
Cornell
Duke
Vanderbilt
Tulane
Penn
Villanova
UCs
Babson
Thank you again!!
What criteria have you used to build this list? For example, Dartmouth doesn’t have a business major.
So the UCs (except a few), Dartmouth, Vandy, Wesleyan don’t have business majors.
Is there an area of business that’s an interest ? Accounting, finance, supply chain, MIS ?
I’d suggest go visit some local schools - UCSC or Davis, SCU, UOP, some small schools - if you’re traveling anywhere -some LACs.
Urban, rural.
What feels right.
So many colleges have great b schools.
And double check with your folks that they are ok spending $90-100k a year when you can spend $25-50k. Many parents don’t realize what college costs.
Tons of names will work for you but….
If far away I assume airport access is important ?
I think it’s reachy. What math next year?
I just made the list by hearing abt other kids at my school. I want to study business but do not necessarily need business major - Econ, etc. would be OK top.
You need to do your own research. Find the schools that fit YOU, not what your peers are looking at. Truth be told, a lot of these schools are out of reach for you. For starters, I’d cut NYU, Duke, Cornell,Penn, Dartmouth, Vandy, and Michigan. Tulane might work if you apply ED.
Look at IU Bloomington. Very well respected business school and an easier admit than most if not all of your list.
Yes, I think know what you mean; people often say “business” when what they really mean, is that they’d like to eventually find work in the business field. That can be accomplished in a number of ways, but probably none are more important than finding summer internships during the school year. Lots of Econ majors in the workforce.
Econ is not business. Far from it. It’s a social science.
UMN is very good, affordable relative to others, airport access, Asian population.
You need to understand what Econ is. It’s not something you simply jump into. It’s hard core. Tons of math. Business is more - task, transactional.
However, many colleges’ economics departments offer business-flavored economics majors or courses, in recognition that a large percentage of economics majors are more pre-professional (versus social science research oriented). Only a small number of economics departments require all economics majors to take “hard core tons of math” (more advanced than single variable calculus).
Yes but while schools use it as alternates to business, schools like Vandy will be hard core academically.
Some schools have business econ. Not these.
The point being that they should u set stand up front so they can pick the right one b4 building a list.
FYI you can incorporate business specific curriculum in your undergraduate studies at Vanderbilt. These students tend to be well recruited given the combination of liberal arts and traditional business courses these students participate in.
“A Uniquely Vanderbilt Minor
The Hoogland Undergraduate Business Program is designed to complement Vanderbilt’s strong liberal arts education. In the classroom, students take courses in business fundamentals taught by the Owen Graduate School of Management, as well as elective courses that follow specific business pathways. Electives address a wide variety of topics and student interests.
Outside the classroom, undergraduates can participate in skills workshops, professional clubs, blended learning events, speaker series and other programming designed to expose students to different areas of the business world, prepare them for internships and full-time careers, and help them connect with each other in purposeful ways.”
Thank you very much. This is really what I hoped to understand - am I aiming too high and what bracket should I look at? I want to know what is too ambitious and what is do-able.
As a California resident, I am surprised you do not have any Cal states on your list such as Cal Poly SLO/Pomona, San Diego state and Cal State Long Beach which all have respected Business schools and offer many options for Business majors such as Finance, Marketing, Management, Accounting and Information systems.
Cal states would be good Target and Likely schools.
You are ok till be ambitious as long as you have one, preferably two sure things.
Many have to worry about affordability but if you don’t, it makes it easier.
With your stats, you’d get into IU Kelley if you transcript shows a 3.8 - weighted or unweighted - not a 3.79.
It’s not Michigan but a tinge below.
But in most cases the where matters less.
If you want a niche, high level position, like investment banking, it matters more.
Between CA and Arizona publics, you have a ton of great ones.
Your list has some possibilities so nothing wrong with it. Villanova is religious - is that an issue ?
Bentley is similar to Babson but an easier admit.
So your list is great if these are right for you. But you should visit schools locally to see what is right since you noted these are simply names you hear. You will be somewhere four years, day after day and you’ll want to love where you are.
But the level of your list is ok - if supplemented by a few less competitive.
So you’re in a good spot.
My daughter is a senior at Cornell. You’ll probably need more than 2 AP classes. I think she finished high school with about 8 or 9 AP classes. Cornell likes AP classes. Dartmouth and Duke and NYU (Stern) will want a lot of AP classes. She was also Salutatorian of her class. Best of luck! You have great stats!
You’ve got a way to go before you apply - can you do some visits this summer with your parents? Touring some schools will help you get a better idea of the kind of environment you are interested in (big vs. small, rural vs. urban, far vs. closer to home, etc.). It will also confirm that your parents can be full pay anywhere.
I agree your list is reachy due to your GPA and your lack of rigor, and if you have not done pre-calc yet as a junior and are looking at econ or business I think that may hurt. Does your school have a college counselor who can help you explore? There are SO many college you could be happy at, but I’m not sure they are currently on your list.
As someone mentioned, if you just want to work in a business you can study a variety of subjects. Are you passionate about business? If not, another subject? It doesn’t matter where other people are applying, take the summer to really research some schools where you think you might be happy and go visit!
Good luck!