Are you sure that you want to go into finances? You are still very new to career exploration.
Who is intimidating you? Are you putting it out there that you are applying to a lot of very selective schools? Some discretion is needed here. You need to get some sound college advise and a lot of people don’t know what they are talking about.
I’m absolutely sure I want to explore this field. I trade Forex, am well connected to people in private equity, and am pursuing the field because I am genuinely interested in it. Medicine was never for me, and law may still be a viable opportunity (and is under consideration currently).
As for the intimidation: I’m intimidated most by other people telling me that if I don’t get into a target school, my career in finance will be over before it starts. I’m intimidated by the fact that most successful minds in finance have Ivy League degrees, and I’m intimidated by internal concerns as well.
OK, I’m going to give it to you straight.
You need to work on letting go of your fears here. Start with your school counselor and just start talking about what is going on with you.
I helped out with an SAT prep group and I remember one girl who was all about the prestige saying one day “I would do anything to get into Princeton… If they told me to stick out my right foot and have it run over with a truck then I’d do it…”
Mind you, she was also a dancer. But no price was too high for her. I remember looking over to another girl in the group, and she gasped. I was later able to have a short conversation and she commented that this girl was nuts. What would make her do something that might cost her a chance to do something she loved so much? This girl respected her friend’s gift more than her friend respected herself.
Later I attended a seminar put on by former admissions counselors from highly selective colleges- yes, one was a former admissions counselor from an Ivy. I remember her saying- “We can smell the desperation when we read the application. That will absolutely kill the possibility of getting in.” She also then related something about wanting to admit candidates that were confident that they would succeed at their school but also anywhere else.
I can smell your fear. And you sound like a great kid. A kid that will do great anywhere.
BTW, the Princeton wanna be girl didn’t get into any highly selective colleges. It was actually Princeton that day. Other days it was Stanford, Harvard… The girl who gasped got into several selective colleges but most importantly to colleges that she would have been happy going to.
Go have that talk soon, ok?
BTW, your listening to some stupid advise. Highly selective schools pass up on lots of perfect SAT’s valedictorian community serving applicants. They build a class. How boring would it be to go to school with only one type of student?
Sorry… You’re … It was late and I was tired…
@goingnutsmom Sorry? I’m not understanding.
Thanks for everyone’s help so far!
The misspelling- you’re not your…
@goingnutsmom Oh! Well thanks for the help, I just posted this thread to see whether the chances of getting to the next step to a career in finance were likely or not.
Thanks again!
I didn’t understand if you were saying you were going to cut down on the AP classes next year because you were concerned with what you would make on the AP tests. If so, for me personally, I wouldn’t do that. Course rigor and GPA are things that are looked at by admissions offices. In my son’s experience, I can tell you that he did not report a single AP test when applying… nothing - whether good or bad, and not one single school asked for them. On the Common App, you elect whether or not you want to report them, and he chose not to. He took as many AP classes as he felt like he could handle each semester and his counselor was able to tell the schools he applied to that he took the most rigorous classes available to him. He was accepted at some very good schools and will be going to Cornell next year.
@Arjun0728
I am curious - what is the “minimum” kind of school that you think is necessary so that your career in finance is not “over before it starts”? Give me some names.
Minimum schools, in my mind, are NYU and Michigan. I’m shooting above these, so that I can remain competitive for other firms.
Honestly, I don’t know what I want to do in finance. I simply have a passion and deep interest for the general field. My mentor is in private equity, and that sounds intriguing to work in, but I would like to explore the field as a whole before arriving at a conclusion.
@Arjun0728
It is reassuring to hear that you are not dead-set on particular part of finance - that would have been pure folly at your age. If I understand correctly, you are from Texas. I believe you would qualify for automatic admission at UT Austin - and Goldman Sachs, among several other financial services firms, does on campus recruiting there - and it is my understanding that this recruiting is not confined to the business school (which I think you have a great chance getting into anyway, including BHP). You will be fine so long as you do well in college (which needs to happen even if you go to a top school).
Michigan (especially Ross, but also LSA and Engineering depending on your major) and NYU (Stern) would be even better.
@bahiablue Congrats to your son! I understand that top colleges request - rather than require - students to self-report their AP scores. Won’t they find it odd if a student takes an AP class but chooses not to report his/her score?
Also, do you think it would be feasible for me to explain it away in my essays (I was gone for BPA Nationals the week before the test, and actually had little time to study then) or would that be a weak premise?
Thanks, and congratulations again to your son!
Suppose I wanted to start my own fund or go into PE, wouldn’t a degree from UTA or some other state school affect my credibility in the eyes of investors?
I don’t know, perhaps I’m delving too deep into this. I just don’t want any blemishes on my record, and this AP score is particularly concerning.
There is UT (or UT Austin) and UTA which is UT Arlington…
@goingnutsmom Austin, sorry.
No, do not explain a low AP score in any essay section if you are applying to highly selective schools. You do not need to self report it on the Common Application. you can instead focus on preparing to take a few SAT 2 tests. Try to take those as soon as you finish the related coursework instead of waiting until your senior year.
@JasonMath And they don’t become suspicious if you don’t report your AP scores?
No they won’t. It’s honestly just an accessory to your application. I can guarantee that no admission officer is going to waste ten minutes speculating why you didn’t put down an AP score. If your GPA/SAT/ACT are to par it does not matter.