Chance Me (Early)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Chance Me for the following: UPenn, Dartmouth, MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Rice, Northwestern, Cornell, Michigan

I’m one semester into my Junior year, so this is pretty early to chance me; I just wanted an idea. Also, when ripping my application, please tell me how to suck less. Thanks!

White
Male
Fairly Competitive Public School. We typically send 10-16 kids to top 20 Schools
Planned Major: Finance or Economics or something in Business

Traditional Unweighted GPA: 3.975/4.0
Weighted GPA: 5.445/5.0 = 4.356/4.0
Class Rank: 30/849
SAT: 1560 Superscore (Attempt 1: 1520 with 760/760, Attempt 2: 1540 with 740/800)
SAT Subject Tests: US History: 760, Math II: 800
AP Scores: AP Human Geography (4), AP US History (5), AP Physics I (4)
Course Load: All GT (honors level) classes except for following APs:
Freshman: AP Human Geography
Sophomore: APUSH, AP Physics I
Junior: WHAP, AP Gov, AP Spanish Language/Culture, AP Physics II, AP English Language, AP Statistics, AP Calculus AB
Senior (Planned): AP Physics C, AP Calculus BC, AP Macro/Micro, AP Computer Science, AP Computer Science Principles, AP English Literature
Extracurriculars/Awards: Varsity Basketball, JV Baseball, AAU Basketball, Select Baseball, Business Professionals of America (State Qualifier in Payroll Accounting), President of Volunteer Organization (YMSL) (About 100 Volunteer hours from this organization. Many with Special Olympics, especially basketball), National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, Environmental Actions Club, Key Club, Launching business this Spring (will be COO) (transactions between companies w/cryptocurrency in an effort, to some extent, to stabilize its value)

Also, is ED or EA worth it? I’m somewhat worried about getting a decent amount of financial aid, so I don’t want to get in and get shafted by the cost.

2

Research financial aid and use net price calculators to see if the school your considering are affordable for you if you are worried about that. Do not apply ED if you are not 100% sure that you can afford the school if you get in and that the school is your top choice. You don’t want to have any regrets in case it’s not affordable or you wish you waited to find out from other schools. EA is different (non-binding).

3

in which state do you live? receiving an acceptance to UMich is twice as easy as an in-state applicant than an out of state applicant. run the net price calculators for each school to get a rough estimate of what you’ll be paying. if upenn ends up being affordable, i suggest applying early decision there because of wharton. regular decision for wharton is extremely difficult. don’t forget to add some match/safety schools as well. i would add Indiana University-Bloomington since you’re a direct admit into the Kelley School of Business.

4

I live in Texas. Would applying ED to Wharton be smartest option though? That’s my top choice, but I fear that they could still deny me ED. I don’t know, but it almost feels like I should apply somewhere else ED if I don’t have a legitimate, quality shot at getting into Wharton.

5

All of the schools you listed are pretty prestigious and difficult to get accepted to, so applying ED to any of them would basically be the same right? Cause the acceptance rates for everything are so low anyways. You should apply ED to the school that you really want to go to imo, because there’s no benefit applying ED to another school cause they’re all hard to get into anyways. Plus, your ED essays will probably sound more genuine and be better for your #1 choice of school, which raises your chances of acceptance in ED.

Since you’re in TX, you should apply UT Austin, UTD and TAMU cause your auto admit to those schools. They are high ranked schools with high acceptance rates, and good business programs. You should keep at least one safety school.

6

All of those schools are extremely selective. You have great high school statistics and it would be worth it to apply but just prepare yourself for a rejection letter as these schools are very selective.

7

I agree with what @SlayMeLove said about applying in Texas. Esp. The UT part

Mccombs is one of the highest ranked business schools in the country, I know that UT might not feel as prestigious with everyone you know getting in, but it actually is extremely hard to get into if you’re not aurp-admit. I have not met a person that wasn’t auto admit into UT that got into mccombs this year. Only 3 people i know that got in were auto admit and one got bio, other was a recruited athlete, and the third had great stats but also was a great athlete. I know people where were top 3% with 30+ acts that didn’t get into mccombs even though they had rocking ECs (competing at national level in multiple competitions) and great essays. Just saying consider UT if you want to major in business because your stats definetely make yoh a competitive applicant, and you won’t have to pay extravagant prices to get a top notch education.

As far as A&M goes it is a great school too but I think Austin is much better for internship opportunities.

UTD is probably where I personally am going (over A&M, unless I get a big scholarship/FA package from an oos school I applied to). They give great scholarships and I’m not sure if it is a big factor for you or not, but everything is better when it’s free. I have a ‘comet experience’ day coming up and will tell you my opinion about it if you want.

8

Your stats are great. You should work more on your ECs. You should get more leadership positions and, if you enjoy volunteering, do more volunteering. You want to develop a “spike” in your application, meaning that you display passion and skill in a specific subject matter. This can be anything from math to volunteering. You want a theme in your application that shows admissions officers that you are passionate about what you do. Work on your essays this summer and get great grades first semester senior year. You are a very competitive applicant

9

As the poster above me says, a truly impressive “spike” is more important than a well-rounded individual with multiple leadership positions in varying extracurricular activities. Right now, you’re involved in business competitions, volunteer organizations, an array of differing clubs, and a potential startup. You can cut down on the clubs a bit, and focus on truly making an impact in each club/organization you start/join.

That being said, you have all the academic qualifications. You simply need to “package” your application to truly reflect your passions in the best way possible.

I was admitted to Wharton ED this year, so please feel free to message me with any questions.