Chance me for strong finance / business universities

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Demographics
US Citizen
Virginia/DC Area
Public School
Male, Bangladeshi & Persian, First Gen college student, 500k+ household income

Intended Major(s)
Finance
Economics
Business (undergrad B schools)
Data Science

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
3.5 (UW), 4.2 (W) - Reasoning: Very poor freshman year because of multiple family issues during COVID which resulted in a high 2-point-something GPA, but I’ve held a significant upward trend since then with nearly all A’s and A+s and two B+s (DE Physics and another class)
1560 SAT - 800 Math, 760 Reading
Top 30% in class rank

Coursework
AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Comp Sci A, AP Environmental Sciences, AP US Government & Comp, DE English 12, AP Comp Sci P, AP Macro/Micro Econ, AP Lang, DE Geospatial Sciences, DE Physics, AP World History, multiple community college classes

Awards

  • Won State level science competition, recognized by university
  • Won county entrepreneur competition that presented to a panel of judges and won me $2500
  • PVSA Gold
  • State level investing competition hosted by state government’ economics department council
  • International video game award, among 10k+ games submitted

Extracurriculars

  • Project Manager & Lead Developer - Developed an indie game project grossing mid-five figures.
  • Office of the Governor, formerly Campaign - Field & Marketing Intern for the Governor, established a coalition between the Office of the Governor and Muslim communities.
  • Business Analyst Intern @ Local IT Company
  • Incoming NASA Business Internship (Recently accepted)
  • Investing Club President (Utilized revenue from students to donate it to school fundraisers)
  • Muslim Student Association Vice President
  • Entrepreneurship created my own holding company for e-commerce & but later traded with it, grossed a high five-figure / low six-figure portfolio. Created algorithms to trade.
  • Assisted in Undergraduate level economics Research @ Prestigious University, Bestowed a research grant to complete independent research @ the University while supervised by the Professor I formerly assisted.
  • Created a “non-profit” during the COVID pandemic with my two uncles to give relief to our small town in South Asia, rebuilt the mosque, and utilized the mosque to distribute supplies, clothes, and medical packages for free around citizens in the city
  • Externship @ large accounting/consulting firm, specifically in the Data & Artificial Intelligence department
  • Taught Sunday School @ local mosque, Youth Representative for Board of Trustees for the mosques, and helped logistics of Eid prayer numbering 500+

Essays/LORs/Other
An essay I’ve been working on is on the topic of my father who had to drop out of college because as muslims we cannot take out loans (with interest) and he couldn’t afford college, so my topic for my “Why Business School” essays is how I’d like to utilize the connections/networks/skills I gain in college to bring more resources and opportunities not just for muslims, but URM or low income, to take out loans without interest.

Cost Constraints / Budget
No budget, tuition isn’t a worry for my family’s income.

Schools

Amherst College - RD
Boston College - RD
Cornell University - RD
Duke University - RD
Carnegie Mellon University - RD
Dartmouth College - RD
George Mason University - EA (very close to me, safety)
Indiana University Bloomington - EA
New York University - EA / ED 2
UIUC CS + Economics - EA / RD
Stanford University - RD
University of Virginia - EA
Tufts University - RD
Columbia University - RD
University of California-Berkeley - RD
University of Michigan - EA
University of Notre Dame - RD
University of Pennsylvania - ED (Dream school)
Virginia Tech - EA
Boston University - RD
Williams College - RD
Georgetown University - EA
University of California-Los Angeles - RD

2

If you don’t get into your EA schools (or one you would be happy to attend) you should rework your list and add additional match and safety schools. Lots of schools that are reaches for any unhooked applicant are on your list.

Also would you be happy studying economics or data science or do you want an undergraduate b-school? Think about it before you apply so you can try to find the right program for your interests (ex. should you apply to business programs). Look at online course catalogues for different majors and understand the coursework involved in the different paths you are considering.

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3

Congratulations on your many accomplishments. What is your GPA for grades 10-12? Also, you will want to calculate your UC GPA as that is what all the UCs use: GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub

In looking at your list, George Mason and IU would be extremely likely admits and Virginia Tech is probably a likely. As far as the rest of your schools go, they all have a low probability of acceptance. So they’re not impossible, but the odds are definitely against you. How would you feel if those three schools are your only admits? If you wouldn’t be happy, then I’d think about adding additional schools that accept higher percentages of their students.

I agree with @happy1 about thinking about what exactly you want to major in, as business is very different from econ which is also very different from data science.

If you need help thinking of likelier schools, let us know, including what it is that you would like your college experience to be like.

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4

Agree the both PPs. Also VT Pamplin instate is very unpredictable I know a few students who did not get in this year with 4.2+ GPAs from NOVA schools. As long as you are happy with GMU and IU (fantastic business school and gorgeous campus) then the rest are reaches and you never know with those. Good luck and congrats on all your achievements so far.
Also, check common data set for what each school considers important (rigor, gpa, test scores, rank, etc), then look at average gpa, test scores and % in top 10%, 25% etc. Then go to naviance and see the percent that got in from your school and their stats.

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5

My nephew has very similar stats (1540/35), he’s going to Pitt, his only acceptance, hoping to transfer to GT next year. He was WL at 2 of his safeties (obviously not safe enough). I think his results would’ve been better before TO.

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6

Will you be happy at GMU or IU ?

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7

Minor note that you can’t both EA to Georgetown and ED anywhere

8

A couple of thoughts about your list:

  • NYU doesn’t offer EA - only ED 1 & 2
  • are you comfortable attending Jesuit colleges?

Also, to be totally honest: top 30% doesn’t bode well for the Ivies and the other highly rejective schools on your list.

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9

At most schools, GPA/rank are considered “very important”.

Test scores and ECs are “important” or “considered”.

You are literally competing with tens of thousands of kids who have 4,0 UW GPAs in the top 10% of their class with similar EC’s as yours. Even if your EC’s are better, it probably wouldnt make up the class or grade differential for T20 schools.

You have done very well so you should get into really good schools but maybe not T20.

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10

What kind of success does your high school have at reach schools in general and with the specific ones on your list like Penn?

Your activities and scores and competitive, but it’s unlikely they will offset your grades/rank, unless you go to the kind of school where 1/2 the class gets into highly selective colleges.

11

I think you need a couple of more safeties. IU and George Mason look good for you but everything else could either work very well or very bad.

Consider adding UCI Merage since they love OOS kids and your 9th grades won’t affect you at the UCs.

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Before I say anything, thanks for your help. My GPA from 10-12 is a 3.9 UW and 4.5-4.6 weighted. I do want to work in finance when I am older and so I would like to attend a more prestigious university. That being said, I would be very happy attending Mason, VT, or IU Kelley. Let me know if there are any other schools that are better fits.

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15-16 Ivy/Ivy+, ~60 UVA, ~70 VT

14

I’m absolutely happy attending a jesuit school, I don’t mind it. Thanks for telling me about NYU! I planned on ED II there but I’m not sure still.

15

For me I have a passion for all of those. I would love to do Data Science/CS, but finance is what I plan on doing, that or product management. A type of program or educational path I would like to pursue is CS + Economics or CS + Business, as it holds both interests of mine in one.

16

I am very happy attending Mason or IU, both are great schools.

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17

UIUC has a lot of CS+X options, which you can explore to see if it fits your interests. But adding CS as a major makes the admission very competitive. Business with a minor in data science or cs is easier.

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18

How large is your class? Just trying to figure out if the 15-16 going to Ivy+ equate to 15% of your class of 100 or 3% of your class of 500, or something in between.

19

If this is true, you may want to strongly consider UCLA. We don’t have undergrad business but rather “business economics”, which requires a lot of Econ theory courses as well as management/accounting courses. You can also add on a minor in Data Science and Engineering fairly easily; Biz Econ + DSE is a pretty common and powerful combo here.

Edit: I just realized you have UCLA on your list, I just missed it the first time around

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This graduating class was ~300.