Hi everyone! I’m an out of state applicant for both UNC-Chapel Hill and University of Virginia. Any insight about admissions chances would be helpful as I can’t decide if it’s worth applying or not. (also, already posted this, but it got flagged after I made a punctuation edit? so sorry if there’s two!)
comp sci principles (5), us history (5), statistics (5), biology (5), spanish language (5), microeconomics (5), language + comp (5) & 12th: gov, psych, macroeconomics, and calc ab
honors English, math, and history classes throughout
ECs: what I’m worried most about and is making me doubt applying
DECA (11th and 12th): vice president of finance, qualified for ICDC (canceled bc of covid)
part-time job (11th and 12th): medical scribe at local clinic
started tutoring online during school closure and raised over 4k and counting for charity
peer tutor (10th - 11th): after school Spanish tutor since sophomore year
NHS + SNHS: member in good standing and cabinet member (helped plan events through the year)
taekwondo: 1st degree black belt, participated since 6th grade
freshman clubs: key club, stugo, speech and debate, fbla
Awards: also pretty weak
highest honors all 4 years
AP scholar with distinction
national merit semifinalist (expected, index 4 points above state cutoff)
top 5 at state for DECA
couple of top 6 awards at regional tournaments for speech and debate
Other
moved across the country halfway through sophomore year (not sure if this is relevant)
ethnicity: Asian
gender: female
will apply for financial aid (income <$150k)
out of state
applying early action with business as top choice
Thank you so much- any information is helpful!! Also, if anyone has any school recommendations for a business/finance major, those are very much appreciated (my list isn’t very long)!!
@bizizz2021 : Definitely worth a try for both schools. I honestly think these two are top five best public institutions in the country. What’s your state or residence? It seems to me that you’re in favor of public elites, right? Do you also consider applying to West Coast schools?
@CalCUStanford Thanks so much! I’m confident about my academics, but ECs + out of state are making me hesitant to apply. I have no preference for private vs public, but I’m definitely looking for “hard target” schools that aren’t entirely impossible. However, cost is a major factor for me and UNC & UVA both cover demonstrated financial need (I believe), while the UCs are known for being expensive OOS so I haven’t looked at many Cali schools even though I’d love to go (I live in the PNW). Any suggestions based off my stats are appreciated!
PNW such as Washington, Oregon, or Idaho? Sorry I don’t know much about financial aid part for UVA and UNC.
And do you have a list of schools you planned to apply such as “reach”, “match”, and “safety”?
I knew UCB (Haas) has a very good UG business program (to be declared in Junior Yr with certain GPA and course requirement). But financial aid for OOS is probably hard to get. How about merit-based scholarship? You may want to check related sites and cc threads for details.
As I recalled, Stanford and Columbia do not offer undergraduate degrees in business specifically but a degree in economics instead. However, I’ve just found out that Columbia recently has offered a program called, “Special Concentration in Business Management.”
UPenn/CMU/MIT/USC/UCLA/NYU/UMich/UT Austin/Univ of Utah/BYU and even UW Foster all offer great UG business degrees. Please check their respective sites for details.
In the end, it’s going to be all about cost and affordability. Out of state schools are triple the tuition, and don’t offer any additional benefits. They’re designed around state residents. With your income bracket, paying for an out of state school would be a big stretch.
Also here’s something to think about. Uncertainty is the new normal, and it’s expected to be that way in the foreseeable future. Even if you were able to afford the tuition now, that could easily change on a dime if a parent got laid off. You’d be forced to lose a bunch of credits transferring somewhere in your home state. Now would be a great time to apply for big scholarships. That’s guaranteed money in writing for 4 years. They’re all over the place, but you have to know where to look. Your stats could easily get you a full ride somewhere. Underrepresented areas like the south and southwest are great. Univ of AL and Univ of AZ are very generous. Your guidance counselor should have a good idea of where you could apply and where the best chances of a full ride can be.
I knew it’s a “reach” school for everyone but you never know if you don’t try. Again, make sure to have a great essay for each school you apply to. And good luck to your college application!
“Today, Stanford University announced that it would go tuition free for students from families who make less than $125,000 USD a year. The real win in this announcement is that Stanford will additionally cover a student’s room and board if their family makes less than $65,000 a year.”
Source: Global Citizen (By Katherine Curtiss, APRIL 20, 2016)
@CalCUStanford Thanks for the info- I did not know that! Not sure if Stanford is even a reach for me though, I never it seriously haha I think I’ll have a hard enough time getting into UVA
As for full rides, I did look at UT Dallas (which is a great deal) since I’m 99% sure I’m getting national merit semifinalist, but I’m not sure how it is for business compared to UW Foster or the University of Florida, which I’m also applying too. Rankings only tell you so much, right?
@bizizz2021: happy1 just gave you a key info in Post#8. National merit semifinalist, that’s a heck of an achievement, putting you as the top < 1% of U.S. high school seniors. Congratulation!
Since you mentioned UT Dallas in Post#7, how about UT Austin/McCombs’ program? I guess your home state of residence is Texas?
@CalCUStanford No, I live in Washington and I know UT Austin is a lot more restrictive for out of state than UT Dallas, which is why I’m leaning towards Dallas because of the generous scholarship for national merit finalists.
Thanks for the great information about the business scholarships I’ll definitely take a look at those!
About UIUC, I’ve heard loads of good things about business and the school in general, but does anyone know how come the acceptance rate is >60%? I know acceptance rate doesn’t always correlate with quality, but I just always wondered.
@bizizz2021 : I didn’t know until you said so in Post #11. And i did verify it and was surprised for such high acceptance rate. The yield rate, however, was only 31% (2017-18). I think you can also check if they do provide full ride for OOS students.
The SAT range of admitted students:
ERW (600; 700) and Math (620; 780). UIUC is strong in STEM especially in EE/CS. I also believe the school has good accounting/finance program. It’s a great school anyway.
Univ of Indiana/Kelly and U of Utah also have decent UG programs in business.
BTW, I’m curious why a business degree (UG)? Are you aiming to the I-Bank sector? Typically the target schools are HYPMS, CU, Wharton, Sterm (NYU), … and few public elites such as UC Berkeley, UMich and UVA, etc.
Have you thought about business analytics related since your quantitative skill seems OK to me. U of Utah and U of Indiana have good similar programs I think.
Finally, if i were you, I would put UW-Seattle as my #1 target.
@CalCuStanford Okay, maybe I’ll add UIUC to my list then. Honestly, I couldn’t tell you why a business degree, but I am definitely considering a double concentration in business analytics and finance at the schools that allow it.
UW- Seattle is my top target because of its proximity and cost. I think my reaches are Boston College and Northeastern, but I guess I’m still trying to find the most selective school I actually have a shot at.
Thanks for all of the help! Now I just have to figure out essays
