Chance Me - Indian girl trying her luck at top econ and business schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
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1

Hi everyone! I’ve been stalking these chance me pages for years now and I guess it’s officially time for me to post one. I know I’m applying to a majority of extremely competitive schools that probably got even more competitive due to the pandemic, so I’m open to any advice!

Demographics

  • US Citizen
  • State/Location of residency: Massachusetts
  • Type of high school: medium-sized public high school (~1300 students)
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Indian female
  • Other special factors: None :grimacing: (parents went to college in India so not considered first-gen but going through the process without much help)

Intended Major(s): Economics, Business, or combined Healthcare and Economics/Business programs

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: school doesn’t calculate it but around 3.9 (all A and A+ with 3 A-)
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.45 / 5.0
  • Class Rank: 20/313 - not great but my grade is super competitive
  • ACT: 35 (36 Reading, 35 Math, 34 Science, 33 Writing) - only took once in sept 2021
  • SAT: 1520 superscore (780 Math, 740 Reading) - taking it again in Oct 2021

Coursework
All honors and AP classes throughout high school
9th Grade - 7 honors classes and self studied AP Psychology (4) (school doesn’t allow APs until sophomore year)
10th Grade - 6 honors classes and AP US History (4) + self studied AP Macro (5) and AP Micro (4)
11th Grade - 5 APs (AP Seminar (3), AP Biology (4), AP Eng Lang (5), AP Calculus AB (4), AP World History (4)) and 2 honors classes
12th Grade - 6 APs (AP Research, AP Eng Lit, AP Comp Sci A, AP Calculus II BC, AP Statistics, AP Physics I) and 1 honors class (biotech)

Summer before 12th Grade - 4 college courses at local community college (BIO 121, BIO 233, BUS 111, HLT 106)

Recap: 4 college courses (not dual enrollment); 15 APs in total - two 5s, six 4s, and one 3

Awards

  • Presidential Volunteer Service Award (2020 and 2021)
  • Prudential Spirit of Community Honoree (2020 and 2021)
  • AP Scholar with Distinction and AP Scholar with Honor
  • National Spanish Exam - Bronze Medalist (2020)
  • Graduation Distinction in Liberal Arts (gave a faculty presentation on my economics project)
  • Some school specific honors on academics and extracurriculars

nothing amazing I’ll admit, but still something

Extracurriculars

Clubs

  • captain of math team
  • DECA (2x international qualifier)
  • coeditor of school newspaper
  • treasurer of diversity club
  • leadership roles in community service clubs at school
  • NHS, SNHS (officer), MNHS, HNHS, ENHS, BNHS

Internships

  • summer internship at major hospital (competitive program - accepted as a freshman (2019))
  • business analytics internship at start-up (2020)
  • program coordinator for entrepreneurship program I participated in 10th grade (2020-2021)
    – CEO of healthcare startup created while in the program

Personal Projects

  • co-founder of podcast and blog about Indian American life and issues (2020 - present)
  • founder of mental health and eating disorder recovery platform (2021)
  • helped 200,000+ people apply for unemployment benefits during COVID through my internship

Essays/LORs/Other

Essays

  • In the process of writing them but they’re turning out pretty good so far (7/10)
  • writing about Indian American culture (cliche but trying to find new perspectives), my eating disorder and how I’m now helping others recover, and why I want to study economics with a business and healthcare concentration (personal experiences)

Letters of Rec

  • Got letters from sophomore English teacher and junior + senior year Calc teacher -
    would rate them a solid 9/10 (teachers showed me them privately but I waived my FERPA rights)
  • Also sending additional letter from business internship manager - would consider that a 11/10 letter

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • I’m super lucky and my parents are ready to pay for my tuition but I would love to get merit scholarships (please recommend any schools with good merit aid you think I would qualify for)
  • applied to a few external scholarships but they are pretty competitive

Schools
Safety

  • UMass Amherst (EA)
  • UConn (RD - priority)

Match/Low Reaches

  • Northeastern (EA)
  • UNC Chapel Hill (EA)
  • U of Michigan (EA)
  • UC Berkeley (RD)
  • UCLA (RD)

Reach (I have a lot … oops)

  • All 8 Ivies (RD)
  • UChicago (EA)
  • Carnegie Mellon (RD)
  • Duke (RD)
  • NYU (RD)
  • Northwestern (RD)
  • Stanford (RD)
  • Tufts (RD)
  • USC (RD)
  • JHU (RD)
  • Vanderbilt (RD)
  • MIT (EA)
  • UT Austin (EA)

I know this is a super ambitious list, so I’m open to any feedback and suggestions y’all have!

2

You have a lot to be proud of. Top 6% of your HS class is not too shabby. Looks like you’ve taken a rigorous course load, and your standardized test scores are great. Lots of people would be envious to be in your shoes.

Your list is really tilted towards schools in the T20. I don’t see many schools lower in the rankings. Getting into any of the T20 schools is like winning the lottery. Your stats/scores buys you a ticket, but doesn’t guarantee anything. Your background is solid, but unfortunately you will look a lot like many other high scoring Indian students.

Some suggestions for you

  1. Pick one of the reach schools and apply binding ED
  2. Have a plan in place for ED2. With the econ program at UChicago you might consider applying EA and in case you get deferred, switch your app to ED2. Other schools have ED2 as well.
  3. Don’t apply to every Ivy in the RD round. Waste of time. Pick 2 or 3 that match with your interests and spend quality time on their applications.
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Your credentials are great but you just have way too many reach schools. How are you possibly going to write all of those essays? Have you visited any/some/all of these schools? As the PP said, it just looks like a list of the top 20 schools. I would say that all of your match schools except Northeastern are actually reach schools (for anyone who is OOS). I would really try to narrow down your list. Many of the ivies, as well as several of your other schools, are an easy drive from MA, so if you haven’t visited yet, I would start now. Try to figure out what you want in a school besides it just being elite. Your EC’s are great, but I would make sure you aren’t exaggerating anything. Personally helping 200,000+ people seems like a lot for one person who is also in school fulltime. You should have some great choices in the spring if you can narrow down your options a bit so that your applications are really well thought out. I would also try to find a couple more true “matches” unless you are going to be happy possibly attending your safeties.

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I agree with the other posters, and will go further: imo your list looks lazy. It’s seems like a grab bag of the usual suspects. You can improve your odds of acceptance by working harder and narrowing down which schools are actually a good fit for you. Not least, you will write better essays if you have actual, true, specific reasons why you want to go to that particular college, which in turn will make it easier for AdComms to see why they should put you in the 10% pile instead of the 90% pile.

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5

Congratulations on your achievements.

I agree this list is much too big, and all the matches are reaches. What are the most important factors you are looking for in a school? There are some schools on here that are so very different, it makes me think you are only going for prestige and haven’t really taken the time to reflect on the qualities that are most important to you in a school.

There is more research to be done when certain pairs of schools show up on the same list, for example: NU and U Chicago? Brown and Columbia? Dartmouth and JHU? Have you visited any schools? Done virtual admission sessions at all of these?

Regarding the application process, if you applied to all of these schools it would be over 35ish supplemental essays/questions, plus an expanded resume for UT. I think it’s highly unlikely that you can write compelling Why Us essays for such a variety of schools, not to mention produce high quality products of the more difficult essays at MIT, UChicago, and the like. And high quality essay/application packages are what you need at all these reach schools. Everyone of them will expect you to clearly convey why you think you are a fit for the classes they are building.

You will get some merit aid at your safeties, and maybe at NEU and USC if accepted, but probably not enough to give up a boost from applying ED or SCEA/REA somewhere (if you are full pay). You say your family can pay full tuition, but there’s also room and board and other costs. Will you qualify for any need based aid? What is your budget? Many of these schools are $75K+ per year. Have you run the net price calculators at all these schools?

What are your career goals?

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First of all, congratulations - you’ve done really well.

That being said, UNC nor U Michigan are solid reaches, since you are a OOS applicant. UCLA and Berkeley would depend on your UC GPA, of course. Have you calculated your UC GPAs (UW, weighted, and weighted-capped)? They would likely be, as you state, low reaches.

So you may need some solid matches.

No need to apply to all the Ivies - just UPenn, Harvard, and Cornell. Since UNC and Michigan are moving to reaches, you may want to drop some others.

As another low reach/high match, look at Kelly (IU)

You are competitive for these colleges, but by that I mean that they accept maybe 5%-10% of applicants like you.

My recommendation is that you don’t apply to that many reaches. Getting a dozen rejections in a row can be hard, even if you know that they are reaches. Knowing and feeling are two different things. That is a good reason to have some more matches.

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OP meets Kelley’s direct admit criteria (min 3.8w GPA and 30 ACT), so that would be a safety for her. If affordable, could be a better choice for business than UMass or UConn. But…we can’t add schools until at least 10 of the 25ish reaches come off.

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@overambitiousindian - I agree with the others. Apply to only 8-10 colleges.

ideally 2-3 safety + 2-3 match + 2-3 reach

Don’t apply to so many T20 private schools in your reach category. pick one or two. Highly recommend that you apply ED1 and ED2 to these.

The top public universities in your match list look for students with high stats. These will be reach. You can apply to all but expect stiff competition.

Good choice on UMass, UConn and Northeastern. Keep this.

The colleges have opened up in person visits. If the college is within 5 hours driving distance, you should plan to visit. For colleges that are far, attend virtual information sessions and tours.

Also, keep in mind that Indian kids have generally very high stats, especially in MA. So, you will be competing with them for the top colleges in the list.

Why don’t you add a couple of Liberal Arts colleges like - Amherst college, Wellesley college, Swarthmore college etc.

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I think everyone hit the nail on the head:

  1. Your matches are reaches - I can see Northeastern as an in if ED. This is ok if you’re ok attending UCONN and/or UMASS.

  2. The schools on your match list - UNCCH, UMich, UCLA, Bekeley - you’re not getting merit aid - so you say your parents will pay but you really want aid…which is it? What are your parents willing to spend? You need to have that discussion - you need to really have that discussion. A few of your reaches do give aid.

So - if you are applying to the “reach” schools you should look at W&L - top business school and has the Johnson Scholarship - so take a look. It’s a full ride.

I saw someone mentioned Indiana. Solid choice.

B-school is more about majors - for example, if you were doing IS, you might apply to Indiana and Arizona. Supply Chain, ASU, Michigan State, UTK.

You are looking for econ and/or healthcare. Why not apply to “reaches” that at least have merit - and you have some - Vandy - but how bout Emory, Wash U vs. the Ivies and schools like Stanford that are a ton of work and your odds are slim. ont saying to not apply - but if your parents don’t want to pay $320K, then don’t…or apply to three instead of 8.

If you want a mid size private, how about Wake Forest, Rochester, Case Western, and large school UF and UGA - both strong. UGA is strong in public health as well. Pitt would be another great option and a safety. For an LAC - a Macalester or Occidental.

What you’ve done is it appears to me is picked the highest rank schools with no thought of fit, cost, or otherwise.

For example, you want merit but you are applying to Tufts.

So ask your parents - if Tufts is $325K, and UMASS is $120K, are they going to send you to Tufts?

Because if the answer is no, then take off every school that offers only need based aid.

In the meantime, you need to alter your list - you have two safeties and you are truly ok with these, then reach. But if you’ll be unhappy going to one of them- then you need to add realistic schools. You also need to figure out what you want in a school besides a name at the top of a ranking - and find the right school for you - whether it’s one you’ve never heard of or a top one.

Good luck.

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I think you have a real shot at NYU Stern if you go ED or ED2. In terms of business, you can’t do much better.

I also think that the HYPSM colleges might be too much of a reach, and that your time would be better spent creating great applications for colleges where you really fit.

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@tsbna44 - I agree. A lot of thought needs to go into the college list. Also, parents and kids need to have open discussion about finances for college

@overambitiousindian - Colleges are an investment. you need to carefully consider the amount you invest in a college. At the end of undergrad, do you want to apply to top MBA programs? Cost of top MBA can be 100K per year (tution+fees+living expenses). If you are considering applying to graduate programs, is it worth spending $320K worth it on private undergraduate college as well?

Isenberg school of management is one of the competitive colleges at UMASS. UMASS honors college with Isenberg is a great deal for 120K instate MA tution. If you take MCAS, you can also qualify for merit scholarships.

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Like other commenters, I am concerned about the size of the list. How are you going to put in enough thought and care to write this many essays? I believe that you are planning to apply to too many universities. At a minimum you need to prioritize, and apply to the schools that you care about first. It seems likely that you will decide to stop after applying to 8 or 10 schools.

U.Mass Amherst is a very good university. Being in-state with strong stats you should get in and most likely get some sort of merit based scholarship. This is the one school on your list that I would strongly recommend that you leave on your list.

After that I get confused. For each university I think that if they asked “why are you applying to this university” you should have a good answer. With this I have to ask: Why are you applying to Dartmouth College, UC Berkeley, and the University of Michigan? What is it about each of these three schools that makes it a good fit for you? I might ask the same thing about UNC and Vanderbilt and UT Austin. What does UNC have that would cause you to prefer it over U.Mass Amherst? Is Northeastern worth being full pay relative to U.Mass in-state or have you run the NPC for NEU?

UC Berkeley and UCLA would be full pay if you get accepted to either of them. The same may be true of a lot of the other schools as well. You should run the NPC on a few of them (or possibly all of them) and show the results to your parents.

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Hope this is helpful. Please share results as they come in.

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I’ll add to the chorus that your list is too “reachy.” Some of the schools you think are matches aren’t. UNC-CH, for example, is a very tough admit for out of staters. I also agree that you have way too many colleges on the list to do a good job with your applications.

I think essays are one of the trickiest parts of college admissions. I am far from being an expert, but I have my doubts about your topics. These are my concerns. Please run them by someone with more experience than I have. I may be wrong–these ideas are just my opinion.

Generally speaking, it’s a bad idea to portray yourself as a “type.” There are thousands of Indian Americans applying to business schools and as economics majors and who have an interest in health care. To me it seems like it would be really difficult to find “new perspectives” about Indian American culture, at least in a fairly short essay. Remember, many admissions officers will have read literally thousands of essays on this topic over multiple years. Do you really think you can come up with an idea that they’ve never read before? Even if you CAN give a “new perspective,” you might fail to make yourself seem different from all the other Indian American applicants applying. That’s the point of an essay, after all–especially at reach schools. You want the admissions officer to think that if you aren’t admitted, there won’t be anyone who is admitted who can offer what you offer to the college. You do NOT want the admissions officer to think “Hmm…yes, Indian culture is distinctive so we ought to make sure we admit some Indian Americans to the class” instead of thinking “This applicant is distinctive; I think she’d really add something to the class.” (Moreover, reality is that it’s likely that there will be so many Indian American applicants applying that it won’t be necessary to make any extra effort to insure some are admitted.)

Your eating disorder–how far back in the past is that? I would hesitate to raise any fears that you might relapse. I just think it’s a tricky topic and you need to be careful about how you come across.

Moreover, IMO–which is just that, IMO-- you’ve got being an Indian American covered by your blog and podcast and eating disorder covered by your mental health and eating disorder recovery platform, so there’s really no reason to focus on them in your essays unless you are answering a specific question like “Which of the activities you engage in are most important to you personally?” Even then, I’d be careful for the reasons above.

Good luck! You have a lot going for you.

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How many essays have you actually worked on already? Are you done with the common app essay? Don’t even bother with UCs- they have their own app with 4 essays. Not worth it since you won’t get merit.

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I was thinking the same thing. The OP has more to lose here than to gain.

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Thank you all so much for the feedback! Just to make it clearer for everyone, price isn’t a problem and I most likely will not be eligible for any financial aid. Merit scholarships would just be like a bonus but aren’t mandatory. I’m also looking to go into business and the financial sector and everything I’ve heard says that the prestige of your undergrad school plays a huge role, which is why my list is so reach heavy right now. I’m applying to a couple early action and those decisions will definitely influence which schools I apply to regular decision.

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@overambitiousindian You have very good stats/EC’s and you have gotten a lot of good advice here already. If you can answer some of the questions posted - like how far along you are on your essays - it may help us to give you more focused advice. Do not underestimate the time and effort the supplemental essays take. You cannot just switch a few words and sentences.

Speaking of focused - that’s what your list needs to be. If you’re planning to major in business and have had internships at companies already, you should bring that business strategy thought process into the college search. And that strategy is definitely not “I’ll throw in apps to all the T20’s, and I am likely to get in one of them”. The shotgun approach does not work because the admission probabilities are not independent. And RD is sure to be a bloodbath, especially for someone in an over-represented demographic. Consider a binding ED option if money is no object and you have a clear first choice. Some suggestions were already made - NYU Stern or Northeastern.

From a personal POV, our family is Indian-American, and my kid with is applying this year as well, but in engineering. My kid’s list is 9 universities in total, with 3 reach schools -not HYPSM, despite high stats and great EC’s, and he is already exhausted from writing essays. Have you asked for input from your high school counselor? Do you have Naviance or something like that at your school that gives stats for students getting into these reach universities?

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Then IU is a better safety for you than UConn and UMass Amherst.

But that’s the thing…you can not wait for EA decisions to start your RD essays at least at the current volume. Plus, your current EA essay volume is high (and school list too disparate) to do a high quality job on all of them.

EA decisions…only Chicago and MIT will be in by RD deadlines:
UMass Amherst - decisions late Dec- early Jan
NEU - by Feb 1
UNC - Jan 31
UT A - Feb 1
U Mich - By end of Jan, Ross later
Chicago - Mid-Dec
MIT - Mid-Dec

So, you need to cut schools…what schools would you cut knowing that IU Kelley is a direct admit safety? That should eliminate some schools on your list, because IU is better for business than some on your list.

I also agree with others who express concern about talking about an eating disorder in your main essay. Do you have someone helping you with essays?

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Hi! To answer your questions, I’m done with all my supplements for early action schools and I’m having people look at them for edits and revisions. I unfortunately don’t have one specific school that my heart is set on so I’m a little nervous at the idea of applying ED to any school. I have certain schools - UChicago, UPenn, Harvard, UMich, UNC, MIT - that I’m focusing a majority of my time on so in the end I might end up dropping all the other schools.

My high school counselor has unfortunately not been much help and Naviance seems unreliable because my stats fall under safety and match on all my schools including the Ivies.