Chance Me - UPenn, Umich, USC, Stanford,

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello! I am an upcoming senior and was wondering if anyone would be able to look through this and provide some feedback/chances! Thank You!

Demographics:
Indian male, Illinois, competitive public school, middle/high income

Major - generally mix of business/engineering, predominantly finance
Stanford - Management Decision Sciencecs
USC - Bachelors in Computer Science and business admin.
Upenn - Finance or M&T
UMich - Ross BA

Scores:
GPA - 3.85 UW, 4.54 Wj
ACT- 36 (34 E, 36 M, 36 R, 36 S)
SAT - 1560 (790M, 770R)
SAT II - MATH 2 (780), Chem (750)
PSAT - 1480
Class rank: school doesn’t rank

  • I have earned some certificates in programming as well as financial trading

Transcript:

  • Freshman year: Only AP Human Geo allowed (5)
  • sophomore year: Only AP European History allowed (5)
  • junior year: APUSH, AP Chem, AP Calc AB, AP 3 English (all scores pending)
  • senior year: , AP physics (Both EM and Mechanics), AP Macro, AP Micro, AP Calc BC, AP Compsci

EC’S and awards:

  • Tennis: 4 Years in Highschool, Varsity since sophomore year
  • Hindu Sunday School (Youth Coordinator)
  • internship at a local startup (did marketing) during summer after 10th grade
  • finance research at the Univesity of Illinois summer after 11th
  • Business Professionals of America - 4 years, multiple state awards and 2nd in nation in Personal Financial Management
  • Chapter president of BPA as well
  • Model UN - 4 years - Treasurer for two years
  • Principal Advisory Board (what the name implies)
  • Director of Finance at local student run charity , also received a Mayoral Commendation for my work
  • Student Ambassador and member of finance team and charity known as Peerlift
  • Board Member for local youth group KidsMatter
    -Math tutor

If you would like more information, please let me know!!

2

You have pretty good ECs and a good academic profile, so I would give you a good chance to get into Michigan and USC, and probably recieve decent aid from USC. UPenn will be tough, but I think you are a competitive applicant there. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get in; it just means that they’ll probably put you into the “consideration” pile of applicants. Stanford is a high reach for anyone, and I would say the same to you. It very well could be possible, but based on their 4.7-4.8% acceptance rate, I wouldn’t count on it. You’ve positioned yourself well to be competitive at all of the schools you mentioned, just make sure you knock the essay out of the park. GL, and maybe we’ll be Michigan c/o 2023 together next year!

3

Thank You for the feedback!! @DJCURRYBEATS19

4

They are all reaches. Spend good time and effort on your essays and apply early to Michigan.

5

AYE a fellow Peerlift member! Hahah I’m one of the Regional Cohort Leaders and I work on Finance w you lol. But anyways, you have GREAT test scores, and your ECs are decent. Your test scores will definitely get you into the game for the Ivies, but ECs are a little doubtful. You need something a little more innovative ig, your ECs are a bit too generic for an upper-middle Indian male (I can attest to this lol, I am in the same boat as you). You definitely have a great shot for UMich and probably USC, but Stanford and UPenn are definitely reach schools (not impossible though if you present yourself in a unique way). M&T might be a stretch though, as your UW GPA of 3.85 is slightly on the lower end for the program. Most of the people getting in are basically 3.95+ I’ve heard. If you want to go for it though, apply ED to Penn M&T and put your backup as Wharton Finance on the application. If you want to keep it safe though, as others said apply ED to UMich.

6

Can you apply ED to Penn-Wharton & EA to Michigan-Ross ? If so, then that may be your best strategy for the listed schools.

7

^This is ingenious. I completely forgot that UMich is EA. Definitely go for what @Publisher said, this will give you the best of both worlds.

8

@nvb123: You certainly know how to make friends !

9

@Publisher, haha what do you mean??

10

I avoid ‘Chance Me’ threads, but when I saw yours, I felt compelled to respond. Since you are an Illinois resident, I encourage you to apply to UIUC Gies. Both my daughter and son are Illini, who majored in business…finance/supply chain and finance/accounting. They attended a high school in the western suburbs and had similar academic stats, but weaker business ECs.

They are happy with U of I for several reasons:

– Cost. Illinois in-state tuition was locked in freshman year. It was/will be approximately $120k for each of their 4 year undergraduate degrees. My son considered his acceptance to Michigan, but it would have been in the $240k ballpark. We could afford it, without loans, but we didn’t think the price difference made sense for us.

Oh, and both of my kids got some merit scholarship money. It was only a few thousand dollars, but as a family which wouldn’t qualify for any financial aid, it was better than nothing.

– Study abroad. We compared study abroad opportunities at various schools. Back when my children were looking at colleges (in 2012 and 2014), Illinois’ study abroad program was arguably the best fit. They studied in Italy and Spain and those semesters were cheaper than if they had stayed on campus.

– AP credit. My children were given a lot of credit for their AP exam grades. This made it possible for them to double major and have a low stress study abroad semester. My son, will also complete a minor and have enough hrs (150) to sit for the CPA exam…all without staying an extra semester or two.

– UIUC’s strong College of Engineering attracts a lot of companies to campus. There is also a selective T and M (Technology and Management) minor, which is comprised of approximately 25 engineering students and 25 business students. This is the minor my son is getting. As a part of the minor he traveled with the group to China, after finals in his junior year. They spent 11 days in 4 cities, visiting companies and tourist attractions.

– Job placement. Gies has strong job placement in the Chicago area. We are a close family and my children were looking to work in the Chicago area post-graduation.

So in my opinion, outcome is important. I believe if you take advantage of the opportunities that are available at U of I and can graduate in the top 25% or better, you can have a good outcome.

My daughter graduated last year and is working at one of the Big 3 consulting firms in Chicago. She is living in the city and has many U of I friends to do things with on the weekends.

My son is a rising senior. Last summer he did a finance internship. This summer he is interning in Chicago at a consulting firm.

I guess I shared all this, because I thought you might be overlooking a viable option. Think about what you want out of your undergrad experience. Think about your post-grad life. Good luck!

11

Thank you so much for the information! As an Illinois resident I have definitely considered UIUC as a terrific option and this post definitely compels me to research it more. Thank You again!

12

You are a competitive applicant. Your stats and ECs are good. Write great essays, apply early to one of these schools, and you could get accepted to any of these schools