I am currently a senior whose applying to universities that have top undergraduate business programs. Some of these include Columbia (will major in financial economics), University of Michigan, Boston College, and University of Pennsylvania (Wharton being my dream school). I’m not expecting anything really since these are highly selective schools, especially for business, but can you guys please chance me? Other school suggestions may be great too! I plan to major in Finance.
Here are my stats:
GPA: 3.7 unweighted, 4.43 weighted (My school is one of the top ten ranked most challenging high schools in the nation; my high school is small)
ACT: 31
Rank: N/A
Took 13 AP exams: Received AP Scholar Award- (Scored a 5 on AP Calculus BC which I hope looks good for some business schools)
SAT Subject Tests: Don’t plan to show, but I got a 700 on Math 2 and 700 on U.S. History
Extracurriculars:
Founder and President of Finance Club (10-12th)
Ran Family Hotel Business- managed accounting, finances, reservations, front desk and sales, and even housekeeping. (11th)
Mock Trial Club member (10-12th)
American Red Cross volunteer (9-12th)
Congressional Youth Leadership Conference participant (10th)
Computer Science Programming internship (10th)
Letters of Recommendation:
Should be very strong, teachers know me very well.
Essays:
I write pretty well, my counselor says my writing is a strong suit.
I agree with the above post. Your ACT will likely take you out of contention for Wharton & Columbia. And you will not get a pre-admit to Ross at UMichgan. NYU Stern would be a reach. There are as some good suggestions for schools that are matches listed above. You might look into Fordham (Gabelli), Bentley, Babson, IU (Kelley), Tulane, GW as well. You should also try the Supermatch function to the left on CC under Find a College. Also be sure you area applying to schools that will be affordable – if money is an issue, run the net price calculator for each school under consideration.
As an aside, IMO you should be careful about thinking that economics and finance are similar majors. They are not. Economics is a liberal arts course of study and gets very theoretical at the higher levels. All of your core classes will be in the various liberal arts disciplines. In contrast, a business school will have a business core curriculum (along with a liberal arts one) to include introductory classes in a number of disciplines such as accounting, finance, IT, management, etc. and then you will major in one of them.
BC does not have a top 5 (or even 10) business school. It’s a decent program but doesn’t compare to the others.
Wharton, Stern, and Ross Pre-Admit are probably the three most competitive business programs to get into at the undergrad level. All three are reaches (not just for you but for almost anyone). I would definitely throw in a couple of matches and safeties.
Other good programs for you: Indiana-Kelley, UT Austin, UNC, UVA (probs a reach however)
Being in NYC is also highly advantageous. Fordham and Baruch (if you graduate near the top and take advantage of the city can open a lot of doors as well).
@qwertyzxc Actually, you are incorrect. Boston College is ranked 4th. Notre Dame and Wharton would be the two hardest programs to gain acceptance nowadays, at # 1 and #7, respectively.
Being in NY is not an advantage anymore. It might have been 25 years ago but a lot has changed structurally in the economy and in certain industries. It simply isn’t a priority any longer.
BC is 4th according to what? Businessweek? What kind of credible ranking would have BC above Stern or Wharton? In OPs case, he / she should go by the UNSWR UG Finance rankings which have Wharton, Stern, and Ross at 1-3.
A lot of prestigious finance firms don’t even recruit at BC and pretty much all finance firms recruit (and very heavily) at Wharton, Stern, & Ross.
If you are going by acceptance rate Dyson, Wharton, Stern, & Ross Pre-Admit are hardest programs to get into by far at the undergraduate level. I believe Notre Dame is above 20% acceptance rate. Notre Dame however is starting to be more actively recruited.
Being in NYC is not an advantage? Are you kidding me? Tell that to all the Baruch kids who are working their tails off in the city, getting solid internship experiences during the year, and snapping up fantastic offers at prestigious front office finance jobs. Baruch is not even close to a top business school and their top kids are getting offers from firms that won’t recruit at BC and Notre Dame.
Believe me, if you know how to take advantage of the city it is a BIG advantage. I can’t even begin to tell you how many opportunities I’ve been exposed to intern at prestigious firms during the year, meet and build relationships with people at the firms I’m interested in, have my bosses at small firms introduce me to their network. I’ve had friends who’ve secured internships at prestigious HFs from freshman / sophomore and do such a great job that they’ve offered FT positions and these are places where MBAs from HSW are dying to get into.
Every interview I’ve been to, my interviewers were blown away by my past experiences and how intelligently I could speak to them. Most of what I learned has come from outside the classroom in NYC so I’m a big believer in the advantages going to school in NYC or any large city for that matter.