Chances for Rising Senior Applying to top Finance/Economics schools

Demographics

  • US domestic
  • Masachusetts*
  • Large Public High School (>1500 students)*:
  • Asian (Indian)*:
  • Both of my parents are first-gen immigrants
    I am currently a Junior in HS
    **Intended Majors: Finance or Economics

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0 (will probably be closer to a 3.9 after this year)
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 5.0/5.0 (will be more like a 4.9 after this year)
  • Class Rank: School doesn’t do rank
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 36 ACT (36 in every subcategory)

Coursework

(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))

  • 3 AP classes so far, 7 by the time I apply to colleges: Stat, APUSH, BC Calc, Bio, Econ, Spanish, Psych
  • Have only done 1 AP exam (5 on AP Stat) but I think I will get 4s or 5s on most of the AP exams as I am a good test taker
  • 1 or 2 College Courses
  • All Honors/AP classes
  • Finished BC Calc as a Junior, taking Multivariable Calc next year thru UMass

Awards

Extracurriculars

  • 3 Internships in Finance
  • Created a local basketball summer camp that ran for 3 years
  • Key Club and NHS member for volunteering
  • FTE’s Economics for Leaders 1 week summer course
  • Probably will do 2 more summer programs this summer
  • Selected as a teaching assistant for math class designed to help struggling students
  • Selected as one of the student leaders to help freshmen transition into the HS
  • Student Congress officer
  • Played Club&School basketball every year (~9 months a year)

Schools

Applying to:

UT-Austin, [NYU], [Boston College], [Carnegie Mellon], [UVA] (EA)

USC, [UCLA], [UC Berkeley], Michigan (EA), UNC (EA), [WashU]

Penn (ED), [Harvard], [Duke], [Columbia], MIT (EA), [Princeton], [Stanford], [Yale]

If you guys can give me the rough chances mainly for UPenn, and then also if anyone has any advice for where I can strengthen my application, that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

If it helps, I should be top 1-3% of the class

Any cost concerns ?

Any desires besides…big names. You have to be there four years. Weather. Urban vs rural. Big. Small. U just grabbed who appears to be well known (to me anyway)

Finance and Econ are not the same. If you want to study finance then study finance.

I’m sure you already know you have the potential to get in just a about any college. You will need to define your ECs. Show impact. Like what did u do I’m your internships (duty wise, were u paid).

Same for key club and nhs. They are not relevant unless you did something impactful so you need to be definitive on your app.

Essays and LORs will need to be top notch. You can start brainstorming your Common App essay now.

The basketball league has promise depending on your role and duties. Could show initiative As a lead EC.

Find the right school. Not the biggest names.

Ps any thoughts as to a career ?
Are u a NMF ?

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Penn (ED) : you may not simultaneously apply to MIT(EA)

This helps if you really are- but you said your school doesn’t rank - so it doesn’t help. If the school doesn’t rank, you don’t have a rank.

But i’m sure on the counselor rec you’ll be listed in the proper range as defined on their report.

btw - what is your safety? Please don’t tell me BC. UMASS Isenberg is a very good school.

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No one ever knows the real chances. Your stats are in line with what other competitive applicants to these schools will have. For UPenn, I’d say the most important thing would be to show demonstrated interest in and Ec’s that support your interests. For this path, in particular, you are going to have a lot of high school Seniors try to say they started businesses/projects with thousands of followers/buyer or a path that is going to sound like the next FB. That’s silly. Tell you own story, most importantly focusing on what options you had and how you made the most of your options. It isn’t about doing sounding bombastic but about sounding like you are person who will fit into their program.
There’s really no way to tell chances. If you are outstanding you might double your chances, but it’s a lottery. You do what you can and the rest is in the hands of other people .

These are my main two concerns.

You need to make sure that either your parents are fine with spending more than $320,000 over four years, or that the schools that you are applying to are likely to be affordable.

Also, you should figure out what you want in a university, and find a school that fits what you want. Do you want to be in a big city or small town? Do you want a large university?

If you make it to your reaches (Penn, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, etc…) you can expect to be suddenly average the day that you arrive on campus. There will be much stronger competition, and there will also be a lot more students who are “like you”. Classes will suddenly be tough. Do you want this? Some strong students do. Some strong students do not. Many very strong students find this exciting and fun one day, and another day find it a drag that just keeps going. Then you walk into a class with a very demanding professor in a subject that you like, and suddenly it becomes exciting and fun again but a LOT of work.

Also, I think that you should seriously consider U.Mass Amherst for your undergrad. I know that staying in-state is not exciting. I know that you are academically stronger than many other students who are going to be headed to U.Mass. However, you can get a very good and very affordable education there, and save some $$ for graduate school.

I am not a fan of ED unless both: (i) You are sure what your top choice is; and (ii) You are sure that you can afford it.

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Are you looking to go into investment banking or other high finance careers? If so then it makes sense to have a list heavy with target schools. But if you’re focused on economics, then the undergrad degree prestige doesn’t matter as much.

Are you applying to Wharton ED? Or Penn CAS?

When you say 1500 students in your HS, is that total? Or in each graduating class? This matters because top 3% in a class of 1500 would place you in top 50. Whereas top 3% in a class of 370 would be top 10. Does your school have a history of sending students to the ivies?

If you’re interested in Economics, why is Chicago not on your list? At the very least you should consider ED2 if your early1 application doesn’t work out.

Perhaps consider Drexel. It’s right by UPenn and has a solid business school. You’d likely get some great merit which might be something to consider when the reality of paying for college sets in. My cousin graduated from there with many job offers in finance. He got great experience with the co-ops.

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I’d say very difficult to get into UT-Austin McCombs for Finance. There are many Texas valedictorians who don’t make it into McCombs Business School.

Thank you so much for the response.
Fortunately for me, cost isn’t a major concern
To be honest, my main two categories were that I want to either be in a city or go to a big college, which is why many of the NESCAC liberal arts schools aren’t included.
In terms of finance v. Econ, the main issue is that many schools don’t offer finance as a major, so I would have to do economics with a finance concentration.
I believe I fall into the range to be an NMF, I scored a 1490 PSAT
Overall, I really appreciate the advice. It feels really discouraging sometimes seeing all these people with absurd accomplishments and 10 businesses getting rejected from some of these schools.

I am mainly looking to go into Investment Banking/Finance, just many of the top schools don’t offer finance majors. I am planning to apply Wharton ED, although I haven’t finalized yet. 1500 students total in my HS, and my school does have a solid history of sending students to Ivys.

UChicago isn’t on my list mainly because I have heard some really negative things about it from older kids but I will definitely look into it further.

Honestly haven’t really though about too many safeties yet. I was planning on including IU and Umass as two possible safeties.

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I appreciate the advice. I was thinking of mainly highlighting my internship positions, as 2 of them were offered to me after local parents saw my leadership coaching basketball. I was also possibly going to highlight my involvement coaching basketball for younger kids.

I think you’d know if you were NMF.

Now your list makes sense.

While you may get into a school or two or eight on the list, you also may get blanked - even BC Carroll School is difficult.

So I go back to - what’s your safety - because you need one.

But - as long as you communicate yourself effectively, you certainly have a chance.

Ohio State is strong in finance - for example and you’d be a likely. IU and UMASS are wonderful but neither are in a big city although both are big. Why not BU or NEU? Babson and Bentley are two to look into as well - great outcomes. SMU as well.

Maybe this link will help.

25 Best Colleges for Finance 2020 | GradReports

PS - don’t assume your parents want to pay $325K - you should have that conversation if you haven’t. With your #s, there’s schools you can go to for - almost free tuition. If you’re NMF, free tuition and room for four years.

Good luck.

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That’s good to know. I thought I could since MIT is non-restrictive?

I am still looking to find more safeties. Babson and Bentley are great schools, just a bit too close to home for me. I will definitely look further into Ohio State.
Also for the NMF, on their website it says they notify you about it in September, and I took it last October. Historically, my score is just above the cutoff for MA, so I am hopeful to be selected.
I will definitely have that convo with my parents. In the past they have said that they want me to take a loan out for 1 year and they will help with the other three. My thinking was that an undergrad degree from some of the schools on my list would have a Return on Investment that would make them worth the higher tuition, not sure if that makes sense.

I would take a look at Fordham’s Gabelli School. Considered very strong in finance and a great feeder into Wall Street for both internships and full time.

The location allows many students who have summer internships to continue working or interning throughout the academic year.

Typically you will find a comparable number of Fordham students at BB WS firms as you will from Wharton. The kids are viewed as smart, hungry and humble.

FYI I have absolutely no ties to the school but I have worked on Wall Street for decades. Good luck.

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appreciate it, thank you

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