I am a junior and am thus beginning to formulate a list of colleges to which I hope to apply. My grades are not exactly remarkable, just a 3.5 unweighted with a 1700 SAT. However what I believe sets me apart is my entrepreneurial accomplishments.
Over the last two years I have helped found and develop a multi-million dollar company (over $10 million), as well as found a startup of my own which is currently in a development period and is valued a bit over $1 million (based on our current investment offers). I feel as though many of the Ivy leagues and other schools such as Stanford, MIT, Lehigh, Babson and a handful of others have programs that are perfect for me.
I have toured UVA, Colgate, UPenn and Princeton and fell in love, though I worry that I will be dismissed immediately after a cursory glance at my transcripts. Which schools out there tend to value accomplishments such as mine heavily in that they would consider me a strong candidate for their school? I truly believe that I excel in business related and higher level classes which is why despite my GPA, I will excel in a rigorous business school. Thank you all for your input, I appriciate any of your advice.
The GPA is workable. Do you take AP classes? Class rank? Your SAT is the real concern. Have you studied? I think if you retook your SATs and did better (2100?) your odds would be a lot better. Maybe 1800 or 1900 would be enough for Babson, but im not too familiar with them. The top private schools will all love your experience.
Why are you going to college? Not that it’s somehow bad, but what is your goal? You seem to be doing well as is.
That SAT is holding you back from the places you’ve identified as your top choices. Either find other schools or do some serious practice followed by a retake. You’ll need some subject tests too. (Or the ACT with Writing.)
For the schools you are considering, take a look at the Common Data Set (google it), Section C to compare your stats to those of admitted students. Your entrepreneurial accomplishments are impressive - and if your grades and test scores were within range, you’d have a reasonable chance of admission. For now, your test scores stand between you and a lot of schools that you might otherwise choose to attend.
Another thought: Consider a gap year (or two) while you continue to work. The opportunity to attend college will be there next year and the year after that…The opportunity to run a start-up and gain management experience is a lot harder to come by. Sounds like a unique opportunity.
What you have done is incredible and I give you props for that, but the problem is that so many students bluff on their college applications that the first thing colleges look at is grades and SAT scores. It’s the one thing students can’t gas so colleges are more concerned with them. With that being said, I am a part time author and come from the South Bronx which is notorious for being the hood and I’ve gotten into a lot of prestigious colleges even though my SAT scores weren’t as high as my competitors. I really hope you get into top colleges because what you’ve done is show an intelligence outside of the classroom, which is in the long run more important than regurgitating facts for tests. You should show demonstrated interest by emailing top colleges now and telling them about your interest and accomplishments.
Feel free to answer mine http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1740097-can-someone-help-me-edit-this-essay.html#latest
You should look at fairtest.org for its ever-expanding list of test-optional colleges. I’m afraid that your stats are not competitive at the colleges you listed above, and it is utterly unrealistic to talk about a 400-point score increase. Yes, you’ll see posts from people on this site who claim to have achieved that, but the statistical likelihood of that occurring is infinitesimal. You should certainly take the SAT again, and attempt the ACT at least once, but don’t expect a score increase of more than 100 points. Look at some of the Colleges That Change Lives, also. There are thousands of good colleges out there. Your entrepreneurial experience and solid GPA will get you into plenty of them, so focus on those instead of the ones where your prospects are not great. What state do you live in? Pace might be a possibility. They are located within walking distance of Wall Street, with good business and computer programs. Stevens Institute is worth looking at. Temple and DePaul are both in big, dynamic cities, and you would have good chances at either.
Given your business success, is it necessary for you to study business, as opposed to subjects of personal interest or which provide subject material for future business ventures?
Thank you all for your thoughts and advice. I agree with everything that has been mentioned.
I cannot think of not going to college, I would rather have the options, network and frankly the fun. I have not enjoyed high school and I look forward to enjoying college and being very involved before jumping into an even more rigorous work schedule.
I plan to retake the SAT, with a tutor this time. While 400 points is nearly impossible, I do think I could go up 150-300 or so to finally have an 1800-1950 which seems like it would put me more on par.
Babson sounds like the perfect fit for you and I do see it as likely for you. They are there to foster entrepreneurs and they have the business focus with the liberal arts supporting the critical thinking and writing skills. Best of both world’s but only one major. There will be people with passions like yours there, sounds like a good fit. Babson may be kind of hot right now though, with making the top ranking college in Money Magazine recently.
If you want to study business, Harvard and Stanford don’t have it as an undergrad degree. Princeton doesn’t either but it has a Finance certificate you can do, like a minor. These are academic institutes. They leave the business trade school as a grad school. Look into it.
Don’t try to go to a school where the intellectuals and the giant math brains will crush you. I don’t know how rigorous your coursework is, but unless you feel very strong, it won’t be a good fit. You need to decide if you want to study business as an undergrad or not. If you do, then don’t go for colleges that don’t offer it. If you don’t, then think about what you might like to study.
wait for the current admissions cycle to finish. After May 1st, admissions counselors will be able to give you more time. Speak with them about your accomplishments. I’m sure that they will show interest.
But to answer your question, I believe that Wake Forest is currently one of the highest ranked schools that is SAT/ACT optional.
The schools that have highly selective admissions processes tend to practice a holistic admissions policy, and I daresay most schools do if the applicant is special enough. You had better believe that Madonna’s daughter, Liam Neeson’s kds, a Kennedy, a Rockefeller, an Olympian, anyone who falls high on the celebrity, high accomplishment, publicity, power, development measure will get a very holistic reading. How impressive your accomplishments are will be determine how holistic your app would be viewed.
Not only your SAT but also your GPA would be low for Stanford, MIT, and the Ivies.
Go ahead and apply if you like, but admission would be a real long shot. At Princeton for example, only about 1% of entering students had SAT-M scores below 600; only 3% had SAT-CR scores below 600. Also, as others have pointed out, many super-selective schools don’t have business majors.
If you do want to major in business, check out the offerings at your home state’s public universities. They’ll have much lower sticker prices than Stanford, MIT, or the Ivies. They’ll be less selective as well. If you don’t want to restrict yourself to in-state schools, consider some of the following:
Indiana University
Wake Forest
University of Richmond
Northeastern
Villanova
Lehigh
Fordham
Elon
Loyola University Maryland
Case Western
All these schools are among the top 50 in Bloomberg’s undergraduate business program ranking.
I just reread the SAT scores - under 1700 - that is 550, 600, 550 - that is pretty far below the patriot and nescac schools - you story has to a be good one
Babson is only a little above your scores - that seems like a good fit
That’s Easy, Go in as a direct admit to Kelley Indianapolis and work with an adjunct professor who happens to be one of the top entrepreneurs in the country. He teaches because he wants to mentor kids, just like you. Message me if you want more information. Top 20 school, you get directly in and there are many resources for kids just like you.
All of the accomplishments you have are great. But really dont mean much to admissions folks. Go where it means something, and can learn outside of the classroom. Not the Ivies…
I was not saying “don’t go to college”. What I was saying is that you may want to use the opportunity in college to study something of personal interest and/or which can be subject matter for future business ventures, rather than focusing solely on business (although some business courses in those areas which you are least experienced in may also help).
