<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm a high school senior applying to quite a few schools (10) and don't know what specific major I should enter. I understand that I'm not forced to decide on a major for a while, but I'd like to get an idea in my head ahead of time. I think business is in my blood but I don't know which line of a business-related major would be best for me. </p>
<p>I'm applying to University of Miami (reach), Rollins College, Pepperdine (reach), Rutgers, Drexel, Penn State, Indiana University, uMass, FGCU, and Quinnipiac. I've gotten into FGCU so far, which is my super safety. The majors I'm thinking about are Risk Management, Finance, Marketing, Management, and Accounting. I have around a 3.3/4.0 (unweighted) and have only taken one honors class. I feel like I didn't give 110% in high school. My SAT is around an 1800 and I don't plan on taking the ACTs. I'm hoping my back story/essay (5th paragraph explains what it's about) will get me into my reach schools. </p>
<p>To give you a little background information, I've always been obsessed with anything related to business. I was the kid that could trade a ham a cheese sandwich with the crust for a lunchables meal. When I played RuneScape at 10 years old I managed to merchant in-game and later sell the virtual GP made for real life cash. Not really too impressive but there's more. I came back to RuneScape at age 13 - not as a player, but as an exchanger - and I began selling RuneScape GP for PayPal. At 17, I began exchanging PayPal, LR, and BTC (before BTC was worth $2000 a pop). Successfully made about $2000 in the course of 3 months.</p>
<p>At age 17, I received a (popular shoes and clothing site) gift card for my birthday. Looking at the gift card's numbers, I figured out the company's gift card algorithm - pattern of the gift card numbers - and had access to over $20,000 in gift cards which were created ($20,000 in other people's gift cards). Instead of using the money because I knew it would be illegal and conspicuous, I emailed the company and offered my help to create pins for the cards or strengthen/randomize the gift card algorithm under a pseudonym (ask me if you need me to elaborate on this).</p>
<p>In September of this year, after working as an employee at my current company for only 2 weeks, I uncovered a major vulnerability in its returns system. I work in one of the 7500 retail stores as a front store employee. The vulnerability I found allowed customers to return their items for more than the amount they were purchased for. For instance, a customer would come into the store and purchase various items which were on sale totaling $100. The customer would return the items when the sale period was over and receive $150. (the customers could actually return the items during the sale period and still receive $150.) The company's system didn't recognize the price an item was purchased for and if any coupons or rewards were applied, thus, giving full retail value back. I noticed on a customer's receipt that he had successfully exploited this flaw for over $10,000 over the course of nine months. I worked three days a week at the store and encountered at least 5 customers per a week engaging in this scheme intentionally. The vulnerability affected all stores across the nation. If each store had a total of $10,000 per year in returns which were as a result of this vulnerability, the total loss would be $75million per year (10,000*7500). Did I mention the company I work at is ranked within the top 25 fortune 500 companies? </p>
<p>I contacted Loss Prevention and Corporate and notified them of the vulnerability. After a week of correspondence, it was fixed through my suggestions of syncing up receipts (amount paid = amount the customer gets back) and canceling out reward points if a return were involved. I received a recommendation from my district manager. When I attempted to receive one from corporate they basically said they don't give out letters of recommendation to high school students for college. </p>
<p>So, my question is, based off of the information above, what major do you think suits me best? Also, I'm finishing three applications tomorrow and am revising my essay again for them. If anyone here would like to edit it for me let me know. The topic is: "Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story." I'm using the last portion of this thread on my main essay for the colleges. </p>
<p>Thank you for reading,</p>
<p>-mmcspiritt</p>