I wish to go into the business world and work on Wall Street. My dream school has always been Wharton, but due to a star student at my school who is applying their early I have been advised to look elsewhere. I also plan on applying early. I visited Penn and thought it was okay, and I also will be visiting Princeton, Columbia, and Yale. I was just wondering where I should apply to and whether I should apply early to maximize my chances. Also what schools are best to allow me to achieve my dream to become a investment banker or international banker. I am a junior and am a white male. My stats are:
35 Composite ACT and 36 Super Score
5.56 UnWeighted GPA and 4.0 UnWeighted
I took the SAT as a Sophomore and got a 1890. I am taking it next month again and predict somewhere around a 2150. Should I even retake due to it being potentially way lower than my ACT score?
I will be taking Subject 2 Tests and predict getting high 700s for Chemistry, US History and Math Level 2
2 Years Varisty Golf
1 Year Freshman Basketball
Will be attending Wharton’s LBW this summer
President and Founder of a Financial Literacy Club at my school and have expanded it to local middle schools
CoFounder of a Debate Team
Placed 3rd in states of FBLA for Economics
I have 2 research projects I am working on from the Heads of Economics at my local University (FGCU)
Won the Outstanding Junior Award from Princeton Alumni club in my area
I talk to less privileged middle schoolers every Friday
Any advice on schools that fit me and whether the schools are reach schools.
Thanks! All responses are appreciated.
I would definitely apply to university of Texas, Austin. They have a business honors program which is incredible, and very difficult to get into, McCombs is a highly ranked undergraduate business program in and of itself. I would also apply to NYU Stern and USC, Marshall school of business. Northwestern has a fantastic economics department so apply there as well. Emory also has a highly regarded undergraduate business program… Cornell also has an excellent undergraduate business school in CALS. Don’t bother with the SAT. Focus your energy elsewhere. Best of luck!
I forgot ross at michigan. Very competitive for direct admit
Look through Bloomberg, Fortune and Business Week’s rankings and Notre Dame’s Mendoza is number 1 in two of the rankings and tied for number 2 in the other.
Unless your GC is like forbidding you or something, you still can apply to Wharton early. Don’t worry about retaking the SAT – stick with your ACT. I don’t how money plays into all this but think about Notre Dame, UMichigan and Northwestern. Only apply early to your dream school. As a safety, consider regional/state schools nearby you.
Thank you for the great advice, please send anything else if you remember anything! Also I was wondering what’s so beneficial about a undergraduate business program. Wouldn’t going to HPY give you more opportunities than most of the schools mentioned?
Don’t retake the SAT and don’t submit SAT scores. You’re done with testing. 
Run the Net Price Calculators for each school and talk with your parents to see how much they’re willing to pay for your college (don’t assume that because they have money, they’re able/willing to invest in your future… Some parents are strange.)
What about NYU Stern? Georgetown? Both are major providers for Wall Street positions.
Ross or McCombs will likely not offer financial aid, so can your parents afford 50-55K every year?
Williams, HYP, Wellesley if you’re a girl… lots of other colleges would take you to Wall Street regardless of major.
Do you have safeties? For Wall Street, I would imagine Indiana-Kelley and ???
My tutor is telling to take the SAT because it makes me more competitive with both SAT and ACT scores. But a average SAT score like me getting a 2050 which is what I’m testing at right now could hurt me for the top schools right?
Also my friend told me if I try to hide an SAT score from a school that asks for all scores that school will see all scores even if I use score choice.
Who advised you to apply elsewhere? You have just as much right to apply to whatever schools you want and take your chances just like everyone else.
that friend is correct. DO NOT take the SAT. You don’t have any reason to. And, no, having an SAT and an ACT score changes NOTHING. It’s more important to have SAT Subject tests in a variety of subjects, all with high results (700+, preferably 740+). For instance, WH, Italian, Math 2, and Biology, would be more impressive than Math2, Biology, Physics, Chemistry - even if the first combination averaged 740 and the second combination averaged more. Even STEM schools (I’m talking MIT, HarveyMudd, Stanford or USC for STEM, Olin…) appreciate it if you have Math2+ 1 science +1 humanities/social science.
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Who advised you to apply elsewhere? You have just as much right to apply to whatever schools you want and take your chances just like everyone else.
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My guess is that OP attends a private school. The college adviser probably gets paid a bonus (or gets a raise or less pay) based on where students get in - how many prestigious colleges for the ED kids, most notably, and probably 1 ED kid per college. Since s/he probably knows Wharton will likely only take one kid from that school ED, in order to increase his/her odds as well as the student’s, they probably decided on who they’d support for Wharton, and it’s not OP. This is pure speculation, but based on knowledge of some private schools with strong college advising and parents with sky-high expectations.
I thought it would be good to retake the SAT to show that I can approve upon my 1890 from Sophomore year. This being said an UPenn admissions officer said that they wouldnt really look at the 1890 because it was so early in high school. I then thought they would not take me because that 1890 would hurt their stats, but supposedly they only take one of the SAT or ACT if you took both to report. Thanks for all the feedback it is very helpful!
And I am allowed to apply to Wharton and still plan on doing it, I was just advised by my counselor to look at a place like Princeton where nobody in my area will be applying and I won the outstanding junior award from them. Rather than applying to UPenn where a kid, whose brother is already there and has been to two straight national science fairs, in my class is applying ED
From my experience this year, Penn loves legacy so you should be prepared that the other student will most likely have the edge over you. That said, I know a lot of kids that go into the admissions process with the attitude that if they don’t at least try, they would always wonder if they would have gotten in. RD is much more difficult so definitely think long and hard before you pull the trigger. Also, not sure if those outstanding junior awards mean anything from the college that it represents. My friends daughter got the award from Chicago and got rejected.
Thank you for that explanation, @Myos1634. It’s very helpful.