Hey CC, I have a list of a ton of colleges, and I really need to narrow it down for application season. I’ll give my basic stats first. I feel I should also have some more “match” schools.
SAT I: 1390 (March 2016)
GPA: 3.95 UW / 4.45 W
APs: US History, Biology, Economics, Calculus AB, Psychology, Government
Class Rank: School doesn’t rank, but guidance said top 5%. I would estimate 3rd or 4th out of 280
Intended Major: Finance or Economics
Related Extracurriculars: Started volunteer tutoring program at elementary school, write stock research articles for Seeking Alpha, researching socioeconomics with local community college, DECA (Financial Analysis state qualifier, International Conference attendee, chapter fundraising coordinator)
Some schools I have been looking at
Safeties:
Umass Amherst
Bryant
Providence
University of New Hampshire
Matches:
Bentley
BU
Reaches:
Villanova
BC
Babson
Northeastern
Super-Reaches:
Cornell
Harvard
Amherst
I am looking for colleges with great business programs. I don’t really have a preference for urban/rural. I could enjoy being in the heart of a city or a secluded rural campus. A big 20,000+ student university is just as appealing as a 2,000 student liberal arts college. Many of these colleges are very different from each other, but I really like what each of them has and would be happy attending most of them.
Some of your choices (Amherst, Harvard) do not offer undergraduate business degrees.
For schools strong in economics, these analyses can be helpful: “Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges” and “US Economics Departments” (IDEAS).
You could definitely narrow it down by getting rid of Harvard and probably Amherst. The other choices all seem reasonable. Then study hard and get your SAT scores up higher, take SAT 2s if required for other schools on the list.
I know they don’t have official business programs for undergrad, but I know that Amherst and Harvard have very strong programs in economics and Harvard is great for finance
I will qualify for some financial aid. The Babson Net Price calculator on rought estimates put us at about 30-35K EFC / year without factoring in any grants and merit aid. @suzyQ7
First, Villanova is a match, not a reach. Babson might also be a match or a high match.
Tips:
I think you should remove two of your safeties, which would still leave you with two. If your state flagship is one of those four schools, keep that one on the list.
You can keep all four of your matches – Boston U, Villanova, Babson and Bentley.
Remove Harvard and concentrate on Cornell and Amherst as your big reaches and BC and Northeastern as your lower reaches.
If you wanted to add another Cornell/Amherst-level reach, you could apply to a school like Dartmouth, Northwestern or Duke. All three of them are very good in Econ and Finance. And all three of them are easier to get into than Harvard. If you want even slightly better odds and still good Econ and/or Business majors, look into Emory, Notre Dame, Carnegie Mellon and USC.
Following that plan, you’re applying to ten or eleven schools and it’s a decent mix of reaches, matches and safeties.
In all apps, make sure you actually like the schools to which you’re applying and that you can afford them without having to take on a ton of debt.
Re #4, that’s true, strong economics programs (at Harvard and elsewhere) will offer courses in financial economics and international finance.
By economics faculty publishing, Amherst places 19th within its LAC category. This indicates that Amherst is very strong in the field, but other options from the category may be worth exploring (post 2).
You may also want to reference, “Harvard Business School Expands Online Initiative to Liberal Arts Colleges” (WGBH).
I would love to attend most of the schools on that list. I actually am growing more fond of the traditional campus and like the rural feel that many liberal arts colleges have. Of course, gaining admission to a school such as Amherst or Cornell is incredibly difficult, but I will keep focusing on my interests and see if these schools award me the opportunity to learn there. @prezbucky
@prezbucky has good suggestions for you. Boston College, Colgate and Wake Forest might be good reach options that are more attainable than Amherst. If you want to focus your test taking just on improving your SAT, you can narrow your list by eliminating schools that require SAT Subject Tests.