<p>In order to give a better idea of what chances I would have, I will give some basic information about myself.</p>
<p>GPA: 3.95 UW (School doesn't weight)
Class rank: 23/560
ACT: 31 first try. Taking it again and I think a 33 is attainable
SAT II: Haven't received scores. I feel like a 770-800 in Math II, but I am not confident at all in Chem, or U.S. History.
E.C.'s below average for this website: 1 year officer and 1 year president in DECA, national competitor for DECA, church council representative, ~225 hours community service.</p>
<p>So here is my list right now:
Reach: UPenn, Cornell, UMich,
Match: UW-Madison, Indiana University
Safety: Wisconsin-Whitewater, University of Alabama Tuscaloosa</p>
<p>I was wondering if this would usually be considered too many/too few, and if you have any different suggestions that I should apply at. Thank you for your time.</p>
<p>I think having UPenn is a great idea as a reach for business. I would consider 7 schools a little on the lean side for a list. On the other hand, 30 can be ridiculous. If I were you, try casting, as bartleby007 said, a wider net! Maybe bump it to 10-12. A few more reaches and matches would be my recommendation. Are you okay with venturing outside of the midwest? If so, maybe consider Stanford for another reach, and UNC Chapel Hill for a match, with UC Berkley as a high match/low reach. What about Rice, or maybe Georgia State? Their standings are rising quickly in the business world. The USNAWR rankings are always a decent place to start, but as a non-scientific piece of advice, visit as many schools as you can, get a “feel” for them, and see what you like. I tend to (as silly as it may seem) judge a universities campus culture in part by its bookstore, that can give you a rough idea of what sorts of things students buy, and when college kids have tight budgets their purchases can say a lot. Take that with a grain of salt though, just something I’ve observed through my travels best of luck!</p>
<p>Thank you, I am certainly ok with traveling outside of the Midwest. I looked at Stanford as a reach, and they do not have any business undergraduate programs, but I feel like their communications or economics majors could be just as good of options if I decide I want to get an MBA. I looked at UNC Chapel Hill and UC Berkley as well and they were possible options, but it seemed they offered very little financial aid/scholarship opportunities to out of state applicants. I will look more into it, and possibly apply to see what the COA would end up being, but I would find it hard to justify spending $45,000+ per year.</p>
<p>Indiana seems like a safety rather than a match. You could use some true match schools in your list. There is a huge gap between Indiana and Cornell in selectivity. I suggest you pick some schools in-between them to apply to.</p>
<p>If you are looking at business, you might want to look at Stern School of Business at NYU. It offers a great undergrad program at the same time as being in one of the world’s most exciting cities. I don’t know if you’re interested in a city school but your stats would most likely make that a match for you as well and it offers an outstanding and respected program.</p>
<p>That’s why I asked about financial aid. I was going to recommend Stern, but they give no money except loans. So… It’s also one of the top ten most expensive schools in the country.</p>
<p>For a safety, you might consider University of Denver. The Daniels school of Business is highly ranked, and the school is just in an amazing location. No problem getting a great job out of there and Denver is a growing city, with expanding business opportunities.</p>
<p>Ok this list is certainly subject to change. Honestly the only 3I know I want to apply are Cornell, UPenn, and UW Madison (From Wisconsin by the way) AGI on tax return is about 107,000 but that is after a large retirement fund contribution(about 23,000) Do schools look more at original income or the AGI when calculating aid? Running some net price calculators Cornell and Stanford had an EFC of about 25,000 but the next “tier” of schools I.E. Vanderbilt only had estimated grants of 2-5,000. My parents can afford/ are willing to pay about 20,000 a year. Could anyone reccomend some match schools that I could maybe get below 35,000/year</p>
<p>Well, you have stats that mean you really don’t have “matches” per se. Most of what you might consider “matches” are going to be in the low percentage acceptance rates so that they are automatically “reaches” by their nature.</p>
<p>If you want to get to 20,000, unless it’s your state school, you will have to go to schools where your stats are very high. If you go onto the financial aid and scholarship board and ask for help with your stats, you can probably get advice.</p>
<p>I suspect you’ll be a pre-admit to Kelley at Indiana; they used to have all the criteria laid out on a web-page (a couple years ago I believe pre-admit was 3.75 UW and at least 30 ACT). They also had automatic OOS scholarships posted on the financial aid web site; based on my old data I think you probably qualify for at least $5,000/year though you may be able to get to $9,000/year. The $9K should drive down the price to the low 30s before any other fin-aid is added in.</p>
<p>I agree that the OOS publics will be tough for fin aid (except Indiana as mentioned and Alabama which seems to be pretty agressive with merit aid).</p>
<p>Other options:</p>
<p>Carnegie-Mellon - With your strong SATII it’s likely a match, though aid can be odd.</p>
<p>USC - Very expensive but I’ve seen big aid packages on the USC forum. Automatic scholarships if you’re a NMSF or NMF.</p>
<p>Many of your choices are rolling so I suggest that you apply early – that way you will know by December if you get in to at least your match schools. If you don’t get into your match schools by December (and I expect you will), I might add a couple – perhaps UIUC, Purdue.</p>
<p>You might take a look at Babson. It is a small school near a nice city. They give good financial aid and are very strong in interactive education and entrepreneurship.</p>
<p>University of Denver looks like a good safety option (am I correct thinking this would be a safety?) Also could anyone tell me if the Businessweek rankings would be very helpful in finding the right fit? Also what do they base their recruiter survey rank off of, because I feel like the ones best on recruiter survey ranks should have the best job placement as well as median salary.</p>
<p>If interested in international business, Univ. of South Carolina has top undergrad program and with your scores would be competitive for scholarships that might give you instate tuition or at least reduced rates. Honors college top rated if you qualify</p>
<p>I second Kelley at Indiana. Also, you can look into Penn State - you definitively have a shot at Shreyer’s then Smeal; even though FA isn’t terrific they tend to be good to Shreyer Scholars.</p>
best of luck!</p>