I have 17 schools on my list and I can add more...help me take some off?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Chinese male out of California, rank 28, UW 3.75 W 4.06, ACT 35, SAT 2210, Math2c 800, Spanish 670, Lit 740, Bio 720. I'm assuming AP scores aren't as important so I'll leave them out. Please use investment banking as a target career, economics+finance double major whenever available, not sure about which one I prefer though. Job placement is absolutely number one priority for me.</p>

<p>The list:</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon University<br>
Columbia University<br>
Cornell University<br>
Dartmouth College<br>
Duke University<br>
Emory University<br>
Lehigh University<br>
University of Virginia<br>
New York University (Stern)
Northwestern University<br>
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill<br>
University of California – Berkeley<br>
University of California – Los Angeles<br>
University of Chicago<br>
University of Pennsylvania (CAS)
University of Southern California </p>

<p>There are plenty of reaches there and not enough safeties. Which should I replace (and with what) and what should I take out?</p>

2

<p>I think you’ve spanned the country coast-to-coast and top-to-bottom, large, small, urban, and rural. </p>

<p>Take a breath, sit back, close your eyes, and think about what features are meaningful to you besides prestige. Is it important to be near family? what about weather? if you live in a city, will you find a rural school boring? does the idea of a large, hustle-bustle school appeal to you? or do you see yourself at a small close-knit place? Is money an issue? </p>

<p>Have you visited any of the places on your list?</p>

3

<p>Uhh wow, I actually have…lol interesting. To address your questions:</p>

<p>I prefer away from family. Berkeley is closest to where I live, but the Cal atmosphere is just so different that I probably would feel away from family if they accepted me and I attended. Weather isn’t so important to me, but I like urban schools. Money is definitely not an issue (I’m lucky).</p>

<p>I’ve visited CMU, Cornell, Duke, NYU, Northwestern, UPenn, both UCs, Chicago, and USC. Most of them were just “oh btw can we go see this place” while on a trip there for another reason, like visiting U of I for my brother and seeing Chicago and Northwestern while in the state.</p>

4

<p>Dude, you’re in CA. I think this is a pretty easy fix :)</p>

<p>Bail on UVa and UNC because Berkeley and UCLA are of similar caliber and will be much, much cheaper because you’re in-state. Add in UCSD and UC Irvine as safety schools. You can pretty much take out Lehigh because UCSD and UCI fill the safety spot and are stronger academically, I believe.</p>

<p>Do you qualify for financial aid? If not, all of the private schools will be almost 2x the price of Berkeley and UCLA. I would take out 3 or 4 private schools you don’t consider as highly as the rest because you can still get a great education at those 2 UC schools at a much lower price (but I would recommend keeping USC because if you’re a National Merit Finalist you get half-tuition). For me, that would probably be NYU, CMU, and Emory (but I’m honestly not that familiar with investment banking placement and all that). And if you do qualify for financial aid … all I know is that NYU is notorious for giving terrible aid.</p>

<p>Oh, and if you’re looking for investment banking, why Penn CAS over Wharton?</p>

5

<p>Keep in mind that the more competitive admission is, the more complicated the application is.</p>

6

<p>@YeloPen</p>

<p>I put UVA and UNC because of their ibanking recruitment and placement; not sure how much of their placement is exception to the rule, though. Lehigh also for placement.</p>

<p>I probably won’t qualify for financial aid, given my financial background. And when I said money won’t be an issue, it really will not be an issue. That’s why I put schools like NYU, CMU, and Emory up there. NYU has tremendous job placement in ibanking from what I’ve read and heard. Emory I might take out now that I think about why that’s in there…and I’ve seen decent stuff about CMU for ibanking as well. I’ll add in the entire UC system minus Riverside and Merced, how’s about that? :P</p>

<p>I’m still deciding between CAS and Wharton. I made a thread like yesterday about it. If I want to study economics, I’d go CAS. If I want to study finance, I’d apply Wharton. But I like both. Wharton’s rep just makes job placement so much easier, but doesn’t CAS has a slightly higher admission rate and still gets recruited decently?</p>

<p>@MD Mom: Yep. I’m bracing myself haha</p>

7

<p>Leaving little comments. I will sum it up at the end. </p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon University - Keep. You should be able to get in here with your scores. Plus, Pittsburgh is urban.
Columbia University - This one’s going to be tough for you. But you like urban areas, so if you really want to go to NYC, then apply.
Cornell University - Ithaca. Need I say more?
Dartmouth College - Middle of nowhere NH. Like the other ivies, it won’t be easy to get into, and why waste 70 bucks if you like the city?
Duke University - Suburban area.
Emory University - This would probably be a match for you. Possibly even a safety (Compared to kids I know who got in)
Lehigh University - Same as Emory
University of Virginia - OOS is very tough to get in, even with your grades/scores
New York University (Stern) - Great school. In your “match” range, and in the city. Sounds ideal.
Northwestern University - Another great school. Not exactly “in the city”, but you’ve seen it, and if it’s still on your list, then go ahead.
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill - Next to Duke. Not in a metropolitan area.
University of California – Berkeley
University of California – Los Angeles<br>
University of Chicago - You would probably love U of C.
University of Pennsylvania (CAS) - Big city. Reach, but if you liked Philly, why not?
University of Southern California - It’s USC. Take it for what it is.</p>

<p>So anyway, after seeing your list, I am shocked I didn’t see a single New England school (beside Dartmouth) there. </p>

<p>You should take out Cornell, Dartmouth. If you are looking for the hustle and bustle of the city, then these places aren’t for you. Also, Duke, UVA and UNC are in the same boat. </p>

<p>Keep Emory and Lehigh since they are in your match.</p>

<p>Seems like the best schools for you would be NYU, and CMU since you, with your grades/scores, should be accepted. </p>

<p>Safeties/Matches you could add are Villanova, Boston College (kind of), Boston University, University of Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Fordham.</p>

8

<p>This is slightly off track, but when you start the application process, complete two easy applications first that have rolling or EA decisions; then you will have some acceptances by Christmas. Then rank your other choices and start with your top choices, paying attention to deadlines, of course. If you grow tired of the whole process, you can stop if you have your favorites and a couple of safeties in there.</p>

9

<p>MD Mom is right. Schools with rolling admissions will tell you well before Christmas.</p>

10

<p>Might look at Holy Cross and Colgate both have very strong alumni networks in investment banking/finance-perhaps more than Lehigh. Holy Cross like the Ivies is need blind with respect to financial aid.</p>

11

<p>Thanks for the tips. My own brother didn’t give me help so I’m a bit lost :P</p>

12

<p>Duke and especially Dartmouth aren’t NYC-urban, but they have the strongest ibanking placement on the OP’s list except for Columbia and Penn. If the OP is dead set on that career path, then at least one of them should probably stay on the list (Duke was visited and is still on the list, anyway). </p>

<p>This isn’t my area of interest, so I could be wrong, but I don’t think UNC has a strong enough presence on Wall Street to justify the OOS cost, even though it does meet full need. UVA does a little better.</p>

<p>This might be a fairly balanced list:</p>

<p>Reaches
Columbia
Dartmouth and/or Duke
Northwestern
Penn</p>

<p>Matches
NYU-Stern
CMU-Tepper and/or USC</p>

<p>UCs (one app?)
Berkeley
UCLA
1 or 2 UCs as safeties</p>

<p>As was mentioned, an EA app might be a good idea - Chicago, Michigan (Ross), Boston College, and Georgetown are a few possibilities.</p>

13

<p>I’m largely scouring wallstreetoasis to find opinions on various schools, how many people certain schools are putting through to SA, how many people get through to BB, etc.</p>

<p>Doing so has left me in a bigger and bigger mess. I’m liking Duke a bit more than I do Dartmouth, but I’m seeing some negatives on Duke’s rep on Wall Street. I’m also highly considering Villanova and Boston College as well, but I have no idea about getting in. </p>

<p>I’ve taken out UVA and UNC, hesitant to do the same with Cornell. I was planning to ED Cornell and I’ve seen decent stuff about placement. The visit was good, too. I dunno anymore x.x</p>

<p>Keeping Emory and removing Lehigh.</p>

<p>So that’s…15 now with Nova and BC in, Lehigh, Dartmouth, UVA, UNC out. </p>

<p>Thanks for the list, warblers. UC system takes a lot of spots; what would change if the UCs were removed from that list (not saying I won’t apply)?</p>

<p>edit: so that’s what would change…USC and CMU-Tepper in?</p>

14

<p>Before you apply ED, read the fine print. If your family is independently wealthy and the $60K price tag (when you figure in travel across the country several times a year) is doable, go for it. But for all but a very narrow number of people in the country, full pay is not very realistic. ED is binding and the way you are changing your mind now, you may not like the same schools come December.</p>

<p>I have a personal problem with ED and don’t think it is a good idea for most young people. It is too big of a commitment too early in the process.</p>

15

<p>

Aside from Teach for America, the biggest employers of Duke students are Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, The Boston Consulting Group, Barclays Capital, and Microsoft.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t touch econ with a 10’ pole, personally, but most of my econ major friends found decent jobs.</p>

16

<p>Hm. I’m liking Duke even more now. Heh. Thanks.</p>

<p>@MD Mom: Yeah I think I’ll have to really just leave this topic for a few weeks and then decide on if I want to ED, let alone where to ED.</p>

17

<p>If you can’t decide where to apply ED, then you shouldn’t even consider it. ED is for your absolute number one dream school, and if you don’t have one, there’s a huge amount of time from December to September to change your not-obsessed-with-one-school mind.</p>

18

<p>The OP’s GPA is low for Berkeley.</p>

19

<p>^ Testimony to run-away grade inflation in the California public schools. The UCSD 2009 entering class had an average GPA of 3.96 (even though more than 100 colleges and universities have higher 75th percentile SATs). So, you may need to pay extra attention to GPA/rank expectations in the choice of public safety schools, and how test scores play into the admission decisions when your GPA is below the mean.</p>

20

<p>^ sorry; I view it differently. </p>

<p>HS grades measure the learning ability of the students. They measure how the students are absorbing the lessons, and lessons vary from school to school, State to State or country to country even when they’re just the same subjects. GPAs also determine student character and attitude. SATs, on the other hand, are dependent on how the students review well on the said exams, and how much money their parents have for SAT Review fees.</p>