I'm in a pickle

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>I'll try to save everyone the sob story but basically I'm considering transferring to Cornell for the 2011-2012 school year but I'm not totally sure, so I would like your input on the matter.</p>

<p>College Stats:
Just finished freshman year
University of St. Thomas (MN)
Majors: Actuarial Science, Economics, Statistics
3.92 GPA - including calculus 2 and 3
Math & Actuarial Science Club
Investment Club</p>

<p>HS Stats:
3.65 GPA-Unweighted
28 ACT
AP Calc 1, Macro Econ, Micro Econ, English, US history, World history, Statistics
Key Club
Not much else lol</p>

<p>Reasons for Cornell:
-More challenging
-Better overall career prospects
-Transformative experience (I've lived in Minnesota almost all my life so it doesn't make me branch out)
-Pave my own path (Dad's a professor at my current university)
-Meet new people (everyone here is from the same area as me, including 15 from my hs)
-Better shot at a top MBA program (one of my BIG goals)
-Far more diversity (St. Thomas is 85% white, upper middle class)</p>

<p>Reasons to stay at St. Thomas
-I can triple major in 3 things I like
-Tuition is about $4,000 a year due to discount from dad and merit scholarships
-Longtime girlfriend is starting freshman year next year at St. Thomas
-I'll likely still be able to get $60,000 starting salary as an actuary (more than a lot of Cornellians)
-Easier to stand out, professors all know me by name, have taken me out to dinner, etc.
-Known pretty well locally (I still think I want to live and work in the Twin Cities eventually)</p>

<p>So basically here are my options:</p>

<ol>
<li>Stay at St. Thomas, appreciate my education, work hard, scratch and claw my way into a top MBA</li>
<li>Retake ACT (if Cornell lets you do that...i guarantee at least a 32 this time, i should have taken it more than once in HS) and apply for Cornell CAS as an Economics major.</li>
<li>Don't retake ACT and apply for Cornell CAS as an Economics major</li>
<li>Do or don't retake ACT and apply to CAS as a Mathematics/Economics double major</li>
<li>Retake ACT, apply for Cornell, then worry about the decision if I get accepted. </li>
</ol>

<p>I'm really really sorry for the length but really any input is greatly appreciated. Put yourself in my shoes and give your opinion. All views are welcome, I just want some straightforward advice. Thank you all!</p>

2

<p>can you retake the ACT in college???</p>

3

<p>Some schools allow it, but I am not sure about Cornell. A lot of schools require it to be sometime during your Freshman year but again, it depends on the school. I’ll email the admissions department if no one knows for certain here.</p>

4

<p>And who would be footing the bill for this excursion?</p>

5

<p>As a parent, I would say finish out where you are and keep doing well, then try to branch out/ go somewhere new and interesting for your MBA. You might not be thrilled with your current school, but it doesn’t sound like you hate it, and you will have 2 years completed at a great price. Save your money for grad school at this point. I’m no expert on MBA programs, but don’t they usually want some work experience first? So, graduate, get some interesting work experience if possible and go from there. Good luck!</p>

6

<p>@ sylvan8798
I would foot the entire tuition cost, while my parents incur all other expenses (food, housing, supplies, etc.)</p>

<p>@ saf
Thank you very much for your input. You are right in that work experience is a huge factor in MBA admissions, but the thing is, many of the major financial companies hire exclusively from Ivy league (plus Stanford & MIT). Big time MBA programs like to see people from top-notch companies (Google, Apple, Microsoft for techies, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, etc. for financial people, etc…). The real advantage of the Cornell degree would be that it would open doors to those kind of companies.</p>

7

<p>just take the ACT (I think you can cause i’ve seen transfers do it) and apply to cornell for econ. If you get in (great!) if not (still great cause you still retain you’re present college family). By the way for transfers…what info do you have to provide to college ppl? Like do they require senior year grades included or just college gpa?</p>

8

<p>stay where you are and become an actuary. Cornell does not have the business courses you need.</p>