I am currently in the college application process, and looking for some input. Throughout high school, I picked up daytrading, and became very good at it. I was making more money then anyone in my grade, and with this new money I was able to do whatever I wanted. Trading happens during 9:30-4, and I couldn’t pay attention to trading and school at the same time. I was trading very high-risk derivatives and if I couldn’t watch the numbers, I would freak out about the uncertainty of loosing money. I became completely financially independent making an average about 1100 a week, while in school and did not prioritize grades. My grades were either A’s or D’s depending on if I liked the teacher, but because I was taking all honors and AP, my GPA averaged out to like a 3.4. I am naturally good at math, I took algebra 2 Honors as a freshmen, and took the ACT and SAT with 0 preparation. I scored a 780/800 on Math on SAT and 35/36 math on ACT. I wish I cared more but now its too late, any advice is appreciated.
What advice are you looking for? Are you a senior?
What are your overall ACT and SAT scores? Basic advice is that you should apply to schools that match your overall stats (UW GPA and overall test scores). No one can go back for you and reprioritize your time, and colleges aren’t going to see time spent trading as a reason to admit you if your grades & scores don’t match the rest of their pool of applicants.
Day trading is no hook, won’t change the academic record. If you even try to press the trading success, they’ll wonder why you’re even applying.
As intparent notes, find your actual matches and safeties. Put in that effort.
Do you even want or need to go to college? Would it make best sense for you to focus on trading for now, and think about college in a couple more years? Or, focus on trading as your full-time gig, and just take the classes part time in subjects that specifically interest you or would be helpful for your business?
Your pattern of good grades when you like the teacher and bad grades when you don’t, coupled with the ability to hyperfocus on the day trading which is your real primary interest, makes me wonder if you have an unidentified learning difference in the ADD family. If you are serious about going to college now, you should invest some of your earnings in a formal psychoeducational evaluation. You want to have a full toolkit of compensation skills handy when you get to college and have to get good grades inclasses you don’t like with instructors you don’t like in order to be able to get into the classes you do want to take.
yes, I am a senior.
SAT-1400 (780/800) math ACT-29 (35/36 math). While I can just continue trading for the rest of my life, Its very stressful, and I cant build a career out of it.
@happymomof1. I definetely do not need to go to college, but I want to because I want a more stable life. And BTW, I do have ADD. I can get an A whenever I want, I just have to be motivated.
I wouldn’t call a 29 a high ACT score. Since you got a 35/36 on math, your other scores must not be exceptional. You could go to community college and transfer out because multiple Ds could honestly ruin your chances even at a state school. I guess really depends on what you want to do.
Colleges don’t only care about your math subscore. Good for you that you’re good at math, but as others have stated, you need to apply to schools where your 29 has the best chance of you getting accepted. Aim for a college that puts your 29 in the 75th percentile or above.
Colleges are not going to be impressed with your gap between the 35 and the lower scores. Taking the SAT/ACT with zero prep is not an achievement when the other subscores demonstrate a big gap. Getting an A only when you want to isn’t a selling point. You also have to try to do well in classes you don’t like or find interesting. If you want a degree, you need to understand that you do it the college’s way. I suggest you look for colleges with very loose core requirements so that you can give yourself more leeway to take classes of interest to you. You might want to consider a college like Hampshire, which doesn’t give grades. There are some very good colleges such as Brown and Hamilton that have few or no core classes, but you will not get in with your grades and test scores as they are now.
If your transcript has a bunch of D’s, getting into any college will be tough. Go to CC, and show that you are able to commit to and do the work. Get a year of high grades in general ed classes, then transfer. Are you talking with your guidance counselor at school? He/she should have some ideas.
I will be blunt: to anyone reading this, you sound as though you think you are very special. Colleges are not going to see your specialness. They will not care about the money you earned, because they are more concerned about your ability to do college-level course work and not end up on academic probation, or failing all of your classes because you don’t like the subject or the prof. You go to college to learn, not to trade derivatives. If you want to learn and earn a degree, there is no alternative but to do the work and do things their way. It’s called earning a degree for a reason.
I also think your best bet is to go to a less competitive college where your scores will be in the range (or a community college), prove yourself there, and then transfer. But don’t waste money or go into debt if you aren’t going to try in the classes that aren’t appealing. You obviously have the potential but you are going to have to put in the effort.
Do you have a college counselor to consult?
Have you retaken the classes you got D’s in?
What classes were these? What grade?
Do you expect any D this year?
Basically, getting even one D senior year is cause for being rescinded at most 4-year public universities.
Perhaps universities and LACs ranked 100-150 + regionals 15-30 may be willing to take a chance on you.
What levels have you reached in math and foreign language?
What have you taken for English and social science Jr/Sr year?
What science classes?
What’s your college budget?
What state do you live in?
I mean this kindly. Part of a successful life is trying to do as well in things we don’t like so much. It’s part of growing up. Try to work on that. If needed, get some help.
Part of ADD is the rush of last minute pulling off the work. Or the jolly satisfaction of shrugging off the D grades. That’s not real. There is no getting ahead in life without tasks we aren’t interested in. Who wants to pay taxes, do that report for a boss, etc? But we pay our dues. We get ahead based on reliability.
@Lindagaf I by no means think im special. I understand money isn’t everything. Previous to trading, I really had nothing. Now I have almost everything I want. I realized that focusing on trading was much more rewarding then focusing on high school. I want to go to college to learn not to trade. I am fully capable of completing college level work and have no problem. I understand that college directly impacts my career, and would have no problem maintaining grades. I would be happy to do things there way because I know it is important. And you were correct, while my math scores are high, my english grades are lacking. My point is not to boast about my financial achievements, I just want to show how I did everything on my own. I can not name a single high school kid as financially independent as myself. Everything I have I paid for, with the exception of a roof over my head.
Community colleges offer lots of evening classes. Why don’t you spend the next two years treating trading as your “day job” and getting your gen ed classes done in the evening, making sure that you allocate time to your studies and get a solid GPA? You can save up money and get a guaranteed transfer to your flagship university or another school that you probably couldn’t get into with your current record. Sounds like a win-win to me.
Do you want a career in business/finance, or do you want to study something else entirely?
“I want to go to college to learn not to trade.” Noble and wise. But right now you don’t have a record that shows you’re “fully capable of completing college level work.” In fact, it shows you weren’t capable of mastering high school.
You need to prove out, first. Competitive colleges won’t take your word for it. Nor will they care that you made some money in the fin world. They aren’t entrepreneurial incubators.
They want to know you’re a good bet for a space in their class. For the four years. (I.e., not related to a future profession.) They want to see academic strengths, school ECs, community activities, and more.
Nothing wrong with starting at a comm college and proving you can do college level work.
My Gpa is not horrible, a 3.4 is like average at many high schools. I want to stay in business and I already have enough money saved up.
OP, are you looking for college suggestions? What schools are on your list/have you applied to? What do you want to major in?
You are correct that a 3.4 GPA isn’t horrible…the issue is the D’s. How many D’s and in what classes? Some schools won’t be able to get over the D’s, especially if they are in core classes. Once you answer the questions posters have asked, people can better provide recommendations. In the absence of more info, I concur with other posters who suggested community college as a starting point.
Read the tea leaves. “My grades were either A’s or D’s depending on if I liked the teacher.” That will show on your transcript.
Weighted GPA doesn’t matter. Unless you apply to a college that looks at weighted, is fine with a 3.4, and just picks on stats.
That takes the competitive holistics off the table. The scores would be good but the rest not.
Nothing wrong with starting at the level your GPA currently reflects.
Find those options.
Well, you haven’t said where you’re from, but Texas Tech might be a school to look at, particularly if you’re interested in Personal Financial Planning - they have one of the top programs in the country in this field, even though the school as a whole isn’t terribly difficult to get into. http://www.depts.ttu.edu/hs/pfp/ (This major isn’t inside the business school, but there’s also a school of business with the typical range of majors.)
A business-oriented private U like Bentley might be good. You’re in the “could go either way” range there with your stats, but worth a shot.
How about Drexel? It’s a good match for your stats, plus they have a very strong support program for students with ADD/ADHD/ASD/etc. (which also means that their admissions process is attuned to the patterns of young people learning to self-manage these issues). And it’s a co-op school - it seems to me that the focus on practical experience could be a good fit. https://www.lebow.drexel.edu/academics/undergraduate/areas-of-study