Match HS Asian female junior with business schools

[minidino]

Hey guys - this is my first post on here and I just wanted to see my chances at some of my dream schools as well as get suggestions on where to apply. Also, if there are any ways I can improve please let me know as well (My SAT is definitely not the best which I am working on, but EC related feedback would be great!)

Demographics: Malay-chinese female, competitive public high school, high middle income, Junior, Georgia, USA

Hooks: Glass child

Intended Majors: Business Administration, Business Law, Economics possibly?

General Interests: Environment(ESG), Business/Entrepreneurship, Art, Debate

Stats:

GPA: (Sophomore year GPA since it hasn’t updated this year, but it’s probably going to be lower this year :') ) 4.0UW/4.3W, top 30 something/700+

SAT: 1480, 2nd time 1420 (I messed up really bad )

APs: 12 by the end of junior year. (AP HuG (5), AP CSP (4), AP Stats (3), AP Psychology (5), AP WH (5) )

Top 10 ECs (Vague to prevent doxxing):

1. Paid international council position at a large environmental org (11th), has a blog and magazine and stuff that I’m working on - tying this into ESG aspect of my passion for business

2. National director of volunteer events of speech and debate nonprofit, promotes equity in speech and debate and does tutoring and a blog, stretches across 10+ states and territories (11th)

3. State co-president of well known Asian-American leadership/nonprofit organization that has close ties to the government/politicians and entrepreneurs (11th) - organized and participated in various volunteering events for chinese new year and cleanups

4. Internship at a business consulting firm that is contracted with Fortune 500 companies - working on presentations and design stuff with the company (10th)

5. Internship at real estate development firm, worked with various employees and knows the CEO - the company works with the government and other prominent companies to develop affordable housing in cities (11th) - planning to tie this in with ESG aspect of my passion for business

6. Employee at local design business (10th - 11th)

7. Business owner, approaching 1000 follows and got over 30000 in views, collaborating with school for teacher appreciation project (9th-11th) - incorporates environmental aspects as well as art and business

8. Developed product that got hundreds in presales from selective summer program and have entered into numerous pitch competitions (10th)

9. Debate - Speech and debate president this yr and next yr, 200+ members. leadership all years of HS, tons of national awards (7th-11th), ranked like 20 something nationally at peak

10. Psychology Club president/co-founder, 100+ members (9th-11th) - planning to connect this to market/business/consumer psychology in an essay or smth, as well as my experience as a glass child

Top 5 Awards

1. Prominent international social innovation comp 1st place with scholarship - featured on various business news sites and magazines

2. Global top 10 finalist for large college pitch comp - pitched the product idea here

3. Another global finalist for an different large pitch comp (entered in 2 categories and became finalist in both) - results come soon

4. Gold TOC (top 10 best speaker) - tournament for top 1% of debaters

5. Distinguished honorable mention for global environmental art comp (out of 4000 applicants)

Essays/LOR predictions/Other:

1. AP Lang (9/10) - Been with me since sophomore year and he knows about my debate experience. I’ve done a few example debates in his class and he complimented me on my public speaking ability. He’s also written a few other recommendations for me.

2. CEO/Wharton UPenn alumni - The CEO of the real estate development firm I intern at (6/10 - 7/10)

3. AP Seminar (9/10) - wrote a recommendation for me before and complimented my presentation skills are good, stated that I would get a perfect score on the AP exam (plus we play Minecraft together sometimes and he knows me from Beta Club)

4. AP Computer Science A (8/10) - I know her through her being FBLA sponsor at my school and I am an FBLA officer who is also in her class - we know each other well and joke around a bit

Cost/Budget:

I talked to my family and they are willing to pay in full regardless of what college, but I am applying to scholarships to alleviate some financial burden.

Schools:

Definitely trying my luck for HYPSM! Also UPenn is my dream since all my friends go + I want to go to Wharton. I’m also definitely applying for Georgia Tech’s business school. These are the schools I want to get into the most, but realistically I don’t think I have a chance with my SAT (please let me know)

Thanks in advance!

[tsbna44]

Let’s set the record straight on a few things:

1. Glass child will make a great essay but it’s not a hook. But I’m sure you accomplished a ton in helping, and in your overall relationship.

2 Your stats aren’t the best? Your 4.0 would beg to differ.

3. Your 1480 and 1420, 98th and 95th percentile SAT - would not suffice as - I messed up really bad.

Can you prove all youv’e done - it doesn’t seem realistic - not saying it’s not but you don’t want to embellish.

When you say you are applying to scholarships - it’s unrealistic. Money comes from schools. Few get money otherwise. Maybe your parents employers chip in a little. The big national contests are like playing the lottery - someone will win - but it likely won’t be you. So if you need money, you go to schools with merit.

So it’s great that you want to go to Wharton - but guess what - you’ll make new friends. Why do you want to go to Wharton? Do you have $340K+ to go?

Where should you apply - depends the kind of school you like - but since you are in Ga, UGA in addition to Ga Tech and arguably Terry is stronger than Scheller.

If you want cheap, I know you kjnow a lot who go to Alabama and Manderson is great and you’d be dirt cheap.

For elite, assuming Penn doesn’t happen, Indiana is your best bet.

But there’s many a great school - from a Babson to a Michigan…it really depends on your desires.

Congrats on your record.

[minidino]

For stats, I meant test scores (sorry if that wasn’t clear), also I think I’ll end with 2 Bs this year so my GPA will def be dragged down. but for everything else, totally agreed. Thanks for the honest and direct feedback!

[collegemom3717]

1. Agree with @tsbna44’s post.

2. I would drop your Wharton alum CEO LoR. For a start, from your description it is unlikely that s/he knows enough about you from a work perspective that it will be additive to your application, secondly it’s not going to count as much as you think- there are a lot of Wharton alums out there; and finally you should never ask somebody for an LOR if you don’t think that they can & will give you a strong A rating. It makes no sense to send in an LoR that is only a C/D rating. Fwiw, your notes seem to equate a friendly relationship with getting a good LoR. It’s not whether they ‘like’ you or joke around with you- it’s their ability to write about what they know of you, (academically, as a member of the class/EC/other, etc) and your potential- ideally with specifics. LoRs that address things such as intellectual curiosity, persistence through challenges, showing leadership when nobody is looking, etc. are what get attention- and often the people who are best at writing those letters are perceived by students as being the ‘hardest’ (even ‘meanest’!) teachers- b/c they ask for a lot of from students and keep pushing to get it. Also, most schools want 3 LoRs total- your GC, a STEM & a Humanities. Think hard about what, specifically, an extra LoR brings to the party, before you submit an extra one (much less 2). And, remember that on average the AO will spend 7-10 minutes reading your whole file!

3. As presented, your ECs mostly need tightening / shaping. You have a lot that are new this year- be aware that if I noticed that suddenly you have seventy eleven Important Sounding ECs as a Junior and wondering if this is an effort to pack your CV for college apps, AOs will be even more attuned to that phenomenon. Trim, tighten, focus, prioritize what’s really important to you. That doesn’t mean you can’t put them down, but think about how you order them, and what you do going forward. You can always talk about how you took what you have learned from x & y and folded that into z- that shows continuity, growth, discernment, etc.

4. Please never write the phrase “my passion for business” again.

[minidino]

Thanks for the feedback.

As for my LORs - should’ve provided more context on how academically I have performed as well as more info, so here it is:

1. My Lang teacher is one who writes very few recs and is known throughout the school as a harsh grader, especially on essays. I get high As in his class and I do a lot of debates in his class as per his request - so I’m definitely asking him for a rec.
2. CEO - hundred percent agree with you there, he’s probably not the best choice since I don’t know him very well and like you said, there are tons of other Wharton alumni out there.
3. AP Seminar/CSA, I have a close relationship with them and am friendly with them but also academically perform extremely well and (hopefully) have shown that I’ve demonstrated leadership through my involvement in the respective clubs they sponsor as an officer, organizing events and meetings held in their respective classrooms.

For ECs - many of the seemingly more impressive things I started as a junior - but should I maybe take one of these things out in favor of something I’ve stuck with longer, like being an FBLA officer for 2 years? Let me know what you think, since I’ve took another look at my ECs after the feedback and many def seem way too exaggerated to AOs.

Thanks once again and note taken, will not write the phrase again lol

[tsbna44]

Two Bs - the horror. Hmmm - my response stands. Eller at U of Arizona - another you’d get strong merit. U of SC. Miami - but what do you want in a school. Ga Tech and Penn are both urban - so do you want urban? Your HPYSM - do you know about them or you just want to go for the creme de la creme - because that’s a flawed strategy. You have to like where you are.

Good luck.

[minidino]

Will definitely do more research! Appreciate the feedback.

[tsbna44]

It sounds like you go to school with braggers or high achievers - but let me tell you - U of Alabama has more National Merit Finalists than any school in America. Tons of kids pick their flagships over Ivy or Northwestern. Why - big money.

What you need to decide is - urban/suburban/rural, hot/cold, small/medium/large, big sports, greek, etc. and a major if you have one.

For example, if you said you wanted to be in supply chain - i’d tell you ASU, UTK, or Michigan State over any other schools. But finance is different. For general business, it matters less - but the majors is also less successful outcome wise. For business law and Econ, there’s a ton of great schools…bus law is typically going to be classes or some might have a concentration of some leve of law.

Good luck - and you’ve done great. You don’t need to one up classmates.

You need a realistic budget - not, for Penn they’ll pay but not others…a real budget. You don’t want to bankrupt your family.

[1dadinNC]

I agree with some of the posters on here. If you did all these ECs in a meaningful way then you are borderline genius. The problem is that most adults will take your accomplishments with a grain of salt.

[cquin85]

I’ll just say that when I see any adult resume - and I see a lot of them - that references having won or placed or achieved anything on a “global”, or “international” level, I’m looking for more facts. If I’m interviewing them, I’m going to ask about it. I want to know where I can learn more about it. Is it a real competition in which many people from “all over the world” - global - compete? Or is it George Costanza’s “Human Fund”, or something in between?

If these are well-known competitions about which everybody knows, and your achievements in them are verifiable, then congratulations are in order! If they are obscure constructs built for a small population of college-bound kids whose parents are willing to pay a big entry fee, then drop it. The AOs I know are pretty informed about competitions that show up on college apps, particularly anything that is truly national or international. If it doesn’t show up on their radars, they will sometimes “spot check” an app in which they are otherwise interested, and they’re good at figuring things out.

Honestly, I’d see your EC list and my first impression would be to wonder about authenticity. And this one was simply confusing:

1. Business owner, approaching 1000 follows and got over 30000 in views, collaborating with school for teacher appreciation project (9th-11th) - incorporates environmental aspects as well as art and business

The other thing I would add is that your impressive list of multiple internship and council positions screams “My parents are connected.” I’d ask others to weigh in and ask whether all that will give that impression, and whether it will help or hurt.

I have no idea about your admissions chances, other than to say that the two Bs might be deal breakers with your most ambitious targets. I don’t think we know a single unhooked Ivy kid who had any Bs on their transcript, but I’m sure it happens here and there.

No matter though - there are a ton of great schools … you’ll be fine and will land somewhere solid. I would just follow the advice of others and pare down that EC list.

[tamagotchi]

@minidino

Glass child

Sorry, I don’t know what this means?

[collegemom3717]

A “glass child” is a recent label for a kid with a disabled sibling whose parents are regularly look right through (as through glass) the healthy sibling b/c of the needs of the disabled sibling.

Note that it does not refer to all kids whose sibling has a disability -just to those those whose parents are chronically, consistently unable to see their healthy child b/c of their preoccupation with the disabled sibling.

[mountainsoul]

Thank you for the explanation. I was also unfamiliar with the term.

[epcy]

Agree with this comment. You don’t want to “humble brag” your ECs because of your parents’ connection.

to OP: you’ll hear a lot from the others here and in other forums: you’ve done well. But there are TONS of students with similar/more impressive credentials than yours if you want to try Ivy and other T20 schools. No one here knows what a good essay is because it’s so subjective. What you think is a “hook” maybe something that AO has seen thousands of times. ECs and volunteering are subjective too.

Be careful of going to school where your friends go. Find your own path! You’ll meet new people and expand your horizon. Also, are they going to UPenn or are they applying to UPenn?

Where do you want to go? Climate-wise, big city/campus town, where do you want to work/live after graduation, start thinking about those questions first. You’re from Georgia - will you survive, let’s say, Michigan winter if you go to UMich? Can you handle winter storm in New England?

Couple of other comments: your EC #5 - internship at real estate development firm. What matters is what you do there. Same with #4 - what kind of presentation? #1: the magazine and blog - what good is it? How useful is the blog? What do you actually do and what actually the organization does?

Whenever students mention their roles in “international”, “national”, or large organizations, etc, I will always ask probing questions or dig deeper: are these really "international’ or “national”, what do the students exactly do there? Similar when HS students said that they could develop implementation of early-stage cancer diagnosis: did they really do it, or did they get ideas from someone else? Make sure you can precisely and concisely explain your ECs.

So please make sure you have a strong case.

[DramaMama2021]

I had to look the term up yesterday so you guys aren’t the only ones. Thank you for a more in-depth explanation.

[minidino]

Appreciate the feedback. Definitely will do a ton more research - I’m thinking now I’ll just focus on my stats and SAT and get them to be as good as I can manage. Thanks again!