So About That Stern

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
1

<p>Alright Guys And Gals, Toss Me Some Insight
I started my ec's pretty late, but they're all things I like. I've had fun doing them, and a lot of them center around volunteering.</p>

<p>I'm a junior, and secretly, I'm freaking the eff out.</p>

<p>User Name: csokane
Gender: M
Location: Texas
College Class Year: 2015
High School: Public
High School Type: I'm part of my high school's first graduating class. The other high school in my district has had top kids go to ivies and other top schools every year. </p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.85 (On an A=90-100=4.0, B=80-89=3.0... scale), 3.88-3.89 by the time junior year ends with how my grades are going
Class Rank: top 10%
Class Size: 118</p>

<p>A big thing that has worried me is my grades. They seem like they'd be too low for Stern and other such schools, and I only have an UW gpa of 3.85 on a A=90-100, B=80-89 scale.</p>

<p>My school doesn't have literal honors classes, but we have a thing called pre advanced placement and gt placement. Both are given more wait than normal classes but right below AP and IB classes. So, I'm thinking that colleges will consider them honors classes, and as of now here are my grades. Waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy to many A-'s. When junior year ends I should have: 5 B's, 13 A-'s (90-93), and 18 A's and A+'s(94-100).</p>

<p>8th Grade (two high school level classes taken, they factor into my GPA and are on my transcript)</p>

<p>Spanish 95/97
Algebra 1 97/97</p>

<p>9th grade
English GT 90/91
Spanish Pre AP 94/94
Geometry GT 88/90
Biology GT 90/92
AP Human Geography 89/88</p>

<p>10th Grade (Different school in same district, no AP's offered this year):
English Pre AP 91/92
World History Pre AP 91/92
Chemistry Pre AP 87/92
Algebra 2 Pre AP 90/92
Spanish Pre AP 84/92</p>

<p>11 Grade (First semester gone by)
AP English 95
AP Physics 94
AP US History 95
Pre AP Precal 94
Community College Psychology 99
Spanish Pre AP 94</p>

<p>Scores: SAT 3rd Time (not superscored)</p>

<p>SAT I Math: 770
SAT I Critical Reading: 790
SAT I Writing: 690
SAT M+CR Composite: 1560
SAT Overall: 2250</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Significant Extracurriculars:
First Robotics Competition [11,12]
Interact Club [11,12]
Red Cross Club [11,12]
Community Service Club [11,12]
In School Debate Club [11,12]
Spanish Honor Society [11,12]
Job Shadowing (40+ Hours By Graduation)
NHS</p>

<p>Leadership positions:
Co-founder/vice president of my school's Spanish Honor society chapter</p>

<p>Volunteer/Service Work:
100-200 Hours By Application Time, Depends on how things go-
Various local volunteering activities
Reagan Wells Ranch Restoration Project
Children's' Medical Center Summer Volunteer Program</p>

<p>Honors and Awards: National Merit Commended</p>

2

<p>I would say you have a really good chance.</p>

3

<p>Really? Most my ec’s are for 11 and 12 which seems pretty bad. That can partly be explained, because I joined the school when it was first formed. All of those clubs didn’t start until junior year, but I also should have taken more initiative. Isn’t my lack of leadership also going to hurt me along with my average academic record? I’m not a hooked applicant so I don’t really stand out.</p>

4

<p>i say you are a match if you apply for ED.</p>

5

<p>Also, I forgot to add JETS (Engineering Club) [9,11,12].</p>

6

<p>And I’m applying ED if that means anything.</p>

7

<p>Anyone else =)</p>

8

<p>Come on guys anyone else?</p>

9

<p>You’ll get in.</p>

10

<p>I’m just having a problem placing how difficult actually Stern is. Some people say it’s as tough as schools like Cornell because of how prestigious it is while others say it’s easier than that.</p>

11

<p>Material wise, it’s generally not difficult. From what I’ve heard, some upper level finance and accounting classes can be difficult, but otherwise business is regarded is a relatively easy major. However, the students are very competitive; many are cutthroat and there is known to be a harsh grade distribution “curve” which results in an average grade point average of around “B” in each graduating class.</p>

12

<p>Lol that makes it seem fun. I was talking about the difficulty of acceptance though.</p>

13

<p>I guess in terms of GPA/SAT, it is comparable to some of the Ivies. I would, however, argue that it’s probably a more numbers-driven process than Columbia, Cornell, etc. might be. With your numbers, you should be fine.</p>

14

<p>I know people who were accepted to Cornell, Dartmouth, and Penn but not Stern. Then again, I also know a guy who was accepted to Stern but not to Cornell and Columbia, so I think overall the acceptance difficulty is definitely comparable. That said, you definitely have a decent shot, especially with ED, although definitely apply to some safety schools and other reach schools just in case.</p>

15

<p>Ah, alright and I’m doing ED for sure.</p>

16

<p>The thing to remember about Stern is that they give out almost no merit money and from what I’ve heard, NYU is stingy with financial aid. I would recommend that you seriously consider your other options before applying Early Decision. I have no doubt that you’re going to be accepted. I got into Stern and your stats kill mine. Also, remember that if you do ED, the college has no need to give you financial aid.</p>

<p>I was accepted regular decision and received 0 aid from Stern. From schools like Emory, USC, and Carnegie Mellon, I received around 16k worth of financial aid in the form of scholarships. I also know someone with very similar stats to you and did not receive any merit aid. So before you apply ED, you have to consider the possibility that you could be paying full price.</p>

17

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>My son was the total opposite. He received $11k of merit aid and USC gave him $1300. We were shocked expecting it to be the other way around.</p>

18

<p>Is Stern really that easy to get into? I had a 2240 on my SAT, good ECs, and mostly 5s on 10 APs and people generally were of the opinion that I was lucky to get in for RD. I was also accepted at Emory, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, UChicago and waitlisted at Yale. Last year the only guy who got into Stern from our school had like 2300+ SAT and like 5s on 12 APs.</p>

19

<p>Do AP test scores factor in heavily for admission? I didn’t think they would.</p>

20

<p>I don’t think they matter too much, but I think they may be a deciding factor when there are too similar applicants, but one has stellar grades in mostly AP courses while the other has stellar grades in grade 12 honour courses.</p>