<p>Hello, this is my first time on CC and I am just here to look for some opinions on what schools I should apply for. I have relatively strong grades, but a lack of EC. I know this is my fault. Do I have a chance to get into a top 10 school? Top 20? Top 50? University of Phoenix?</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): Did Not Take
[</em>] ACT: 35
[<em>] SAT II: 800 Math II, 780 Chemistry
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Not Available
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Seven 5's, One 4
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): Did Not Take
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Six AP's and Differential Equations
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None [/ul] Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Few clubs and founder/president of two (hour per week of each), 12 years of piano (over 3000 hours) but no awards or other distinctions (piano teacher claims competitions and exams are useless)
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: None
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: None
[li] Summer Activities: Community College Classes (does that even count?) [/ul] </p>[/li]
<p>Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): CA
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): US
[<em>] School Type: Large Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>] Gender: M
[</em>] Income Bracket: >$200,000
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None [/ul] </p>[/li]
<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Curricularrs
[</em>] Weaknesses: Extracurriculars [/ul]</p>
<p>Community College Classes DO count. Have your piano teacher write an extra letter of recommendation (CommonApp colleges typically let you upload one from a non-core-teacher adult: employer, coach, etc) where s/he explains his/her disdain for competition as well as what pieces you’re able to play, how well your sight read, your level of solfeggio/music theory, etc. :)</p>
<p>However, your odds will be better if you apply to colleges that have fewer Male, Asian applicants. Of course apply to top CA schools, but think of Vanderbilt, Emory, Rice, Georgetown, UMichigan (especially if you’re full-pay - it’ll be a hook at these schools), plus Lehigh or URochester, plus LACs in the Midwest and South (think Carleton, Davidson…) You’d also qualify for the Honors College at Penn State and UWI-Madison.</p>
<p>Run the NPC’s on all of them and have a talk with your parents about what they can afford. Remember that you, on your own, can only borrow $5,500.</p>
<p>Right off the bat, you qualify for full tuition at the University of Alabama’s Honors College, and if you’re interested in the College of Engineering you get an additional $2,500 stipend. It’s an AUTOMATIC scholarship so apply before Dec 1. The Honors College is pretty good, and I think Mom2K is soon going to tell you more about it. :)</p>
Thank you for your suggestions MYOS. Vanderbilt, Emory, Rice, Georgetown, and Michigan all sound like excellent schools. Would I also have a chance at Notre Dame due to its lack of Asian applicants? I am planning to major in business, so school prestige will be a huge deciding factor.</p>
<p>With a 35 and a 4.0… It’d only be hard for you to get into the top 15. 15- 25 should be easier. 25 Down would just want great stats to attend(most likely)</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I doubt that is the case. Even at one of our state flagships, UCLA (ranked 23) had just under a 71% acceptance rate for freshmen…with 4.0 unweighted GPA’s.</p>
<p>HarryS, you’re right, ThatGuyOverThere doesn’t quite grasp how insanely difficult it is to get into a Top 25 university/LAC, and how competitive schools ranked in the top 50-60 are. The only schools where great stats to attend would suffice are public flagships starting at Penn State and down, and never for selective LACs.
However being academically focused and showing it through various activities is never a bad thing.
Notre Dame: only if you’re Catholic and devout, because it’s pretty conservative and religious, they even have parietals (rules about when and where men and women can meet in the dorms.)
With such an accomplished resume and clear intellectual focus, why would you major in business at the undergraduate level??? The degree has been shown to be the least intellectually demanding (fewer papers to write, fewer books to read, etc), except for a handful of schools like Wharton and Stern.</p>
<p>Unfortunately EC’s are what those top schools use to differentiate between students of similar stats. And they can pick people who look like they will involve themselves in campus life. What do you do with yourself when you are not studying? MYOS1634 is giving great advice here, all the way down to the last post. Business undergrad is weak!</p>
<p>Thank you for all the replies. I really appreciate them.</p>
<p>My career goal is something related to finance. Not necessarily investment banking, but that would be a good place to start as to what schools are the most lucrative for finance-related careers. Here is the general consensus on Wall Street Oasis of the investment banking target schools:</p>
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<p>UC Berkeley would be the obvious choice, but are there any other schools I have a chance for? I would be guessing UVA and Michigan since my parents might be able to pay full price out of state tuition. Maybe NYU Stern or a low Ivy if I got lucky?</p>
<p>If all of them are reaches/high matches for me, would it make sense to go to a less expensive UC for two years and then transfer into one of the schools above? I heard high school extracurriculars don’t matter as much for transfer students.</p>
<p>You should take this kind of advice with a grain of salt. Or two or three. What’s written in #5 and 6 should have tipped you off.
For finance, you do need to be part of a “feeder” school but you ABSOLUTELY do not need to major in Business. Major in math, in fact, you’ll be more employable.</p>
<p>Yes, listen to MYOS1634, undergrad business is mostly junk. With your math abilities do economics combined with math and cs. You’ll be golden. Harvard, Yale, Princeton don’t have undergrad business degrees by the way. </p>
<p>The Yale, Math Econ major would be a perfect fit for you - maybe you should consider it as a reach. Yale seems to really like kids who are passionate about music as a hobby so play that up and make the fact that you did not do competitions a plus - you’re not that typical Asian Male piano drone - you actually love the music (no offense meant, I have Asian genes as well!).</p>
<p>Yes, go for math econ :), absolutely. Great idea, Keesh!
For business, there’s Wharton and Stern (etc) but if you apply there your odds aren’t too good. Would you be top 9% (even if your school doesn’t issue rank, would you be able to have an estimate)?
I agree that UCB is the obvious choice for you but don’t limit yourself to Haas.</p>