<p>I'm currently a junior in high school and am looking for a top school in an urban area that gives a good path to business jobs. Long-term, I'd like to go into corporate development, private equity or venture capital. All else equal, I would rather attend school in an urban or semi-urban area than a rural area. Penn-Wharton, Columbia, UChicago are the first three that come to mind. I feel like my reach school right now will be Harvard, Wharton, Columbia, and UChicago. I might add Princeton just for the sake of it. Could NYU Stern be a match? How about UCLA? </p>
<p>Any other schools that fit my criteria besides these that aren't impossible to get into?</p>
<p>1) Impossible to know where you might get in without knowing your grades, SAT/ACT, ECs etc.
2) Can your family afford private college?
3) Get some college guide books, look online and do some research – a number of the schools on your list (ex. Harvard, Columbia) do not offer an undergraduate business major. Perhaps check out the USNWR list of undergraduate business schools (I don’t put a ton of stock in the rankings but it is a good list of schools) [Best</a> Undergraduate Business Programs | Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/business-overall]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/business-overall)</p>
<p>For schools without don’t majors I would major in econ, math, chem, etc. Sure Harvard and some others doesn’t have an undergrad business major, but they still send tons of students to major wall street banks and consulting companies, right? </p>
<p>Also, should I retake 2270 SAT (800 M, 730 CR, 740 W)?</p>
<p>I thought of Boston University as a possible consideration. Emory University, while not in an urban area, is near Atlanta and has a strong business school.</p>
<p>My GPA is 3.97 with 2270 SAT, so I feel like any top 10 school isn’t that out of reach. My reach schools right now are Harvard, Princeton, Penn-Wharton, Columbia, and UofChicago.</p>
<p>Any schools is within reach but all the top schools are reaches for almost everyone. Assuming cost is not a factor (bit assumption) in addition to the schools you listed, you can consider NYU, BC, USC, Northwestern, WashU, Vandy, Gtown and perhaps Fordham, BU, GW, Tulane as more of a safety or schools to consider if you want to be considered for merit aid.</p>
<p>My list thus far is this:
Harvard
Princeton
Penn-Wharton (might try for Jerome Fisher M&T?)
Columbia
UChicago
Dartmouth (might take them off?)
Duke
NYU Stern
UMich Ross
UVA
UT Austin
TAMU </p>
<p>I know it’s a bit biased toward the reach side, but what do you think? My guess is that everything from Harvard to Dartmouth (maybe Duke too?) is a “reach for everybody” school.</p>
<p>I’d take UVA off. You apply to business after your soph year and it’s competitive, you probably don’t want that. I think Mich is similar if you aren’t a Ross auto-admit.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t focus on adding more, but narrowing it down. Penn, Dartmouth, NYU, Duke, and Columbia all offer early decision. This gives you a better chance of admission if one becomes a clear first choice.</p>
<p>I agree with you that Duke is also a reach for anyone school. However, the OP would be considering Wharton which would be the most selective school at Penn. You may be looking at overall ED stats.</p>
<p>Private equity is one of the few strongly prestige driven fields. So you’ll want to go to schools with strong national prestige and preferably, some type of good business school. In this regard, I think even Penn non-Wharton might serve you well.</p>
<p>For venture capital, it might be best to try to go in cities which have strong start up cultures, such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, and maybe Boston.</p>
<p>One of the best schools that might be missing from your list is Stanford. Sure, its surrounding area is hardly urban, but it isn’t very far from San Francisco, has a strong start up culture, and is very prestigious. Berkeley is also another strong option, as are Harvard and MIT. UCLA and USC might also be good options, but probably to a lesser degree than the others unless you’re focused on living in the Los Angeles / SoCal area.</p>
<p>Might look at some top lac’s with strong alumni connections to Wall Street-Colgate, Holy Cross, Williams. Holy Cross has specific alumni clubs focusing on FINANCE.</p>
<p>Colgate, Holy Cross, and Williams have tremendous alumni networks with alumni giving rates >50% and have alumni pipelines to Wall Street and Fortune 500 for decades. ALSO believe Williams and HC are need-blind(meet 100% demonstrated financial aid). HC is in urban location of course 'Gate and Williams are rural.</p>
<p>According to their Wikipedia page, Holy Cross currently has 37,000 alumni. That hardly constitutes a ‘tremendous’ alumni network and it’s not surprising considering that Holy Cross is a small liberal arts college. UCLA, for comparison, has over 400,000 alumni.</p>
<p>Also the alumni of Wall Street are probably much more filled with the Ivy League and top regional schools like JHU and NYU than they would be of a small LAC like Holy Cross. Looking at the alumni section on its Wikipedia page, it looks like its most prominent alumnus is Clarence Thomas, who was the only one of its alumni that I knew of.</p>
<p>At the end of the day I’m sure Holy Cross is a fine college, but how about we cut back on hyperbolic statements like having a ‘pipeline’ to Wall Street.</p>
<p>So basically you want any highly ranked school in an urban area.</p>
<p>If urban’s a real parameter, and I’m not sure it is given how easily you’re willing to give it up, then remove Princeton, Dartmouth, Duke, Virginia, Michigan and TAMU (? - Why’s this even on the list?).</p>
<p>Your stats are very good but hardly overwhelming for places like Wharton, MIT etc. so those seem like true long shots. Other possibilities:</p>