SAT: 1270, but I think I can achieve a 1400.
Schools that require my SAT: UPenn, UVA, Boston College and Notre Dame
Need based financial aid: No
Recommendations: Math and English teacher; very positive.
I could get a third one probably, but I don’t think sending three is going to help me.
Personal Essay: Very good
High School: I had been out of high-school for 3 years, before CC.
Extra-curricular:
I invest on my own. Currently, my YTD profits are $55000 and I outperform all indexes including the Nasdaq-100.
I have a deep understanding of economics, geopolitics and finances.
My friend and I have a pretty decent network where we talk about ideas and anything investment related in general.
“Volunteering” in Germany.
Foreign Exchange to the US (7th and 11th grade)
Internship at a Computer Store (back when I was into Video Games…)
And the nearest relative lives on the other half of the world. I’ve been living on my own for a pretty long time and been through the stuff an adult has to go through… car accident, court, taxes etc… Bringing this up, because I think it is advantageous to show that I can navigate life without any “supervision”.
I hope others chime in, as I am no expert on transferring to these sorts of schools. I wasn’t a great HS student either, but I kicked butt at the community college and transferred to an LAC (one of the CTCL schools).
On the one hand, it’s a well-known “trick” that to get into your dream school (if you couldn’t as a HS senior) you suck it up, kick tail at whatever college you attend, and then transfer, as it is much “easier” to get accepted as a transfer. But your schools are all, obviously, quite prestigious and mostly cutthroat to get into. I would hope that you would at least get accepted to one or two (or more!), but the same advice that applies to HS seniors also applies to transfer students: have a safety!
That said, I’m not sure your extracurriculars are truly extracurriculars. You have money in the market. You know a lot about business. You and your friends talk about business. I’m not sure those are extracurriculars, even though your areas of study is finance. The few extracurriculars you do have are all in the past. Again, maybe others will have more knowledge, but I wonder if tippy-top schools like Penn will want to see some evidence of involvement now, such as participating in current organizations at your community college.
Actually, I think that your “hook” or what makes you stand out is not your investments, your personal knowledge of economics, or your conversations with friends about economics. No, it’s your turnaround story. If you were a poor student in HS who eventually earned his GED, you have a powerful tale, and perhaps you would be seen as adding to the diversity of these campuses, where I am guessing that GED students are not too common.
“On the one hand, it’s a well-known “trick” that to get into your dream school (if you couldn’t as a HS senior) you suck it up, kick tail at whatever college you attend, and then transfer, as it is much “easier” to get accepted as a transfer.”
For the most part, it definitely is not easier.
Also, anything that takes up a significant portion of your time that you can meaningfully talk about in your application is an extracurricular in my book. Investing is not something that all students do, and the fact that OP has profits is pretty cool.
Advice to @Vincent1997 : You should consider more in-state options! Cali has a plethora of great schools.
Definitely retake the SAT if you’re really gunning for UPenn. However, keep in mind that if you get a great score (1500+), getting into UPenn is still a crapshoot. (A note: 1400 on your SAT is well below UPenn’s averages)
Therefore, if I were you, I’d consider removing some schools that require SAT submission (Notre Dame, maybe?). Because, if you’re not able to meet the dead averages for these select few schools, then your SAT score will only hurt you.
“That said, I’m not sure your extracurriculars are truly extracurriculars”:
I agree that I do not have so much involvement in CC. The reason is simply that I don’t see how taking phone calls for counseling appointments is going to help me with anything finance related. I know it sounds short sighted, but I do not want to “advertise” myself as something that I am not. I suppose that we won’t know how much weight my business background carries, until I receive a decision.
“it’s your turnaround story”:
I agree and actually my essay revolves mostly around that. I packaged most of the investment stuff into the additional information section of the common app.
“have a safety”:
These are the schools that I want to attend and I wouldn’t want to attend any other. Should I be rejected from all off them I would try again the following year.
“You should consider more in-state options! Cali has a plethora of great schools.”:
The only school I care about is Berkeley (besides USC), but it just doesn’t appeal to me after all the Riots. UCI is decent, but I don’t want to complete an extra calculus course just for that school; especially, if I don’t like too much in the first place. Should I have bad luck this year, then I add those to my list next year. Nevertheless, I would be surprised, if I can’t get into a single–out of eleven–with a 4.0 and my finance experience.
“Definitely retake the SAT if you’re really gunning for UPenn”:
I can’t argue against this. You are completely right! I have been out of high-school too long for a strong SAT score. My English score is good, but my math score sucks. I am taking Pre-Calc right now and I will retake the SAT again towards the end of this semester. There have been rare cases of students getting accepted with low SAT scores and that is all the hope I need. At least I tried; right? Luckily, I still have a lot of schools on my list that do not require the SAT.
@TransferStalker Unfortunately, I am not too good at sciences either. Bottom line, I think it is most important for me to hold my 4.0; even if it will lower my chances for Upenn, UVA and Notre Dame (don’t care too much about Boston). Nevertheless, I am doing quite well in my current math class and I think that will help a lot for the next SAT.
A word of warning: do not look at your list as “UPenn, NYU, UVA, Cornell, and some other schools”. While you obviously should dedicate a bit more time to your top choices, you should not neglect you other applications, because realistically, it’s very possible that for one reason or another that you don’t attend any of your top choices.
Review your list and think “If I were to attend ___ University tomorrow, would I be completely, 100% satisfied?”
Extracurricular activities are important when applying to particularly competitive schools.
Due to the extremely competitive nature of UPenn, I think it would be prudent to at least retake it. If UPenn / Notre Dame wasn’t on his list, I’d tell him not to sweat it.
While your investment success is noteworthy, keep in mind this year was a stellar market. One shouldn’t tout investment prowess until he or she has endured a range of market conditions including a bear market and perhaps a major correction.
I think UW-Madison is a great addition! Just keep in mind that UW-Madison is a state school, which tends to give a lot less financial aid to transfer students.
@TransferStalker I doubt that I will get FA anywhere unfortunately. I am trying to apply to 10 schools max. A few of them are unrealistic (Upenn, Notre dame, and uva), but I would hate myself for not trying. That leaves me with 6ish realistic universities.
@yankeebanger I took financial accounting, managerial accounting, micro, macro, pre-calc and stats. Will be taking calc 1 in this spring. I have finished the prerequisites to all schools that I am applying to.
Honestly, you mainly just have your GPA going for you. The investment record is good, but meaningless unless you can provide documentation. SAT scores don’t matter, except for the select schools you mentioned. Neither does stuff like “president’s list” or honor society membership, since those are primarily, or exclusively based off of GPA in the first place.
If your essays are good, I can see UVA, Notre Dame, NYU, BC, and possibly USC. It’s honestly kind of a crapshoot, because there are so many people coming out of CC with 4.0s.
