Major – econ
High school GPA - 3.1 (moved from India junior year into american high school) - BIGGEST WORRY
I have a 4.0 community college Gpa
ACT - 33
Ec
-part of PTK, JKW honors society, econ club,math club
Owner and founder of medical revenue cycle management company outsourcing to India providing jobs in state with a high poverty rate
Trust funds ($7000) manager to allocate scholarships to students without resources to pursue education internationally
conducted clinical trials (not statistically significant though) in indian slum to find economic reform/incentives needed to prevent prenatal deaths in India
Internship in Zamir Equities (private equity firm) - 4 WEEKS
founded an NGO which mentors/ educated 500 kids in sierra leone, india,Haiti, nigeria. (financial Lit)
Created Company Evaluation Algorithm
placed 12 in regional stock market competition (SIFMA)/ placed 41 out of 68,000 people in wall street survivor league
Founded stock market club in college
published article in Marketweek, yahoo finance
President of club spreading awareness about student debt and received 1000 dollars in funding
student representative of financial literacy center
Sponsored trip to california to Financial Literacy leaders educational seminar
Presented to college about student debt with Assemblymen johnson
Wrote research paper with professor on student debt
Played soccer for school at national competition and placed 2nd as captain/ played international in Ibir competition in Spain for club / Varsity soccer team
Won robotics competition as team captain in robotics competition (Passaic community college robotics competition)
poetry
I WAS NOT ABLE TO TAKE HONORS COURSES FOR THE FIRST 20 CREDITS IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE AS FATHER HAD HUGE FINANCIAL LOSS. - I ENDED UP TAKING NIGHT CLASSES AND BECAME A REAL ESTATE AGENT AND WORKED AT AMAZON AS A WAREHOUSE WORKER AT 430 AM IN THE DAY TO SUPPORT THE FAMILY.
Some Ivy colleges, such as Brown, are committed to taking CC transfers. They won’t care about your high school info or ACT now. They’ll care more about the impact you’ve had as a college student.
Thr info you put in bold is relevant. You should mention that as well as the other stuff. Good luck.
thank you!
the problem I see is that I don’t see myself standing out as everything I’ve done is only Econ related and I was advised by an ivy student that i know to focus on other activities to make me well rounded.
I am confused on whether to be “well rounded” or have a huge spike
Also, is there anything more you’d recommend me to do ?
Major – econ
High school GPA - 3.1 (moved from India junior year into american high school)
I have a 4.0 community college GPA
ACT - 33
EC
Owner and founder of medical revenue cycle management company outsourcing to India providing jobs in state with a high poverty rate
Trust funds ($7000) manager to allocate scholarships to students
conducted clinical trials in indian slum
Internship in Zamir Equities (private equity firm) - 4 WEEKS
founded an NGO and mentored/ educated 500 kids in sierra leone, india,Haiti, nigeria.
Created Company Evaluation Algorithm
placed 12/3500 in regional stock market competition (SIFMA)/ placed 41 out of 68,000 people in wall street survivor league
Founded stock market club in college
published article in Market week,yahoo finance
President of club and received 1000 dollars in funding
student representative of financial literacy center
Sponsored trip to california to Financial Literacy leaders educational seminar
Presented to college about student debt with Assemblymen johnson
Wrote research paper with professor
Played soccer for school at national competition and placed 2nd as captain/ played international in Ibir competition in Spain for club / Varsity soccer team
Won best robotics presentation as team captain in robotics competition (Passaic community college robotics competition)
write poetry
best dressed senior award (for adding persona to the app although i might remove it )
I WAS NOT ABLE TO TAKE HONORS COURSES FOR THE FIRST 20 CREDITS IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE AS FATHER HAD HUGE FINANCIAL LOSS. - I ENDED UP TAKING NIGHT CLASSES AND BECAME A REAL ESTATE AGENT AND WORKED AT AMAZON AS A WAREHOUSE WORKER AT 430 AM IN THE DAY TO SUPPORT THE FAMILY.
You be who you are. Well rounded is not necessarily the thing these days. Genuine interest and involvement is what matters. Do your best and stay committed to what interests you.
Make sure what you have listed, corresponds to what you’ve accomplished at your CC. Some of the activities during high school, may or may not be relevant as a transfer student. They want to see what you’ve done in Cc.
Getting into an Ivy is a longshot for any unhooked applicant.
I suggest you look at the common data set for any school you are considering (google "common data set XYZ University) and check Section D to get statistics on transfer admissions.
Your CC should have a transfer advisor. Take advantage of his/her expertise.
I am also a bit nervous that anyone who continually clumps all of the “Ivy League” schools together is hunting for prestige over fit. The Ivy League is a sports league. While the colleges in the league are all excellent academic institutions they are very very different. For example, it is unlikely that a person who loves the idea of a big core curriculum like Columbia has would also want the unstructured curriculum of Brown; it is equally unlikely that a person who treasures the rural environment of Dartmouth would also want to be in an urban school such as Penn. I strongly suggest you research every school you apply to as a transfer student on its own merits.
And as I tell any applicant (transfer or freshman student) – work hard to create a well rounded list of transfer schools that includes some reach (Ivy and other top tier colleges) but also a good number of match a safety schools. There are tons of amazing colleges and universities out there – do the work to find the ones that are good fits for you.
well for a hook I am first Gen, No clue what a hooked or unhooked student really means if i’m being honest.
I have particularly chosen specific ivy and other equally great institutions. Im not really phased by prestige of a school.
I hope I get into a good economics school regardless of the name.
Thanks for the advice I really appreciate it guys
You have an interesting story. Adcoms like the underdog. So play up the part about having to work 2 jobs while in community college, they’ll like that.
I would leave out the ECs which are off-message: clinical trial research, poetry, best dressed. Your message should clearly be around financial literacy and standing up for the little guy. Weave all of your essays and short answers to unify this narrative.
Apart from Cornell, the Ivy league colleges take a small number of transfers per year (several hundred max). So your chances are not great. Definitely broaden your search beyond the Ivy league. There are plenty of colleges where you would do well.
Also – if you can afford it, consider Columbia General Studies. Financial aid is not great, but Its well regarded and they’d give you a serious look.
Am i lacking some sort of competition gold medals, some scholarships. What is lacking from my app that would make me a stronger applicant? I have a year before I apply, so I definitely have some flexibility as far as applying. Also not only Ivy but i will be applying to Vanderbilt, Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon. I love their programs
Applying to college is like applying for a job – but without knowing what the job description is. The needs for a given college changes from year to year. So there is no clear way to know what you are “missing”.
Just do your best to paint a cohesive picture about yourself. Admissions people are busy, and if you have 20+ ECs which are scattered, it will make it more difficult. At best you’ll have 2-3 mins to make your point.
The application is not an autobiography. Don’t throw in everything under the sun. Figure out what makes you interesting, and align everything in the application to convey that same message. This is more about marketing and messaging instead of having the right ‘stuff’.
If you’ve done all that in college while working two jobs and maintaining a 4.0 gpa, you will be a strong applicant. No one here can say what your chances are with any certainty.
Permanent resident. I live in NJ, yep commuting to CC
HMM yeah thanks, I would be more than glad to go to UMich or so but in all honesty it’s basically equally competetive.
I’d suggest you look at some in state public options in NJ (ex. TCNJ, Rowan, Rutgers) especially with finances a likely issue. Give yourself a range of options.
Well, my backup is the Rutgers New Brunswick Business school and it’s not bad or nothing but i would like to apply and reach as far as I can. Also you never know how much need based money I might get.