Undergraduate Business Schools

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone

Could you please suggest me some schools I should consider looking in to?
And some safety schools?

Here are my stats:

Female
White
Swiss, grew up and went to school in Switzerland
Green card holder -> U.S. Permanent Resident (and eligible for Federal Aid)
Colorado resident
Mother tongue: Swiss German
Fluent in German, English and French

ACT: Composite: 30 (E: 31, M:31, R:25 S:34)
SAT 2’s: I’m taking Math 2 and French on October 3rd, I expect in each 700+
TOEFL iBT: 111/120

(I will retake the ACT on October 24th and I believe I can get my score up to 33/34. (I continuously scored 33,34,35 on my practice tests.) )

I personally believe that my background story stands out and I want to put the emphasis of my whole application on my work experience.

At the age of 15 I started a 3-year banking apprenticeship in a Swiss Private Bank. I worked 3 days a week and went 2 days a week to High School.
I didn’t just copy contracts and make coffee; I worked closely together with senior bankers and professionals in their fields. I also took on a lot of responsibility. I got a great employer reference letter, was offered several jobs at the end of the apprenticeship and got a great letter of recommendation from my most recent immediate supervisor.
(My essays will be about my apprenticeship and how it made me who I am today.)

On the 2 school days (22 lessons a week), I took the most rigorous classes and maintained over all years one of the most highest GPAs in my school’s history. I had subjects like Business, Law, Accounting and Economics. (Besides that: Math, German, French, English, Psychology, Ethnology)
Additionally, I took 30 courses which deepened my Banking knowledge and had a perfect score on my oral and written finals.

I barely had free-time, therefore my ECs aren’t the most outstanding. Moreover, I only had 5 weeks of vacations a year
( I once took 4 weeks of my annual vacations to make language stays (one in France, one in England))

2

ECs:

  • class representative 10,11,12 (acting as ambassador between students and teachers)
  • Tutoring classmates and kids in the neighborhood 9,10,11,12
  • investing in the stock market 10,11,12
  • once collected old clothes in the whole neighborhood to donate them (like a tiny fund-raiser. It was printed in our communal magazine.)
  • I took regular hikes in the Swiss mountains (is this something worth mentioning? Some people told me hiking shows that one loves taking challenges, which I absolutely do.)

One of my Letter of Recommendation mentions my lack of free time and that I had to give up Cheerleading and Karate.
Another one mentions my leadership role in my class and how I always went the extra mile.

Final exams are a huge thing in Switzerland and I graduated as valedictorian (My grade was 5.5 out of 6. The average grade for finals is 4.2)
(E.g. on UPenn’s website they state that they may give college credit to grades higher than 4, so I believe schools know the difficulty of the Swiss final exams.)

My application will also include my Final Report.

Special Circumstances:

  • At the age of 16, I lived alone for 1.5 years and had to do all household chores and grocery shopping by myself
    (maybe sounds stupid, but it took a lot of additional time and energy when working 9 hours a day and having exams and homework also waiting for you)
  • I'm currently taking a Gap Year. At the moment, I'm helping my parents to build their business in Colorado and I'm doing community service. I plan to volunteer as tutor in Asia sometime between January and August 2016 and I want to self-study for AP Statistics, AP Calc, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics to earn college credit.

Intended Major: Business, Finance, Economics, or some kind of Dual Degree with International Relations
(whatever the school offers. I’m happy with each of these majors)

I will apply for Financial Aid.
Income Bracket: Under 60’000 $
If it has to be, I’m willing to take out loans
(The schools treat me regarding financial aid like a US citizen, because I’m a permanent resident.)

What I look for in colleges:

  • Great Business / Economics / Finance Program
  • suburban or near a big city (preferred states: CA, MA, PA, CT)
  • can be from 1’000 to 30’000 students

I plan my future in America and I do not intend to return to Switzerland.

My current list:

  • Babson College (Early Action) with my 30 ACT to meet the deadline, but will send the new ACT immediately
  • Tulane University (Early Action, hoping for Merit Aid) with the October 24th ACT score
  • Emory University
  • UC Berkeley
  • University of Southern California
  • Claremont McKenna
  • UPenn Wharton

Should I also go for Boston College Early Action?
Should I also consider Cornell? (RD)

Do you have any suggestions for schools with great merit aid?
Or schools which will probably meet my demonstrated need?

Any other reach schools which I could consider?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or inputs! :slight_smile:

3

If you are in need of much merit or need aid, remove UC Berkeley from you list. Since it is a California public, as an OOS applicant but US resident. you will receive little to no aid. Focus on the privates, not the publics for FA/merit.

4

@Gumbymom thanks for your input!

5

What about NYU and Santa Clara University?

6

For pure economics, these schools are strong in one measure of productivity, faculty publishing (from IDEAS, available online): “US Economics Departments”; “Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges.” For your interest in schools near or in a city (from Newsweek): “The 25 Most Desirable Suburban Schools”; “The 25 Most Desirable Urban Schools.” You can use these lists to clarify your current choices or to generate new ideas. Babson is a particularly good choice if you are interested in entrepreneurialism, as are USC and Penn.

7

@DrGoogle NYU Stern sounds really appealing but I’ve read everywhere that it nearly is impossible to receive enough aid to afford it. Or am I wrong?

I’ll definitely look into SCU, thanks!

8

@merc81 Thank you so much! The help of you all is greatly appreciated.

9

For need-based financial aid, go to each college’s web site and look for the net price calculator. Use it to get an estimate of financial aid. However, if your parents’ income is from a small business, some colleges may use a less favorable calculation where business deductions are added back to income, so you may want to run the net price calculator a second time for each college using business revenue (before any business deductions) instead of business income to get a more pessimal estimate.

For merit scholarships:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/

10

@ucbalumnus thanks a lot.

Is there kind of a widely known, but nowhere officially stated “rule of thumb” regarding need based aid? (Something like that it’s pointless to look into OOS public schools for aid.)

11

It’s probably “widely known” that OOS publics are poor bets for aid, though I’d still suggest you specifically research any of these schools that appeal to you to see if they offer scholarships that may apply to someone with your achievements and background. On the other end of the spectrum are financially well-endowed liberal arts colleges, which, by reputation, offer excellent financial aid. As with OOS publics – or schools within any other general class – each LAC should be researched individually.

12

OP, you maybe right about NYU but it’s very strong in Finance.

13

@merc81 thanks a lot.

14

I think you have a cool story and you need to figure out what your parents can afford to spend.

If you are considered in state for Colorado, your flagship school there in Boulder should be near or at the top of your list. Next you should look at private colleges that meet financial need (your scores probably will not qualify you for enough merit aid). In your search, take it down a notch (Or two) in “prestige” / rank and find the right fit. You need to find a school that will value the diversity and experience you bring to their campus.

More along the lines of Fordham, Hofstra, etc.

15

@ClarinetDad16 Thanks for your advice!

What score would I need to qualify for much merit aid? Would a 33 suffice or should it be at least a 34?
And do you know if schools that super-score the ACT for admission also super-score it for scholarships?

16

You can look into Fordham if you want merit aid.

17

@happy1 thank you, I will.

@ everyone:

  • do you have any suggestions how I could make myself more competitive?
    More volunteering, taking community college classes here in Colorado or something else?
18

Unless you have an interest of reaching for the sake of reaching, with your background and plans for this year you will already be a compelling candidate for many good schools. From a technical perspective, it can be good to have an ACT score that is a “draw” as opposed to neutral, so a 33 if possible would serve you well for almost any school. But under a more fundamental approach, you should simply study towards your potential on this exam and see what result you achieve – a selection of good college choices will follow from this point.

19

@merc81 Alright, good to know. Thanks again for your advice.

20

UIUC, Brigham Young, U of Georgia, St. joseph’s U, NYU Stern, U mich, CMU, U of Wisconsin, UT, Purdue, U of Washington, U of Florida, Notre Dame, U of Virginia, UNC-CH, Boston College, Seattle U, U of South Carolina (big scholly), GWU