GPA: 3.94 UW/ 4.16 W
ACT: 35
Sat II: Math 2: 800/ Lit: 800
Class Rank: Top 3%
APs: Sophomore (Euro-5), Junior (Calc BC, Chem, Lang), Senior (Lit, APUSH, Macro)
ECs:
DECA
International Champion (1st Place at Internationals)
President of my state’s DECA association
VP of my school chapter
Debate
Sole founder and coach of my hs school’s debate team (the only coach not an assistant coach)
Had to teach myself how to debate single-handedly with no prior experience
Coached myself to 3rd place at the state tournament this year (LD debate- my circuit is actually fairly competitive)
Established my school’s debate program as the 4th best program in my state
Member of my state’s Debate Coaches Association/ voting at their board meetings ( Only hs student to ever receive honor in the history of the organization)
Nominated by my Debate Coaches Association for Coach of the Year
Member of the National Speech and Debate Coaches Association Coaches’ Society (Only hs student to ever receive honor in history of the organization)
Diamond Challenge International Entrepreneurial Competition
Pending International semifinalist status 2019
Selected to take part in a highly selective, year-round research program at my state’s Medical College that only accepts 20 students each year
Conducting research on Pediatric Diabetes to be published this year
Tutor and head of marketing department for local tutoring organization that teaches English to refugees in our area (only hs student allowed to tutor or volunteer for program)
Forensics
2x Top 10 state finalist (Not super important but might as well mention it)
Head of Marketing Department
Other small ECs like NHS, Math Club, etc
I come from a rural high school in an underrepresented Midwestern state so opportunities in my area are scarce. I hope I can make it clear to my top schools that I have done the most with the opportunities that I have been provided.
Also, my school only allows students to take at most 2 AP’s per year and usually none before Junior year, so my course schedule is as rigorous as possible for my school (Currently the highest W GPA is 4.25). Also, I have a medical reason for my lower gpa.
I plan on applying to Harvard, UPenn, Columbia, Yale, Stanford, Northwestern, UChicago, and Duke. I also am planning to apply to a bunch of safeties so don’t worry! I’m planning to go into business (my major is probably going to be English). Feel free to chance me for any of the above schools as well as areas I can improve! Thanks and good luck to everyone else applying!
Have you run the NPC’s for all these schools and verified that your expected contribution matches what you can afford? These are all schools with excellent need-based financial aid but few-to-no merit scholarships. If that works for your profile then I think you’ll be in good shape, especially with good safeties lined up as well.
You are in terrific shape for those schools. You can see for yourself on websites like collegevine and collegedata. You have been working hard, engaging in leadership, and honing your academic skills. Enjoy the application process. Take some time to write and rewrite your essays. You will find the best school for you!!
Thank you all for your thoughtful comments! To answer aquapt’s comment, I come from a relatively lower income family, so I hopefully should qualify for some substantial financial aid.
If anyone has any suggestions of other schools that I should take a look at that are at a similar caliber to the one’s above but also have great business programs, please let me know!
I posted this so I could make sure that I was on the right track, so you all have helped me a lot with that! Thanks again!
As you’d know, the majority of your current choices do not offer comprehensive undergraduate business programs. Your thoughts on this aspect, more than most others, will serve to further inform your college-search process.
Yes, I am aware of that. I didn’t mean to suggest that the majority of the schools on my list had a business program, so I apologize if it came across that way! I just wanted to know of some similar caliber schools that do have reputable business programs as opposed to the ones that I am currently looking at which don’t.
OK, that is how I interpreted your language, but I just wanted to be certain, @firefly15.
For the direct study of business, you could look into the business colleges at schools such as the University of Michigan, NYU, the University of Virginia, the University of Southern California et al.
For a business program with a notably strong undergraduate focus, consider the University of Richmond.
With respect to your current list, I’d recommend you ultimately keep only one of Northwestern and UChicago. In most respects, these schools are too different from each other to appeal to the same type of student.