Hi, so I am a Junior in Philadelphia, PA and I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice on schools I should be looking to apply to (reaches, matches, and safeties).
In terms of restrictions, I am pretty flexible:
- I would prefer a school on the northeast, mid-atlantic, west coast, or Michigan/Illinois, but I would be open to other options.
- Size of the school is not too important - I wouldn't mind being at a small LAC or a big public university.
- I am interested in studying business but if I go to college without a undergraduate business school I would probably study economics (I am not 100% set on business though)
- Financial aid is not a major factor - my parents can afford to pay
And here is some background about me:
Arab Male
GPA: 3.88 (unweighted) at a top 20 private high school in the US
SAT: 2150 (I’ve only taken it once but I am deciding whether it is worth it to take it again)
EC’s:
- Have played hand drums since I 6, violin since I was 10, and classical percussion since I was 12 (and I have played in multiple orchestras in and out of school)
- Soccer, Indoor and Outdoor track throughout high school
- Volunteer with non-profit culture and arts organization for over 5 years
- Summer internship with urban development and consulting business
- Month long internship with a news station in Lebanon
- I am going to do a business program at Cornell this summer
Any help is appreciated!
UT Austin isn’t in those regions you specified but Austin is a great city and the University has a great undergrad business school. Can’t beat it, it’s huge though but I think the business school is slightly smaller than say Liberal Arts classes. You could very possibly get merit money at Tulane, they have a great management school. Also check out Bucknell, it’s close to you, management school is great. USC’s business school is also great, check it out. Penn state has a great business school, you get instate tuition, and it’s likely a safety for you. William and Mary is good from what I’ve heard but you won’t have much fun there. Michigan and NYU Stern would be great options for you as well. Emory and Wake have great programs but you have to apply in freshman year of college and it sucks if you don’t get in to the business school, totally changes the game. Also Carnegie Mellon would be a great choice.
U Penn would be amazing for you but the business school is very competitive.
Reaches: U Penn
Low Reaches: NYU
Matches: USC, UT Austin, William and Mary, Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, Wake Forest, Emory
Low Match: Tulane (You have the stats to make it a safety but Never consider Tulane a safety if you want to get in, show interest, they have tufts syndrome, look it up), Bucknell
Safety: penn state
@MegaMetalHead thank you that is a great list of schools to start with! I will start doing my research on of them now. Wharton would probably be my dream school but obviously its extremely hard to get into. The only thing that gives me some hope is our high school has an incredible acceptance rate at penn - 52%. My GC gave me the stats and they say that in recent years 195/375 students from our high school have gotten in so I might have a shot
I would put Boston College on your list if you pursue business and Middlebury, Bates, Hamilton, Bowdoin and Colgate if you pursue Econ. Middlebury, Hamilton and Colgate are rural while Bates and Bowdoin are close to Portland which is great.
I would recommend taking the SAT’s a second time. Colleges like to see prospective student who try to better their score at least once (even if they don’t score higher). Remember your competition is going to the extra effort and you want to go through this process knowing you did everything you could so you have no regrets.
@KathleenA yeah that makes sense. The only reason I am considering not taking it again is because I got over 700 on every section (which was my goal) but if I want to get into the ivies I probably should try for a 2200+.