High School Student looking to get into PE
Hi,
I am currently a high school junior looking to get into IB then PE but do not have the GPA to get into a top school such as Wharton or Harvard. After looking at many forums and articles I was thinking of going to Virginia Tech, trying my best in their accounting and finance major (hopefully getting a decent enough GPA to transfer), and applying to transfer to UVA for Mcintire. After Mcintire I want to get into PE as fast as possible although I know the traditional route would be investment banking then PE. I am writing to see if there is anyone that has experience and could give any advice on my situation. I love the idea of being on the buy-side and being hands on with investments. Is there another way one would approach my situation?
CURRENT STATS: 3.2 GPA and 1220 PSAT (92nd Percentile, have not taken SAT yet due to coronavirus SAT cancellations)
Thank your for your time in advance
EDIT: After reading some advice and looking around at target school lists I have thought about applying to Miami of Ohio FSB (major in finance) and then trying to transfer into a top tier semi-target/low target school such as UVA for sophomore year in hopes of having the best possible college on my transcript to apply to a target business school such as McIntire. Anyone have any thoughts on this plan?
This post has been done so many times, not nearly as funny the 18th time...
I'm sorry I do not mean to be funny or waste anyones time I am seriously looking for advice from someone with experience as I do not know anyone that works in this field.
I don’t think it’s smart to go to Vtech thinking you’ll be able to transfer to McIntire. Even for students at UVA, getting into McIntire is a crapshoot and very competitive to get into. Just go to the best school you can get into. This, of course, is different if you are in-state for Virginia schools and can’t afford others.
Your best bet is to get 99th percentile standardized test scores and write compelling essays. With a mediocre GPA, this makes semi-targets extremely possible. As someone else said, going to Vtech and planning on transferring is really not the best idea. Not trying to discount the prestigiousness of UVA, but I think it's an awfully big risk for a non-ivy tier school. (UVA kids please don't attack me for this, you have to agree it's just not a good idea).
After this semester I will have a 3.2 GPA and a 1220 PSAT (92nd Percentile, have not taken SAT due to coronavirus cancellations) and I live in PA. I have taken nearly all honors/AP classes and go to one of the best public schools in the state (Sends a few to ivys every year). I know I could have done better with my gpa but frankly I did not have much motivation. I have an upward grade trend which I have heard is helpful and want to have the best shot possible at IB then PE which I know requires me to go to at least a semi-target school. Are there any semi-targets that could be possible with my numbers or should I plan to try to transfer? I forgot to mention in my OP that I would transfer after freshman year and spend Sophomore year at UVA to try to get into McIntire for my third year. Cost is definitely a factor but no school would be cost prohibitive.
Current UVA McIntire / IB SA here. Transfers have an extremely difficult time getting into McIntire, to the point where Transfer deans will tell transfers to not even try for it. This is because:
It's not fair to give a kid who took half their classes at a worse school and got their GPA inflated an unfair advantage against kids that got hurt by the curve in McIntire prereqs
You're behind when it comes to your involvement/leadership on grounds (its a Holistic application)
I might get some MS for this last point, but other UVA peeps can corroborate this. Even when you're a high achiever who didn't transfer in, you can lose out in Commerce admissions. Everyone has an anecdote of some friend that had a 3.9+ gpa that got rejected-- which is a result of the holistic application, which is best likened to undergrad college admissions.
But, to be fair, its not impossible to place from UVA Econ...especially due to the fact that a lot of the placement happens during 2nd year spring/summer.
Long story short, don't bank on McIntire even if you are able to transfer in.
Hope this helps!
Current UVA student, this is spot on
I think you have the right general mindset and the biggest advantage you have is that you know exactly what you want to do as a 16 year old (whether or not this is constant is another story). really work towards getting as close to a 1600 on the SATs and if you’ve taken a bunch of honors/APs, it could help mitigate your subpar GPA. Do some resume padding with unique weird extracurriculars if you can before applying. and then just apply to all the schools and hope for the best. and then go to the best school you get into for placing into IB (don’t bank on transfers/McIntire at all. a bird in the hand....). Once you’ve done that, go hit up all the local IB/PE shops in PA. Lovell Minnick, Janney, Griffen etc. whatever and whomever. Try to hustle up an internship before your freshman year in college. realistically you’re not gonna get the places I just mentioned but at this stage it’s not the brand it’s the experience that matters on your resume. then work successively every summer to get to a better placement than your last. apply to transfer to a better school if you get a 4.0 freshman year in the meantime for sure, but don’t bank on that. At the end of the day, I’m a thorough believer that even if you go to the typical non-targets, if you know what you want to do any have a place enough in advance (like at age 16), you should be able to break into the industry. Maybe not Goldman, but a respectable bank.
Thank you for your advice and your time! I will definitely try my best to get as close to the 99th percentile as possible. Some extracurricular activities that I have done are playing Ice Hockey from very young age until junior year (Quit to allow more time to improve grades) as well as being on a very Successful FIRST Robotics Team (Placed twice at the State Level and almost made it to the national level once, I did mostly engineering such as 3d modeling, 3d printing, and non-profit work) that also stopped junior year due to the team deciding to stop competing for various reasons. I also started a basic part time job junior year if that counts. I think these are somewhat unique but I will try to join some finance/business related clubs such as FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) to do some resume padding. For recommendation letters I will try to have my robotics team leader (English professor at Carnegie Melon) write me one as well as a history teacher that holds me in very high regard. I am for sure going to apply to as many colleges as possible to cast a wide net and go to whichever one is best for IB placment. Once again thank your for your time and advice!
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