Where Should I Apply?
Hey everyone, would really appreciate some help here. I'm applying to colleges* in the near future and I want to go into investment banking after college. I have a good grasp of the idea of targets and semi-targets, but I also want some perspective given two factors:
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My stats & ECs: I'll be applying with an SAT score of around 1500 and an unweighted GPA of 3.7. My weighted GPA is around 5 (my school has a weird scale, but I've taken all honors and AP classes aside from some electives and physical education). I took 3 SAT subject tests and got 700+ on 2 of them (biology and history) and an 800 on math. I got either a 4 or a 5 on 10 APs. In terms of extracurriculars, I've done FBLA and placed at the state and national level and I've done MUN (model un) at a couple of national conferences. I've won a couple of small and large delegation awards at these. I'm also the editor-in-chief of my high school newspaper and I started an investing club at my school. I'm the founder of 2 non-profits and 1 business and I racked up about 50 volunteer hours. I've secured a patent for a security system and I got a novel published. I'm trying to squeeze in some financial or economic research with a professor before I graduate.
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My immigration status/location preferences: I'm technically an Indian citizen/international student (won't get my green card in time for college or even job applications for that matter). This means that I won't get need-based aid from almost any college and only a few will give me merit-based aid. We have about 100k saved for my education, so the rest will have to come from loans. I'm skeptical of taking on a lot of student loans because rates tend to be higher for international students and there's a bit of uncertainty. Getting a job is harder because I won't have work authorization and will need sponsorship, and there's a chance I'll get kicked back to India, where the low salaries (albeit proportional to the COL), will make it almost impossible for me to pay off my debts if I take on too much. So I'll have to shoot for colleges that either have reasonable tuitions or schools that give merit-based financial aid to international students. At the same time, I'm open to applying to schools that don't fit that criteria since applying to a bunch of schools doesn't really hurt. Finally, I should bear in mind things like work authorization. Despite growing up in the US, I'm open to other places, so here's how it stands
US (the bulk of the schools I'll apply to) > UK (a solid number of schools I'll apply to) > Canada (a couple of schools I'll apply to) > India (more of a worst-case scenario so I'm not applying to any schools there).
Within the US, I'm perfectly happy to be in cities outside of New York like Chicago, Houston, Charlotte, Boston, Raleigh, and more. In the UK and Canada, though, I'm really only OK with living in London or Toronto.
I'd love it if you could recommend some colleges for me to apply to given the information that I provided. If you want me to offer more information, please ask and I'll give it. If you have specific advice, please comment without being anonymous and I'll PM you. Any and all advice is appreciated. Thank you and have a wonderful week!
*I placed this in the IB forum instead of business school since I want to go into IB after college, the business school forum seemed more MBA-focused, and the IB forum probably has more traffic.
bump
You seem like a beast bro. here are some schools that might be a good fit: -Duke -Cornell -Dartmouth -UVA -Michigan Ross -Northwestern -Rice -Georgetown -Berkeley -UCLA
just a few off the top of my head, there’s def way more. your extracurriculars in particular seem really strong so keep top Ivys in mind too
Thank you for the response, I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to help me! I'll definitely keep those schools in mind.
And I’d be happy to offer some bits of advice if you’d like, feel free to pm
Sounds amazing! Just PMd.
Bump. Anyone else have any other advice or suggestions?
Do you mind me asking where your high school is located?
Also would add WashU, NYU, Emory, Vanderbilt, UNC to schools you could consider
Yeah, I looked into these. They seem like solid schools that I'll definitely look into. Thanks for sharing!
UT/Berk/Stanford
Yeah, I don't mind sharing that. It's in central New Jersey.
Thanks, was just wondering because in my experience, some universities had slightly higher admission rates for nearby high schools lol. Don't know if that's true or to what extent it would be true in NJ. You could also look into the LACs, though most aren't around big cities that you mentioned.
BU and BC are also good options
Consider Lehigh Too!
I think for you...
Duke UVA MICHIGAN USC BEREKELY UCL BC VANDERBILT WASHU NYU GEORGETOWN
Thanks for the response, this is really helpful! Any other British schools come to mind since I noticed that you put UCL?
Can always go for LSE/Warwick/Oxbridge
Get your SAT up to a 1560+/ACT up to 35+, and begin writing your common app / essays for college and get them reviewed by your English teachers/any professionals you have access to. Those will make the biggest difference.
Currently I'm shooting about a 1500 (sometimes 1480, sometimes 1520, generally in that region). What would you suggest doing to get that final bump up?
The essay advice is great, thanks for sharing!
For me I just absolutely grinded on practice tests for a month beforehand. For reference, I go to HYP, and everyone here has a 34-1540+ / 4.0 unless they're an athlete, mega-legacy (legacies have the aforementioned stats, mega-legacies are children of super famous alum / who have donated a shit ton for buildings and stuff), or just absolutely bonkers (people like Malala)
I applied to 21 unis, didn't get into places like UVA or USC but got into multiple Ivies (as a basic ass non-diverse candidate). Apply to as many as you can! Shoot your shot so wide that you spray everywhere, all over their faces.
Yeah, that's the plan. I'm thinking of applying to a lot too, but where would you draw the line? After a certain point, don't you end up not putting in the right kind of effort into the application?
If it is truly worth it to you, you'll figure out a way to apply to anywhere/everywhere that you want. I'd say, apply to all the Ivies, Duke, Stanford, MIT, WashU, UChicago, Vanderbilt, Rice, NW, Emory, Notre Dame, USC, NYU, Gtown, BC, WFU, BU, then all the public targets like Berkeley, UVA, Michigan, IU Kelly, UNC, and also the ones that can still send kids to IB like UF, GT, UT Austin, UCLA, Penn State, as well as the elite LACs like the Claremont Schools, Amherst & Williams, even some others like a Colby or Colgate or Wesleyan which can send kids to IB. The only elite schools I'd say aren't worth the time (for finance) are CalTech, CMU, & JHU. You can make it to IB from every single school I listed, plenty of which have merit aid available
In the UK, I wouldn’t necessarily write of Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews, Durham with their eponym universities, but YMMD
Not fully sure what eponym or YMMD mean, but I'll definitely look into the colleges you mentioned. Also, you can only apply to either Oxford or Cambridge, but not both, right? Thank you for the response!
Same name Your mileage might differ. Yes just one, and within that there are lots of colleges - so you’d need to choose one, but they’ll guide you through it.
Not to be a debbie downer but you most likely wont be able to get into most of these schools unless your instate for a couple of the state schools. Getting into Ross or Virginia out of state is very comparable into getting an Ivy. And I don't think you have a very good chance at an IVy.
A 1500 from an international is nothing out of the ordinary and a 3.7 won't help you and its probably best you get that up.
You should definitely apply to as many as you can, but keep your expectations.
I think UT Austin or UF would be great schools you could get into especially if your instate.
Thanks for the honest feedback, I appreciate it. I’ll work on improving my numbers, but let’s assume they stay the same. In your opinion, what schools can I go for and have a reasonable shot at getting into?
What state are u in
Really great responses so far, I love how helpful and compassionate this community is. Any one else want to pitch in and another perspective? I'd really appreciate it!
PM me. I’m from central N.J. and was in a similar boat.
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