Help me build a list of colleges that I actually have a shot of getting into (Econ/Finance)

Yo okay whats up wall street oasisers im back from my 3 month break now that school is about to be starting back up I'm gonna be sending out apps in a few months so I need to start building a list that I can actually get into.

Assume my essays will be average and my ECs are decent with nothing super extraordinary like an olympic gold medal or anything

I'm gonna be a sophomore in college so transferring as a junior

HS GPA: 3.1/3.2 unweighted, 3.4/3.5 weighted

ACT: 24

College GPA: 3.8, can probably bring up to a 3.85 or 3.9 by the end of the spring semester but for the most part it's gonna stay the same most likely

Hooks: Straight white male from the higher end of upper-middle class where middle class people would consider me rich but rich people would consider me middle class. I am a first-gen immigrant though technically.

I'm in state for UNC so my list so far is gonna be going something like this:

UNC

UVA

UMiami

Boston College

Vandy

Northeastern or Boston University (anything on these 2 that anybody knows of? or anything of similar rankings/maybe slightly better that I can get into)

1-2 safeties

Give me another reach school? Preferably one where test scores/HS records are optional. I was considering USC but that school will literally probably put me 70k+ in debt. How does the list look so far though

 

Schools that you'll be applying to will use high school grades/test scores as a big part of their decision making process just so you know. As far as the list, it looks pretty good but to stand a chance you're probably going to want to retake the ACT ASAP because 24 is low for any of those schools. As for reaches, I would consider schools where they tend to "overlook" your high school self and give you a chance, something that Berkeley kind of does.

 

Actually I believe for all of those test scores are optional to send in. A few need HS transcripts but they tend to overlook those like you said.

I would be applying to Berkeley but OOS Transfer acceptance rate is 5% or something along those lines and like I said I'm not an olympic gold medalist or anything so I'll be skipping out on that one

 

HS stats are definitely less important but still count and if you're confident that you can get a better ACT score go for it, don't even study. Also iirc, Georgetown has a reasonable transfer acceptance rate (around 16%). I'm not too sure of how Indiana's IB program works but you might want to see if you're eligible for that.

 

No, I paid a lot to send my test scores to every school on your list except NEU, and Miami when I transferred. As long as you have a good college GPA and a strong reason to transfer, you should be fine but it also depends on what school are you transferring from like CC, or below T100. Out of state tuition will cost you the same throughout all of those schools tho. I would also say transferring will also put you behind in terms of recruiting but it will give you a leg up. Make sure you also pick up some internships along the way bc you'll be competing against target kids who already have a high GPA, connections, Internship- just a few things to keep in mind.

 

Look at transfer acceptance rates for the schools. If I remember correctly, there were a decent amount of schools that are quite difficult to get into applying from high school but much easier through transfer.

I think some of those schools include: Cornell, ND, UCB, UCLA, USC, UMich, NYU.

Also consider that some of these numbers may be slightly skewed due to various transfer programs. Nonetheless, it is something to examine further.

 

I was considering UMich but the econ program is so overshadowed by Ross I just decided to say fuck it. Same with NYU if I'm not mistaken right? Stern just completely engulfs the econ program over there

UCLA and UCB both have 5% acceptance rates for OOS transfers so I'd be fucked there

I might end up going with USC as I hear that as long as you generally have the grades and are a decently well rounded person, they will take you. Gonna need some heavy aid though lol

 

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