I am looking for advice on my college list.
1. Demographics: Asian, Public School
2. Stats: Unweighted GPA (3.97) | Weighted (4.71)
SAT: 1560
3. Courses: 20 AP/IB courses
4. Awards: National Merit Commended, AP Scholar with Distinction, DECA District Awards, NHS member
5. EC's
Marketing/Analytics Intern - analyzed competitors' business models. managed an events calendar and designed event flyers.
Economics For Leaders 1 week Summer Program at Cornell
Columbia University 3-week Virtual Summer Program (Investment Portfolio Management)
Finance Intern - Assisted in grant-application process. Sending surveys and sample sponsorship packages to nonprofits to try to secure donations. (4 months)
Founder of Local Activity Club
Financial Literacy Blog - publish lessons/articles. teach classes with another nonprofit (1 year)
Research - mergers and acquisitions research. stock analysis. debt crisis research (1 year)
Camp Counselor - designed and taught a 9-week financial literacy camp. taught 4-week robotics camp. taught weekly group chess classes. (4 months)
DECA VP (11th grade) member (9th 10th 11th 12th) - competed in marketing and finance categories. competed in stock market competition.
Taekwondo - first-degree black belt (2.5 years)
College List (Intended major - Finance/Business/Econ)
1. MIT Sloan
2. UPenn Wharton
3. Columbia
4. Cornell Dyson
5. Berkeley Haas
6. USC Marshall
7. NYU Stern
8. U Michigan Ann Arbor Ross
9. Georgetown McDonough
10. UNC Chappell Hill
11. Carnegie Mellon Tepper
12. UT Austin McCombs
13. University of Florida Warrington
14. Indiana Bloomington Kelley
15. UIUC
I think it's important that you divide your list into these categories.
-Colleges that are the best undergrad schools for finance
-Colleges that are the 2nd tier undergrad business schools
-Colleges that are great safety schools for undergrad business schools
-Last, reach colleges where you'll get an excellent liberal arts education majoring in Economics, which will prepare you for the Best MBA programs in the US.
No one but yourself can tell you what is more important. Is it more important to get into Wharton or Stern as an undergrad, and then jump into a Finance job? Or is better to take the Turtle approach, go to a great college, work a few years, and then go to MIT, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and Stanford for an MBA.
For undergrad b-schools, I would suggest, UPenn, USC, WashU, GTown, NYU, UVA, UMich, Villanova, GTech, and Notre Dame.
For Safeties, UI and IU, and UNC.
I think MIT, Cornell, Columbia, Berkeley, and CMU are exponentially better to attend as MBA schools, not undergrad. And I would skip Florida, UT-Austin
If you want to apply to Ivys other than UPenn, or Stanford, UChicago, MIT, etc great but I would do it to get a great well-rounded education, not to be a business major. I don't think Dyson is nearly as good as the Johnson School of Management at Cornell.
Your ECs are very narrowly banded into business related so I think that's great for undergrad. business schools. I don't think you would be a strong applicant for Ivies, Duke, Stanford, or UChicago because you don't have Community Leadership roles, no major HS leadership roles like (Student Body President, Editor of the Newspaper, Team Captain of a Varsity Sport), you don't sing, dance, or play a musical instrument, you don't have impressive honors or awards. And I'm not sure you have a compelling intellectual vitality narrative. As an over-represented male minority, your high GPA, course rigor, rank, and SAT score, will support you being a compelling student from an academic standpoint. Your academics are much more impressive than your EC narrative. Finance is your spike for sure but remember that top colleges want compelling students that will thrive on campus doing co-curriculars, leadership positions, community service and be engaging.
Good luck.
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