Ivy league admissions?

Question

I am going into my senior year at a fairly small, private high school. I got a 32 on the ACT (35 English, 32 Reading, 30 Math, 29 Science), an A grade average GPA, taken as many honors, accelerated, or AP classes available, 150+ service hours, pep club leader, varsity sports captain, summer part-time job, Spanish club, interact (community service), highest honors awards every year, and will receive GREAT evaluations from teachers, college counselor, and principal. I am taking the SAT II Subject tests this October (U.S. History, Math 1, and Spanish) and am expecting to score in the 760-800 range on all of them. I am also taking the SAT Reasoning test in November and expect to get at least a 2200 on that. I plan on majoring in either Economics or Finance and possibly minoring in Philosophy. If it helps at all, I have a family member who has largely donated to and hosted many events at his home for political candidates such as George H.W. Bush and other Virginia politicians. I'm pretty sure I have many connections on the East Coast. I am taking the most rigorous course schedule available at my school my senior year and am also planning on founding an investment club. I am completely enthralled with investment banking and Wall Street and know a few people who work/have worked there. Does anyone have a vague idea of my chances at any of the Ivies, NYU, Northwestern, MIT, Michigan, University of Virginia, Notre Dame, or Georgetown? Also, any ideas on how I can improve my resume during my senior year?

Answer 1

show off

Answer 2

Does planning to take the most rigorous classes as a senior mean you haven't taken throughout high school? If yes, that will make things tough.

NYU, Michigan and UVA seem like good matches with a 32, the ivies not so much if you're not val or sal of your HS class. Senior year is not the time to found clubs, the ivies want to see you accomplish big things (beyond your school) from day 1.

If you have real connections, your stats are good enough, if not, hello NYU!

Also, at top schools, much less business programs like Wharton or Stern, the math I SAT II is a joke@@!!

Answer 3

If you can get those SAT scores, then you will certainly be qualified for any school.  Being qualified is not enough, as the to schools reject five to ten qualified students for every one they accept.  You have plenty of activities already.  The truth is that they are easy to pad and hard to verify -- so schools don't put as much weight on them as you think.  The critical thing for you will be to write a great admissions essay and have great interviews.

There is one problem with your plan.  Only two of the schools in the Ivy League (Penn and Cornell) offer finance as an undergraduate degree.  Neither Princeton nor Brown has a business school, and Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and Columbia only admit graduate students to their B-School.  Northwestern does not have an undergraduate business school either -- but the other schools you mention all have excellent undergraduate Business Schools.  In fact, the only school I would add to your list is Berkeley (other top schools like Duke, Stanford and Chicago only admit graduate students to their B-Schools).

Answer 4

If u get the SAT scores u said u will get, then ur chances of getting accepted into those schools are pretty good.

but remmeber that everyone else who apply there are all as overachiever as you are

Answer 5

I would say your chances are better than the average applicant - but you are no shoe in.  No one is guaranteed admission at the schools you mentioned.  At a rough guess I would say you have about a 60% chance if you applied to all of them.  Although you probably have less chance of getting in than the others you mentioned (it is a really tough school) make sure you also apply to Wharton.  It probably just pips MIT for the best undergrad business program.

For MIT and Wharton calculus is an admission requirement - do AP calculus in your senior year if you haven't already done it.  Otherwise do an advanced math subject such as linear algebra or advanced probability eg:

http://netmath.uiuc.edu/

Something that would look awesome if you are able to do it is to study for and pass an actuarial examination such as financial mathematics:

http://www.actuarialexamprep.us/.  

Don't worry too much though because they are known to be very tough.  But you did ask for something that would make you stand out, and that certainly would.

You are to be congratulated for thinking about studying for and doing an actuarial exam.  My understanding is they can be done at fixed times of the year at online testing centers:

http://www.beanactuary.org/exams/cbt.cfm

http://www.soa.org/education/exams/edu-e...

You may wish to think about becoming an actuary - but its not easy.  You need to be good at math - but it is financially rewarding (no VERY financially rewarding).  Will it give you a big edge?  It certainly is something they would not see often - that's for sure.  It will make you stand out - but I can't say how it would translate in acceptance terms.  Why not ask some of the schools?  They generally love to hear from potential students.

I think the amount math will help depends on the school.  At Wharton and MIT it would probably help a lot - at others perhaps not so much - but it won't hurt.

I don't know if the SATII is a joke - but take my word for it -  Actuarial exams aren't.  The lady that taught me actuarial math at uni had the distinction of being the only female up to that time who passed all the exams on the first attempt.  B Schools would know this - which is why it would be highly valued.

Thanks

Bill