Senior looking for colleges (class of 26’)

[silver zodiac]

• Location/Region:

Rural, West Coast, USA (open to go to east coast if schools is very good)

• Major:
  Business, interested in entrepreneurship and perhaps economics

• GPA/Test Scores:
  4.0 unweighted (school doesn’t do weighted)
  4.3/4.4 (college gpa, I’ve taken 20+ college classes while in hs)
  1490 sat, going to retake in fall for 1550+ (hopefully)

• Curriculum:
  Anything where I can talk to other entrepreneurs/interested parties

• Size: How large do you want your college/class sizes?
  Don’t mind the size

• Costs: What's your budget (use units—is your budget just for one year, four years, tuition only, all inclusive)? Will you be needing aid?
  I will 100% need aid, my max budget is maybe 10k.

• Additional: Any other factors that you want to mention? Anything that's specifically important or a deal breaker?
  I really do just want to go to the best school possibly, but my main factors are:
  (1) price (cheaper the better)
  (2) location (west coast is heavily preferred, but open to east coast if the school is like an ivy or something) (3) affordable housing (if possible)
  (4) history of successful business owners and entrepreneurs (if possible)
  (5) prestige and renowned

Please let me know if there’s anything more to do or provide. I’m also really interested in additional business ec I could do before admissions. My ecs are quite good but I’m trying to build the best application possible. Thank you for reading, I’m quite new to this so if there’s ANYTHING I could possibly do or know please let me know!

Sorry the formatting and grammar is weird, I’m writing this on my old phone 😅

[rough scroll]

Stanford but your sat is a bit lower than their average

[silver zodiac]

Is that a big disadvantage? I’m aiming to get a 1600 come fall (so realistically like a 1540 or smth)

[rough scroll]

I mean it’s Stanford 💀

Realistically a top sat won’t guarantee anything but it’s best to raise your score a bit more

1490 is not a bad score however I will say that

[silver zodiac]

Fair enough lmao 🤣

Are there any other schools I should research?

[next spoke]

is it 10k per year

usc marshall might not be a bad choice

[glad gazelle]

@silver zodiac what state are you from?

[silver zodiac]

Thank you so much, is there a website I can use to apply? I had some issues finding it online

[silver zodiac]

Oregon

[silver zodiac]

Yes, I’m definitely going to need a full ride scholarship 🥲

[glad gazelle]

Ngl their stuff looks sus and they just joined this channel today so I probably wouldn't trust that

[silver zodiac]

Ah thank you, can’t believe bro was trying to do me dirty 😭

[glad gazelle]

no worries!

[glad gazelle]

So def look at University of Oregon, Oregon State

Also look at University of Washington but idk if they have good aid opportunities so you'll have to research those

[silver zodiac]

Will do, I think those will probably be my safety schools

[silver zodiac]

Thank you, are there any schools in California I should consider?

[glad gazelle]

Are you going to be the first in your family to attend college?

[silver zodiac]

Kinda I think my mom has a 2 year degree

[glad gazelle]

Ok! So on top of being a rural student, you would be considered a first-generation application (meaning neither of your parents have obtained ther bachelor's degree).

There are lots of scholarships, programs, and admissions initiatives for both first-gen and rural students so it's helpful to be aware and take advantage of those opportunities if they apply to you

I have to go to a work meeting for like 30 min butthn I can be back to chat more about other school options for you

[silver zodiac]

I’ll look into scholarships and programs for it, thank you! For some reason I didn’t realize I was first-gen 😅

[silver zodiac]

No worries, have a good meeting

[glad gazelle]

Yeah, here's a list of schools that offer different fly-in programs for rural and/or first-generation students: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pFRHw4YhcWY6L3OW3JKnIrmq-ca32v8pSEhl6OtfEb0/edit?gid=0#gid=0

[silver zodiac]

Thank you, so are fly in programs essentially just expense-paid visits to colleges?

[glad gazelle]

yes! that's exactly what they are

[glad gazelle]

Ok here's some on the west coast (+ some midwest) to look into
Oregon:
Reed College https://www.reed.edu/academics/majors-programs/ (economics only)
Colorado:
University of Colorado https://www.colorado.edu/scholarships/first-generation
Ohio: (far away but still wanted to throw this out here)
Ohio State University (the better OSU, haha I'm just kidding, I'm from Ohio though so playful rivalry) https://odi.osu.edu/undergraduate/msp
Michigan:
University of Michigan (one of the top business schools in the country): https://firstgen.umich.edu/school-costs/
Missouri:
Washington University in St. Louis https://admissions.washu.edu/cost-aid/scholarships/academic-scholarships/kessler-scholars-program/ (would have to not do something business releated, though) - otherwise you can apply to their business school in general and hope you get chosen as one of th 10 for their business scholarships - https://admissions.washu.edu/cost-aid/scholarships/academic-scholarships/
Arizona:
Arizona State University https://thecollege.asu.edu/scholarships/first-generation-scholarships (this could be a good starting place to see if they have enough funding)
California: (below I'm listing the big reach schools in California)
UC Berkeley, UCLA (might not be good at aid though)
Stanford (super reach but why not)
University of Southern California
Texas:
UT Austin https://utexas.scholarships.ngwebsolutions.com/Scholarships/Search

Babson is far on th east coast but oculd also be a good option to look into https://www.babson.edu/undergraduate/admission/tuition-and-financial-aid/merit-awards/

And then this can open a lot of doors for you if you qualify: https://www.questbridge.org/apply-to-college/programs/national-college-match/apply

[silver zodiac]

Sheeeesh this is a ton of info, thanks! I’ll research this to see what I should apply for

[next spoke]

also UCs will usually have a low cost of attendance if you live in state

and if you get regents its even better

[glad gazelle]

yeah but they live in Oregon

[silver zodiac]

Oregon needs to step up their game smh smh

[glad gazelle]

loll

Have you checked to see if you qualify for questbridge?

[silver zodiac]

From what I can see on the website yes

Can I apply after the fall sat?

I feel somewhat insecure with my current score

Not like 👉👈 insecure but more like it’s not competitive enough

[glad gazelle]

I think the deadline to apply for QuestBridge is in august but a 1490 is strong enough to apply for it and most places. A lot of people shoot for 1500+ for t20s and your score is right there

Your academics are above the mid-range for the QuestBridge scholarship https://www.questbridge.org/apply-to-college/programs/national-college-match/finalist-profile

[silver zodiac]

Oh this is great, thank you. My friend apparently needs a ride so I’m going to be afk for an hour or two

[worn sandal]

if youw ant to go into Investment banking

i would look into these schools on the east coast/midwest

Northwestern

UChicago

Michigan Ross

Williams

Amherst

The ivies (obvious)

and NYU Stern (only stern)

[silver zodiac]

https://www.questbridge.org/apply-to-college/programs/national-college-match/apply/dates-and-deadlines

wait it looks like I might have a chance before then!

[silver zodiac]

I’ll add this to my research list, thank you

[worn sandal]

no worries

[glad gazelle]

oohh you're right

[worn sandal]

i know amherst/williams are exceptionally good

for IB

[worn sandal]

no worries

they're as competitive to get into as the ivies tho and i would say they are peer schools

to the school i got into and am thinking about going to

which is northwestner

*northwestern

[silver zodiac]

I’ve heard great things for sure

[silver zodiac]

Congrats!

[worn sandal]

thank you!

[worn sandal]

yeah, i would say those 2 are like some of the best schools for IB and are laterals/peers to the ivies, esp in the east coast

[next spoke]

1490 is a great score

I had a 34 when I applied which is similar to that in SAT

[silver zodiac]

Good to know, thank you

[silver zodiac]

Thanks! I’m still hoping that I can get 1550+ but my score is still definitely good

My ecs are quite good but nothing insane, so I want to maximize my sat score if possible

[silver zodiac]

Also thank you again for showing me this, it’s exactly what I need

[glad gazelle]

no problem!

[silver zodiac]

Sorry I pinged you but then realized the question was dumb and impossible to answer 😅

[glad gazelle]

lol no worries

[silver zodiac]

https://www.questbridge.org/resources/recommender-resources

I was kind of confused by this. I got my letters of recommendation last spring, so I don’t need my teachers to write them. However it looks like I need to contact them again in the late summer to write the recommendation using the special link?

[glad gazelle]

Yes your teachers should upload the letters they wrote

[silver zodiac]

Ah alright, thank you. Haiya why does it have to open so late 😭

They’re torturing me 😭

[glad gazelle]

Loll

you should look up the prompts from previous years and start writing

also were there any fly-in programs that stood out to you?

[silver zodiac]

I have to work all summer and I can’t take any days of really 😅

[silver zodiac]

Good idea, I’ll do this

[glad gazelle]

they happen in the fall

[silver zodiac]

Hm I still have work then but i can see if any of the dates work for my fall break

Oh by the way, congrats on graduating from duke

That’s a badass university

[glad gazelle]

thanks lol!

We don't have a business major but there is an innovation and entrepreneurship department and certificate was offered

[silver zodiac]

That’s cool! What degree did you do?

[glad gazelle]

oh i did biomedical engineering/neuroscience undergrad and neural engineering master's

[silver zodiac]

Damnnnnnnnn

Did you do both degrees at duke?

[glad gazelle]

yes!

[silver zodiac]

If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your job now?

[glad gazelle]

I'm a research assistant at CWRU right now in my gap years as I'm applying to med school

[silver zodiac]

That’s cool, where do you want to go to med school?

[glad gazelle]

wherever will take me honestly

[silver zodiac]

This might be a dumb question but the quest bridge application deadline is September 30th, but my sat score looks like it will be released on September 26th, would that be enough time to send it in? I wasn’t sure if there’s some sort of delay between receiving my score and being able to officially send it to questbridge

https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/scores/score-release-dates

[next spoke]

no if you get the score before you just submit it to them