I met with our college counseling advisor the other week to talk about my planning. I will be posting updates as I go through it but I will say that for once I will NOT be completely transparent on these issues. Why? Because I wouldn’t want anything I say on this blog to hurt my chances at getting into a particular school if by chance an admissions officer from the school read the blog.
In any case, the guidance I’ve received is that while my GPA is quite low (below a 3) my other activities and “intellectual vitality” will be very helpful. Since I have few preferences when it comes to school size or geography, the map was wide open. I did check out a report that analyzed colleges’ different entrepreneurial programs as well as undergraduate business programs. Would I really want to take only business classes in college? Probably not, but I think that angle will be helpful from an admissions perspective.
I always chuckle to myself when someone tells me “Ben, you can get in anywhere.” They just don’t realize how competitive the process is. There are more wonderkids than ever – and they have been coached for this moment for years! Also, I go to a really challenging high school, one of the most academically rigorous in the Bay Area. As I was applying to high schools I was told “if you want to go to a good college, go to school X. If you want to get a good education, go to school Y.” I went to Y. I’m happy I did it, but I know if I were at school X I could have a 4.0 GPA and look at any college in the country.
Btwn April 3rd and 8th I will be visiting Macalaster and Carlton colleges in Minnesota; NYU, Cornell, Sarah Lawrence College, and the University of Rochester in New York; and Northwestern and University of Chicago in Illinois. Later, I plan to visit some colleges in Boston and in Southern California. Along this trip I would love to meet with entrepreneur, business, or government types. Additionally, if you know of anyone at any of these colleges who would be good people for me to talk to, please email me.
I’ll close this post with what my college counselor said he would start off his letter to an admissions officer at a college: “Dear Admissions Officer, I know it’s a cliché, but in this case it’s true: Ben Casnocha has not let his schooling get in the way of his education.” You better believe it, baby!
Ben – love your blog. You may want to consider the University of Cincinnati College of Business… I’ll be graduating from UC this spring with an excellent education, including 1/2 years of co-op experience. The College of Business also has an honors program called the Carl H. Lindner Honors-PLUS program that includes a full-tution scholarship and a quarter of international study. If you’re interested, I can direct you to the appropriate people. Keep up the good work! 🙂