So I did well when I started off in high school, I had a 3.9 GPA my freshman year. It went down in my sophomore year to a 3.4 and then to a 3.2 my junior year. In my senior year, I changed schools and had a 2.5 GPA. Eventually, my overall GPA was a 3.25.
I ended up going to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, which is an ok school and pretty rigorous. I was wondering what my chances are after getting a 4.0 this semester. I am also pretty extracurricularly involved(as I was in high school) with student government, Hillel(religious org), JStreet(anti-occupation group), and the Black Student Union(No, I’m not Black).
I talk in my essays about learning about discipline and taking things seriously in my essays. While Harvard is my top choice, I have also applied to Northwestern, UCLA, Vanderbilt and Boston College. What are my chances of getting in there?
Are you a sophomore or junior transfer? Either way, high school statistics are going to be part of the deciding factor. Were your test scores pretty high? Did you have good rigor in high school?
Unfortunately, I think Harvard is an extreme reach, especially for transfers. For perspective, about 1,432 transfers applied to Harvard and only 13 were admitted. 1,533 transfers applied to Northwestern and about 87 were admitted. 1,309 applied to Vanderbilt and 409 were admitted. 1,336 applied to Boston College and 383 were admitted. Lastly, 19,392 applied to UCLA and 5,198 were admitted. For UCLA, however, most of those admitted were from California.
Your strong upward trend is great and will definitely be welcomed by tons of colleges, but I think you need to find some matches just in case your other schools don’t come through.
Harvard is an extreme reach for everyone. It’s known as being the most selective university in the US, so there’s no exact profile of students they accept. Like the poster above me said, only 13/1432 transfers were accepted last year, which is not even 1%. I don’t think you’re gonna get in to Harvard, to be honest. However the other schools you have listed you have a chance for. I would recommend adding 1-2 safeties, though.
I’m a freshman, so this is only after a semester. Do you think BC or Vanderbilt would be do-able? I got a 2050 on the SAT(Math: 670, Reading 660, Writing 720)
Your high school stats are going to count A LOT for these schools, and your scores were good, but your GPA really brings down the rest of your application.
Like the posters above me have said, are you bringing anything unique to these schools? Their transfer admission rates are still about 30% so they are looking for interesting students with interesting experiences.
Still apply of course, but find some safety schools just in case!
Why don’t you try all the Ivies? the only one that doesn’t accept transfers is Princeton, also there Cornell which accepts quite a few transfer. dont forget about Georgetown and Johns Hopkins, UVA is a great school. Just a heads up, most of these schools app deadlines are in a week, some are march 1 and a few are march 15, so be ready to start writing.
I think op wants to narrow down the list before spend time on it.
IMHO, it is not very practical to apply for High ranking schools with OP’s HS records, better off spend the effort next year, if the gpa is still 4.0.
Another thing is that if OP does not request FA, it will increase chances.
@artloversplus What does FA include? Is it like loans that the school provides, or scholarships?
Does it really affect chances so much? I don’t want to feel screwed out of admissions when I’ve worked so hard on my applications but still need financial aid.