**A VERY UNUSUAL WHAT ARE MY CHANCES POST* UPenn, UVA, UNC, Cornell, Emory, U of Michigan (transfer)

Transfer Students
1

Where do I even begin?

First of all, I may have a very unique background compared to others. I just moved here to the US from the Philippines three months ago (permanent resident). I already graduated HS three years ago and had two years of college in a top 3 university in my country (Civil Engineering-our university had the toughest program for this also). But now I’m attending a community college here in Louisiana (I’m still 19 btw) and shifted my major to Business so I’m back to being a freshman. I also plan to transfer to one of the schools I’ve mentioned above next fall.

HS Senior Creds:
GPA:91/98 (3.75 on your scale)
Rank: 3rd out of 130 (our valedictorian had a 92/98 GPA)
DIWA medal of excellence in English (a nationwide publication award and is considered prestigious given that English is not our first language)
Batch President
Editor-in-chief of our HS paper
English Club President
Main Proponent & Organizer of our JS Prom after a 9 year hiatus

Basically those are the only major things I could remember from my HS. There wasn’t much 'cause our school was ran by Franciscan nuns so we didn’t get much exposure. but I think my college creds could make up for it…

GPA (until sophomore): 3.2 on your scale (THIS IS MY BIGGEST WORRY. However, I do hope they consider how rigorous our curriculum is since we have 25-28 units per semester.)
Freshman:
Civil Engineering Council Batch Representative
Association of Civil Engineering Students member
Dean’s Lister
Vocalist representative for our college
Sophomore:
Supreme Student Council (SSC) Councilor (we govern 20,000 students)
Main Proponent, Student Ecological Movement
Co-Proponent, Magna Carta for Students’ Rights
Co-Proponent, Conglomeration of Students Organization
Co-Proponent, USC-Youth Day
Co-Proponent, Think Pink (attempted to break a Guinness world Record for the largest Pink Ribbon formation)
Co-Proponent, Week of Welcome
Co-Proponent, IDiscount
Marketing & Advertising Head, Warrior’s Run
Program-Tech Head, Carolinian Summit
Sponsorship Head, U-Nite (party for a cause)
Logistics Head, Students’ Night
Props Committee Head, University Musicale (Disney)
Campaign Manager, TINGOG Carolinian Party
Speech & Management Trainer, TINGOG Carolinian Party
Head Officer, CE Council
Logistics Head, CE Games
Assistant Secretary, ACES
Program Head, CE Acquaintance Party
Volunteer, Make A Difference Day (along with Australian volunteers)
Volunteer, Tulong Kabataan
Volunteer, Help for Typhoon Haiyan Victims (I was also a victim of this btw lol)
Volunteer, Tabang ta Carolinians!

So yeah, that’s basically it. Now, supposing I can maintain a 4.0 GPA this acad year (I’m taking Calc I, French I, Composition I, Intro to Macroeconomics, & Intro to Business and will follow the suggested courses to transfer by UPenn for the next semester), get a 2100-2200 on SAT (we didn’t have this in our country so I’m still taking it this November & December. I KNOOOOW!), get a great recommendation from my professors (I’m thinking of getting them from my Calc & Macroeconomics professors because they have PHDs, but my Composition professor loves me so HELP), and do well on my Common App essays, what are my chances?

Also, I chose those schools because they give huge grants or at least a very good deal for loans (my FAFSA-EFC is 0). And idk if I should also put in my essay how poor we really are. And by poor, I mean third-world country poor walking to-and-from school back in my country, and my mom & I currently live in a trailer (which I tell you is an IMPROVEMENT to our house in the Philippines). A lot of people had already told me that I’m never going to get accepted in any of those schools and I know it’s such a far stretch but still, I’m in USA where dreams could really happen.

I really hope to hear from you guys! :slight_smile:

2

Hi. I am a new Penn Parent, we just dropped our daughter off 2 weeks ago at Penn as a freshman. One thing we noticed at Penn is that there are not very many Filipinos. This is good for you. My daughter is half-Filipino (from her father) and half-caucasian (me). She is taking Tagalog to fulfill her language requirement and that is where she has met many Filipinos on campus. It is a small group though. We visited the Philippines 2 years ago for the first time (my husband hadn’t been there in 16 years) and our daughter wrote about her experiences there and how she wanted to embrace more of her Filipino heritage by taking Tagalog. I can’t say for sure that this helped her gain admission (she also applied ED which helped), but after being on campus and seeing what felt like mostly Jewish and Chinese students we felt her Filipino background definitely added diversity to the campus. After visiting the Philippines, we know firsthand the conditions you are talking about. I would definitely talk about your upbringing in the Philippines but in a way that doesn’t make the admissions committee feel sorry for you, but rather just explain your story and background. There are many privileged (rich) students at Penn and you sound like exactly the kind of student they would want from a socioeconomic and diversity perspective. I’m not as familiar with the transfer process as I am with the freshman process. I don’t know where you live, but if you can visit Penn I would. At least for freshman, they do consider demonstrated interest which means visiting, applying ED (not sure if they have that for transfer students), doing an interview if offered one, and just connecting with anyone at Penn. Good luck with your college search!

3

Hi @GWPennParent, thank you for responding! I’ve done my research also with the transferring process and it’s mostly the same except without the ED and interview. Also, I can’t go to Penn due to financial constraints but their website and other blogs from Penn students have helped me enough to write a good essay as to why I choose Penn. I also took French because they require the students to know a foreign language, not thinking that mine (Tagalog) can be considered one. I just hope this could benefit me also. And will definitely do what you said about explaining them my story in a way that will resonate inspiration rather than pity. Again, thank you and I hope to see your daughter at Penn someday! :slight_smile:

4

I wish you luck but cannot offer any advise. Seems complicated. Do you have a college degree already?

5

I know it really is. :frowning: No, I still don’t. I wouldn’t be applying to any of these schools since I know they don’t accept anyone with a degree already (except for Associates). :slight_smile:

6

It seems you already have a very good idea where you’re at.

Your GPA isn’t hot. You admit it yourself. Your ECs are kickass. And while transfer students ECs don’t mean as much as freshmen ECs, that doesn’t mean they’re meaningless. You have a LOT there, and it isn’t fluff. It will be appreciated.

Your background does matter, and I like the idea to talk about it. I echo GWPennParent in that you do not want your essay to turn into what may be perceived as looking for a “pity acceptance”. Instead talk about what your heritage and upbringing can bring to a campus.

Make sure you get that 4.0 this semester. A lot of students like to look at their schedule and say “if I get all As this semester, my GPA will turn to x!” without fully considering all the work that has to go into it. Work your ass off and get it! :slight_smile:

The schools you listed are far from cupcakes. With that said, I think you have a good chance to accepted to 2 or 3 of your schools with good rec’s and a bit of a boost to that GPA.

Best of luck to you!!

7

Hi @mjr2013, thanks for your feedback! Yes, I’m so thankful with my ECs I worked my butt off doing all of them lol. I plan to put all of them in a resume however Idk which to put on the top 10 common app activities section, any suggestions?

Noted. I will try my best to show how I could contribute to the diversity. :slight_smile:

Oh I’m working on it. I practically live in our school library! It’s just hard balancing all of the courses as well as studying for SATs but nothing that seems impossible to do.

I scratched off UMich from my list since they don’t give full rides and I’m trying to add LACs on my list that are need-blind and can meet my demonstrated needs but the odds are still tough. Still, I’m hopeful. Again, thank you! :slight_smile:

8

The biggest problem is that many schools don’t give full rides to transfer students. You need to really investigate which of the universities will have that option. As a secondary issue, you cannot guarantee admission to the very selective schools on your list, so make sure you have some less selective alternatives too. Private universities might be able to give you a better financial deal.

Good luck!

9

@xraymancs Yes! I actually lined up 4 websites that list schools that are need-blind and can offer full rides and I will go through every single school after I’m done practicing 6 sections of SAT. Thanks! :slight_smile:

10

I can’t believe how helpful this community is. It’s overwhelming. For the love of education. <3