Accepted Transfer Student: University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce--Advice

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>I'm a transfer student accepted into UVA's McIntire Schoool of Commerce for the Fall of 2014. I did tons of research over the course of 9 months and was very prepared for the admissions process. I learned a lot, and I want to pass this information along. Hopefully, those who get in will "pay it forward" and pass along what they learned like I am for other transfer applicants. </p>

<p>McIntire is a top 5 business school, ranked at #2 by bloomberg. With 250 transfer applicants on an average year, and McIntire's standing, I'm sure that many transfer students are searching the web looking for info. </p>

<p>Here is everything you need to be certain that your application is in the correct standing.</p>

<p>Prerequisites: If you are missing any pre-reqs other than the Foreign Language requirement, you will not be admitted. To my knowledge, all pre-reqs (math, econ, accounting, writing, etc) must be taken no later than the SPRING Semester that you are applying in. You can take the foreign language requirement during the summer as a part of your admissions agreement. Again, only the foreign language requirement can be delayed to summer school. My bottom line recommendation is that you must do some serious homework regarding to your transcript, YOU MUST HAVE EVERY COURSE. I think there is something like 11 that you will need (2 accounting, 2 english, stats, calc, 1 humanities, 2 economics, a "precommerce" equivalent, and a language class up to the 202 and second intermediate level). </p>

<p>HALF OF ALL APPLICANTS WILL NOT HAVE THE COURSE REQUIREMENTS. Out of the 250 applicants, 125 will be cut from the pool right here. This can be solved with prior-planning, and course/ap info can be found on McIntire's website. You can do that, no problems.</p>

<p>One potential roadblock that almost got me: BE CAREFUL WITH AP CREDITS
I took the AP Economics exams and received "4's" on both. This gained me credit for marco/micro econ at CNU, but not for McIntire which needed 5's. I HAD TO DROP COURSE CREDIT FOR SOME AP CREDIT COURSES AT CNU AND RETAKE THEM WHILE APPLYING TO MCINTIRE. </p>

<p>Check with McIntire, send an email, or go online to find the course requirements. Make sure that your ap scores get you credit for all the pre-req courses at McIntire. The requirements may be different from your present school. If you are wrong, it will cost you admission. Do your research, email or call McIntire.</p>

<p>Admissions Essays: I read lots of articles on their essay process. Other than a transcript and a list of extracurricular activities, it will be the essays will be the only thing McIntire will have to analyze who you are as a person. Writing a good essay will be very important. Write out an essay. Get away from it for a day, then read it again and make some changes. Repeat this again and again until it is perfect. DO NOT JUST WRITE AN ESSAY THE DAY BEFORE APPLICATIONS ARE DUE. I was drafting my essays over Christmas break and the next 3 months leading into applications. This essay is all McIntire has to find out who you are. Do yourself justice, put a lot of care into it.</p>

<p>A lot of these articles I read were written by UVA admissions representatives. There was a unanimous message I saw. You MUST BE CONCISE. BE CONCRETE. DO NOT BE FLOWERY, OR OVERLY SENTIMENTAL. REFRAIN FROM USING METAPHORS WHERE A PERSON WILL WONDER WHAT YOU ARE TRYING SAYING. If you use odd metaphors with admissions essays, and they do not know what you are saying, you may "screw the pooch on this one."</p>

<p>Make it your goal to PACK AS MUCH INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE IN AS LIMITED OF A SPACE AS POSSIBLE, AND AS CLEARLY AS POSSIBLE. Be thorough, but don't be wordy.</p>

<p>When you write your essay, do not try to "standarize it." I read one UVA admissions article where a dean was complaining about what she called the "McEssay." Its like fast-food, you get the same thing every time, not a lot of character. Consider avoiding the standard essay structure, try to tell more of a story. Here is a run-down of what I wrote.</p>

<p>Topic: "Reasons for Transferring" </p>

<p>I talked about what my career goals were, the attempts I made </p>

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<p>I did not mean to post that haha. </p>

<p>Back to the essay. As a quick run-down, I talked about what my career goals were, my steps to pursue them, and when I discovered that I needed a place like McIntire. Personally, I have been looking to work in an international-sized firm. I need to go to a school that the world knows about; I didnt think about this in high school when applying to schools, so there I was applying to McIntire. The idea of applying to McIntire was also given to me by a business executive, who worked at one of these international firms. I mentioned this in the essay. I DIDNT TELL MCINTIRE WHY I WAS APPLYING, I SHOWED THEM. I demonstrated the lengths I was willing to go to to succeed, who I spoke with along the way, and what brought me to the writing of that essay. Told McIntire where I had been, what I am trying to do, and where I’m trying to go. Everything was done with purpose and intent. </p>

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<p>As a last bit of advice, NEVER SAY YOU CANT GET INTO THIS PLACE. I know I am a biased source, but I SWEAR TO YOU THAT YOU CAN. My application was far behind when I first decided to shoot for McIntire (August of 2013). I didnt have 8 of the pre-req courses, and I had about a 3.65. I had no leadership positions, it was going to be tough. McIntire wanted around a 3.8 cumulative, leadership positions, lots of things. I had one semester to get myself there with two semesters pulling me back. </p>

<p>I was hell-bent on getting in. I took 19 credit hours in the Fall semester to catch up on on course requirements, and use the added credit hours to boost my gpa (I was going to work non-stop, and I did). I am no genius, and I got a 4.0 that semester, bringing my cumulative gpa to a 3.79! I then took 18 credit hours in the Spring, and sent in a 3.95 midterm report (which was not required). You can get any “output” you want, no matter who you are, just put the right amount of effort, time, and “input” into what you are trying to accomplish. You can do it.</p>

<p>You can change everything about you with enough time, I did. I took on a leadership position in my fraternity, joined a 2nd fraternity, and took another position there all in that one semester. I joined my school’s honors program, I started winning awards, and my accomplishments helped me qualify for others. I then ended up getting into an “externship-like” program with a top accounting firm just about a month before my essay went out. I was able to show McIntire how far I had come so quickly. I showed them how badly I wanted to get in.</p>

<p>Watch this video many times over the course of that semester, I played to myself during all of those early mornings, reminding myself why I was doing what I was doing. Sometimes I had to make 6 hours of sleep last across two days. I had to make that happen many times. I ate tons of meals on the go (only several meals over the entire semester were sit down meals, honestly). ANYONE WILL SUCCEED AT ANYTHING IF YOU PUT IN THE REQUIRED AMOUNT OF TIME TO IT. EVEN IF YOU DONT SUCCEED AT AN ACADEMIC GOAL, YOU CAN ALWAYS PUT A GREAT SPIN ON YOUR ATTITUDE. You dont have to be a genius to get ahead in the world to accomplish something, I am not. Just show that you are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed (and SHOW it, dont just say it–do something like take 19 credit hours). Incredible amounts of effort, will go a very very long way, it doesnt matter what the ending result will be. It turned my life around. </p>

<p>Watch this video. <a href=“Why Do We Fall - Motivational Video - YouTube”>Why Do We Fall - Motivational Video - YouTube;

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@cnucaptain Good guide! I just got into McIntire and I would like to add a few things to help future students.

  1. Take different econ classes to demonstrate a good understanding of the subject (I would recommend taking intermediate macro or micro at least).
  2. Never go a semester with less than 15 credits. The admissions committee wants to see a challenging and packed schedule bc of the ICE program
  3. Make a difference! Anyone can run for a position and look pretty. Do something, get recognized for it and write about it.
  4. Submit a copy of your resume and update it. It can act as a supplement to the info you give on your common app
  5. Go to the best school you can. I know that the website says that most of the students who are accepts are from Virginia CCs but there are so many CCs in VA so go to a school that will set you apart!
  6. Go to the school and visit. It sounds obvious but actually meet with some of the advisers and talk to them. Demonstrate your interest by being there (good chance to show off your networking skills).

Goodluck future transfers! See you in the comm school!