advice about transferring

Transfer Students
1

<p>hey!
first off, i am an international student. During half of my junior year i moved to another country and that sort of complicated my university application and choice. My grades dropped by the end of my junior year because I had to catch up with many of my subjects. Plus, my American counselor wasn't too great in helping me with universities either (she pretty much only showed me the list of national universities and not even liberal art colleges) and she pretty much made me feel low confident about everything. At the end of my senior year, i managed to get my grades back up but by then it was too late to change my university decision.</p>

<p>So this fall, I will be attending a university which I am not too content with, although it is still in the top 50 of the US national universities. I was wondering if you guys can give me advice about my chances of transferring. The top universities I am interested in are Wesleyan University, Tufts University, Northwestern, Middlebury College, Wellesley and Brown University (ha-ha). And I am planning to do a double major in fine art with either international relations or economics. </p>

<p>My problem is that my SAT is very low :(
Reading: 530
Writing: 570
Math: 630
Total to 1730. ouch.</p>

<p>However my official IB grades are pretty high.
IB HL Biology - 7
IB HL Visual Art - 7
IB HL French B - 6
IB SL Math - 6
IB SL English A1 - 6
IB SL Economics - 6
Plus one extra point so I end up with 39 in total :)</p>

<p>My average in school was around 36 or 37 points, but I was predicted very low because of my move to a new school. For those who are not familiar with IB, i would say a 7 is A+ and a 6 would be either A or A-. So 36 points would be an average of A in each class. Correct me if i am wrong because i seriously dont know how to convert IB to letter grades :)</p>

<p>I am involved in many extra curriculars activities as well though not in sports. I've done many community service and creative projects (such as yearbook, work for the schools magazine) since the beginning of grade 9. </p>

<p>So based on these factors (mostly on the grades), would I have a chance with these universities? Should I retake the SAT to transfer or it wouldn't matter than much? Should I even send in my SAT scores because I know that sending in SAT scores is optional. The thing is, even if my SAT score is low, I KNOW i can tackle the amount of works given by top schools. I have much determination in my academics. It's just I am not a fan of the SAT.</p>

<p>Thanks for any help in advance!</p>

2

<p>The most important number is your college GPA, which I gather you don’t know yet. </p>

<p>If I were you I would retake the SATs just to be safe, assuming you can do substantially better. I’m not sure how much it really matters though. The general rule seems to be that if you have a weak HS record it is best to wait another year and try to transfer as a junior (apply during sophomore year), so if you do that your SAT will matter less, whatever your final score ultimately is.</p>

3

<p>Retake the SAT or take the ACT. (The ACT goes a lot better than the SAT for some). Standardized test scores matters less as a junior year transfer, but they are still considered. You might want to choose a safety from a test optional school: [Optional</a> List | FairTest](<a href=“http://fairtest.org/university/optional]Optional”>ACT/SAT Optional List for Fall 2025 - Fairtest)</p>

<p>If you earn good grades in college, have a decent score on the SAT/ ACT, tell a compelling story, and don’t apply for financial aid you will probably be a “competitive” applicant. </p>

<p>(By the way, Wellesley spends about 30 minutes reading each first year application and 2 to 3 hours on each transfer application). </p>

<p>The Transfer 101 thread has some good info if you haven’t seen it already.</p>

4

<p>What country are you from and do you need any aid? Have you tried the ACT?</p>