<p>Hi. I'm currently going to a 4 year institution with hopes of going to law school. However I am unhappy in my given situation not solely because of the social situation but other factors as well. However I have a 3.7+ and my SAT is 1980. I have two questions. Should I entertain transferring to a better school and put my hopes of going to a top 10 law school later on the line? And if I really want to go through with transferring then should I retake my SAT? If it's needed I can add more information about activities I've done, etc. I would be a junior transfer. Any input would be so greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>How would transferring to a better school put your hopes of going to a top 10 law school on the line?</p>
<p>Of course ideally, I would believe that I could continue my success at the school I transfer to. However I have heard from people that I know that it takes a while to get used to the academic standards, life, and other aspects of the new school. Ideally I would have to continue keeping my gpa where it is to be competitive later on for law school admission. It isn't that I don't have belief in myself that I can do just as well or if not better, but I am just preparing for the worst just in case that I don't do as well as before I had transferred. So this is one of the dilemmas, either stay at a school that I know how to obtain academic success at or take a bit of a gamble (some people might call it that) and move schools to be happier but risking how my gpa ends up</p>
<p>Well, if you're unhappy and you'd be transferring up, I think you'd be making the right decision to transfer. You are at least thinking ahead so that you won't be slacking off once you get there. Given enough dedication to your classes, I think you'll be able to succeed virtually anywhere. Where are you at now, if you don't mind me asking, and what schools are you looking at? Obviously some schools with grade deflation such as UChi, Swat, etc. would not be the best move for law school...</p>
<p>pardon me for asking, but what school are you at?</p>
<p>I'm currently at Syracuse University. </p>
<p>Schools of thinking of looking at are: Tufts, NYU, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Gtown, Stanford</p>
<p>Hs gpa: 3.05 UW (had APS, honors, college courses)
Sat 1:1980
Sat II: 2c-700 Us History-580
Ecs: Volunteered at hospital contributing approximately 600 hours
I was also part of youth leadership team at the hospital.
Wrote for school newspaper and was assistant sports editor
Peer counseling officer and member for two years
Make a Wish officer and was part of the club three years.
Did track for a while as well.
Class of 06 member for three years.
Awards: President's Volunteer Service Award: Gold Level
Some various scholarships here and there.</p>
<p>College Gpa @ Syracuse: 3.72</p>
<p>Ecs Currently: writing for the newspaper and volunteer at Hospital
Summer: Working at ACLU
Ongoing: Current Research Independently
Awards: Dean List for Fall 06, Dean List Spring 07</p>
<p>I know all those schools are reaches if not far reaches. I feel that my gpa could use some work and I will try to boost it up as much as possible. But the one gap in the armor is my SAT score. I'm not sure if retaking it will help me that much even if I score 250 points higher because it's a test to see how well you do in college and my work speaks for itself. I just posted my stats because I felt it would be relevant to the ongoing discussion.</p>
<p>Your G.P.A is very good. There have been people with 3.3, 3.4's who've gotten into yale,penn,etc. Of course if you're majoring in singing or something like that then it's a 'good' g.p.a but not 'great.' </p>
<p>Stanford says on their website that anything from a 3.5 to a 4.0 college gpa and and a minimum of 650 on each SAT section would make you competitive. Penn almost doesn't care about high school SAT's if you're a junior transfer(spoke to a transfer admissions officer). Don't know about the others. But if it's really bothering you and you can't get it off your mind- take it again- i would recommend the ACT- what if you take the SAT and for whatever reason, you get a WORSE score or an only slightly better score?- that won't look good at all. For the ACT however you send in whatever score you want to send in.</p>
<p>Stanford seems to focus on test scores quite heavily even for transfer students and competition is fierce. A retake would be best.</p>
<p>Agree with brand re Stanford.</p>
<p>My guess is that you could do equally well GPA-wise at several of the schools on your transfer list. I know, from personal experience, that it is possible to have it go the other way. My S transferred "up" and is at a school known for highly intense, competitive academic atmosphere in some fields (including his - Engineering). Keeping his GPA up has been tough, tough, tough. And it is still good, but not as good as at his previous school.</p>
<p>So your concern is real. Syracuse is well-respected btw. But if it is not what you want, why not apply to your list and postpone the decision on whether to make the move until the results are in. Meanwhile, visit the schools which you haven't visited and/or find other ways to really explore the grade deflation, academic atmosphere, curves etc. at your target schools.</p>
<p>So what I'm hearing so far is that Penn will not care so much about my SAT scores but Stanford might? What about the others? I would easily like to say that I would like to start studying again for the SAT or ACT but I'm currently so busy with summer school classes and the internship that I really need to decide if it's worth it to proceed. To all those who have replied thank you for your advice\input.</p>
<p>you'll be improving your chances by getting over a 700 on each section which would be equivalent to about a 31 on each section of the ACT. Seriously, you don't really need to study for the ACT at all. It's not like the SAT where you need to memorize vocab. Also,the writing score doesn't affect your composite score- good thing because the people who grade the writing section don't know what they're doing and i've heard it's mostly about how much you can write and not content. Get as many ACT practice tests as possible and get a couple of prep books and just do a couple of tests- then take the actual thing later this year.</p>
<p>Does anybody know anything else regarding how the other schools will respond or look at my application if I retake the SAT or ACT. I've called them all and gotten responses about if they will take them, but I can't get a good response about if they care as in the case of Stanford or don't care so much as in the case of Penn.</p>