Am I aiming too high?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hello! I am considering transferring for Fall 2013 as a junior and need some advice.</p>

<p>Current Stats:
Centre College (Top 50 Liberal Arts school in KY)
White male, resident of AL --- applying for need-based aid
GPA: 3.82 ... 3.97 non-math gpa (transferring to get into a better math program)
ECs:
-Did summer research (2012) with top researchers in healthcare management--- will likely be getting a special author's note in a publication
-Resident Assistant (very few people get that opportunity as a sophomore)
-employed by the college as a valet parking attendant for shows and concerts (likely to become assistant director of valet in the spring)
-Executive committee member of the Student Activities Council (Activities chairperson)
-Member of the fraternity with the highest GPA on campus (Scholarship Chairman)
-Dean's list for all terms</p>

<p>Beta Theta Pi Men of Principle Scholarship- finalist</p>

<p>Major: Econ/Math double
Relevant coursework: Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Experimental Economics Calc I-III, Linear Algebra, Intro to Statistics, Diff EQ, Intro to Proofs (Foundations of Mathematics)</p>

<p>HS:
Competitive private school
GPA: 3.67 (4.3 W), 11/160----------- upward trend in senior year uw 3.85
ACT: 34 SAT: 2110 PSAT: 214</p>

<h2>National Merit Finalist</h2>

<p>What are my chances of getting into...?</p>

<p>Emory
Davidson
Rice (like their mathematical economics analysis major)
Swarthmore
WashU
Columbia</p>

2

<p>Your aim is correct. However as with most applicants you had better throw a safety or match school in there or risk rejection at all colleges.</p>

3

<p>Thanks! Would you mind suggesting some schools that would be in the match/safety category? Any other opinions?</p>

4

<p>Furthermore, is there anything I can do over the next few months to improve my application?</p>

5

<p>Yes, your aim is correct. However, Columbia transfer acceptance rate for 2011 was only 5%, and it is an Ivy League school.
Take a look here:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/1362873-transfer-acceptance-rates-top-25-schools-2011-collegeboard.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/1362873-transfer-acceptance-rates-top-25-schools-2011-collegeboard.html&lt;/a&gt;
This statistics are kind of out-of-date, and transfer acceptance rates should be even lower now. Especially, for MIT.
Take a look at Cornell University (the only transfer-friendly Ivy), Georgetown University, Vanderbilt University, and University of Notre Dame.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the advice. I would be applying to Columbia as a reach school (don’t expect to be accepted). My top three choices are Rice (have a major that my school doesn’t have that interests me), Davidson (visited in hs), and Emory (visited several times in hs). More specifically, what are my chances at these 3 schools?</p>

7

<p>Bump…</p>

8

<p>Bump…</p>

9

<p>One last bump…</p>