<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I'm one of the many massacred applicants from last year but i'm back again with revived determination. I'm currently an NYU freshman looking to transfer to an ivy/top-private calibre school for fall '11. As for my list, i want to trim it to about 5 (and i was hoping you all could give me suggestions), but here it is anyway:</p>
<p>Columbia, UPenn, Yale, Cornell, WashU, Stanford, Brown, UChicago, Northwestern</p>
<p>As you can see, I have a very ambitious wish-list - perhaps too ambitious - but I'll let you guys be the judge. Here is an overview of my stats:</p>
<p>High school
GPA: All A's with 1 B in soph year (school never gave a clean calculation of GPA ~3.97 UW)
SAT taken once - 800M 700CR 770W = 2270
SAT Subjects - 800Math2 790Chem 790Physics
Extracurrics - not too many. i went to 3 high schools so leadership positions were hard to attain
Volunteer hrs - okayish. like 150hrs</p>
<p>If anyone is familiar with the Cambridge 'O' Level Examinations, I'll add that i received one "award" - a 'Top in World' distinction in the Mathematics Syllabus D exam.</p>
<p>College: NYU Math major/Pre-Med
GPA: 3.78 (A,A,A-,B+)
Prof Recs: hard to judge. im hopeful but i know they wont be phenomenal
Worked about 15hrs a week (i come from a low-income household with special circumstances)
Martial arts and intramural basketball when i could spare the time
And joined 2 other school clubs</p>
<p>Any and all advice, suggestions, comments, and insults are welcome! So....chance me! :)</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>-Talaal</p>
<p>I appreciate the insight and compliment, ntrading! Realistically, I will HAVE to apply for aid (FAFSA’s EFC=0). NYU was surprisingly generous with finaid despite their reputation for being stingy. </p>
<p>And i’m of southeast asian decent so no hook there either :</p>
<p>yea i completely agree with you about the dearth in extracurrics. i wish i could’ve been more active but i had to work (to pay for tuition) so i couldnt be very involved :(. </p>
<p>There was a student from my HS who, about 2 yrs ago, transferred to columbia from a CC. He was also from a low-income family. He didn’t have a job or any significant extracurrics other than intramural basketball in college but he did pull off a 4.0 both semesters. Columbia accepted him with all expenses paid (including books and housing). That would be a dream scenario for me.</p>
<p>Where did you supply last year? Did yup get any specific feedback from the schools where yup were not accepted.</p>
<p>Having been watching this for along time, I’ve never seen anyone get into an ivy as q soph transfer who was rejected as a freshmen. There’s just not enough time to add want they want to see.</p>
<p>You need to develop a thesis for a successful ivy transfer, except perhaps to some schools at Cornell. It needs to be about what you want to study and what you’ve already achieved in the arena. You need a great prof rec or two in the subject. Showing impact on your current campus is also key. </p>
<p>Trying to do all that in one term is pretty hard.</p>
<p>As for aid, Brown should probably come off the list.</p>
<p>Yep, i’ve heard about Brown’s finaid antics in the past. To answer your questions, 2college2college, i applied to top ivies (rejected, of course), WashU (waitlist/rejected), NYU, and a safety. When i received a rejection letter, it was just the standard “this year we had so many qualified students blah blah blah…” rather than a letter tailored to me specifically. </p>
<p>I think i applied to too many schools last year and didn’t really take the time to perfect my essays, which is a major reason why i feel i was rejected. also, i lived abroad for 2 years of highschool since i moved around a lot so i didn’t have a chance to take rigorous courses; instead i was busied with required courses like art to graduate. But everyone has a million things they’re ready to blame. </p>
<p>This year, however, i loaded up pretty heavy on the coursework. 2 sciences, 1 math, and 1 close reading course (university required) = 18 credits and walked away with an okay gpa. i was expecting a 3.88 but i was sick the morning of my bio final and didn’t do too well (but that’s no excuse, of course). </p>
<p>By the way, i really do appreciate all the input. Thank you for your assessments :)</p>
<p>dude i hate u…</p>
<p>im an nyu freshman too trying to transfer to the schools u are…</p>
<p>and it seems u got me beat in gpa, sat, subject tests…everything…</p>
<p>haha, are you pre-med?</p>
<p>anyone else have any thoughts?</p>