Another lame "what are my chances?" post - as a transfer.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Anyway, I just completed one semester at Trinity College and am looking to transfer somewhere...well, better.</p>

<p>My semester GPA was 3.94. I'm involved in fencing, the carillon guild, instrumental chamber ensembles, and vocal groups. I took a pretty wide range of courses - Franz Kafka, Post-Colonial Latin-American music, post-1865 American lit, intro to film studies, and chaos theory. Low grade was an A- in American lit but that professor is writing one of my recommendations so maybe that'll help.</p>

<p>In high school, I can't remember my GPA right now but it was (weighted) well over 4.0. I was 4th in a class of 200 mainly because I took some music courses that weren't weighted as heavily as the AP courses everyone else too. I did take AP course, too, but those electives seem to have brought me down. I had plenty of EC's - Italian exchange program, newspaper editor, two honor societies, National Merit semifinalist, varsity tennis, every musical group the school offered, etc.</p>

<p>My SAT composite score is 2370 (800 math, 800 writing, 770 whatever they call the other one). SAT IIs included 740 on...literature? is that even a test? Who the heck knows, I really need to check my collegeboard account. I think I took a few more, too.</p>

<p>I'm looking at:
Yale (rejected as a freshman)
Brown (rejected as a freshman)
Wesleyan (waitlisted as a freshman)
Reed
University of Washington</p>

<p>I know Yale and Brown take very few transfer applicants and it probably doesn't help that I was rejected the first time around. I'm an ethnomusicology major, and Brown and Wesleyan are pretty solid in that department.</p>

<p>So I guess I'm pretty generic, in that I didn't build elementary schools in Chile or win any national competitions. I'm hoping my interest in sort of weird musical things will give me an edge - I play the carillon (aka church bells), the zampona (a panflute from the Andes), and some more typical things like the flute and a little oboe. I also have experience with the Javanese gamelon.</p>

<p>Sorry if you were expecting a list of numbers or something - I prefer actually writing things.</p>

2

<p>If I were you, I'd apply to Wesleyan, Reed, and the University of Washington this year, or wait another year and then apply to 5 of the schools listed.</p>

<p>In my view, you can get into Wesleyan if you apply now, but not Yale or Brown. The question is do you want Wesleyan now, or do you prefer to wait and have a shot at one of the other two in a year from now (and where you would enroll at the start of your junior year).</p>

<p>It's your choice.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

3

<p>I agree with calcruzer. You have really excellent grades, and I think that since you were waitlisted last year, that you could have a good chance at Wesleyan this year. However, I don't know how badly you want to go to Yale or Brown. Furthermore, I don't know how waiting a year affects your application to Wesleyan, although I doubt it would hurt at all if you keep your grades up. Personally, I would apply to Wesleyan no matter what and decide from there.</p>

4

<p>So I basically have no chance at Yale or Brown now? If that's the case, would I actually have a chance with a few more good semesters at Trin, or would the difference be negligible? </p>

<p>The thing is, I really, really despise Trinity, so I'd rather not wait any longer. I'd be perfectly happy at Wesleyan or Reed, but I figured I'd try for Brown and Yale, too. If I have no chance, I probably won't bother, since that's two fewer applications I have to fill out and two fewer application fees I'd have to pay =p</p>

5

<p>Well, that's my view. Brown and Yale are unlikely to admit you after just one semester elsewhere if you were rejected as a high school student. And to apply and be rejected again would hurt your chances at these schools more than if you waited another year and then applied. </p>

<p>Besides, I really think you can get into Wesleyan and Reed now--which would allow you to get out of the uncomfortable experience you are now having at Trinity. So, why wait and be uncomfortable for another year on just the possible hope that Yale or Brown might come through? I'd say apply for the others now.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>