Any Black Transfers??

Transfer Students
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<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>I'm kind of new to CC, and I was wondering about my particular chances of gaining admission to schools I feel are a better match to my needs. Just to give you a little bit about myself: I'm a sophomore (junior in credits) at the University of South Carolina, a double major in Biology and English, and am interested in going into medicine (probably academic) or into a research based career. My main reasons for transferring from South Carolina is that I feel out of place on campus and I feel as if the facilities here are a very true reflection of what I am paying for in terms of in-state tuition (~$15K a year). The political/social climate is also ultra conservative and at times tense (don't even get me started about how charged the campus was after elections). I also feel that the campus is way too large and impersonal for students to really get to know professors (19,000+ undergrads). I'm also not much of a party person (although I do like a party here and there) and in order to do research, one must compete with grad students for spots. SO, I'm looking to transfer to possibly Georgetown (probably won't get in, but really love campus, atmosphere, networking, and curriculum), Brown (also dismal chances), and Vanderbilt! Any African-American CCers who have made the successful transfer to a top school that can lend some advice as to whether the difficulty to transfer is about the same, harder, or a tad easier for a URM? Thanks!</p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>HS
GPA: 3.89 UW
EC's: Marching Band (4 years, including Sec. Leader), Beta Club (3 years, Secretary), NHS (inducted as Junior), French NHS, National Society of High School Scholars, Science Club, ACT-SO (Senior Year, science research), AFJROTC (Second Highest Position in Chain of Command, Highest Ranking Black Female Officer ever in history of program, in charge of 400+ cadets, did a couple Officer Training Schools)
Awards: too many to list, but include: AP Scholar, ACT-SO Finalist and National Participant, attended National Youth Science Camp where only two from each state selected, Outstanding Student of America, Who's Who, National Honor Roll, etc.
Volunteer: over 100+ hours
SAT: 1880 out of 2400 (pretty dismal....)</p>

<p>College
GPA:3.7
EC's: Residence Hall Association (secretary and rep), Freshman Pre-Med Community (Secretary), Black Pre-Medical Society, HOSA, MAPP (mentoring program for incoming minority students; will be mentor come fall), NAACP
Awards: Alpha Lambda Delta, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Multicultural Academic Award recipient, half-tuition scholarship, TOAST award (based on faculty recommendations), Dean's List
Volunteer: Worked at Food banks, blood drives, local zoo for Halloween, hospital this summer, etc.
Research: after a semester (and summer!) of speaking with PI, he finally granted me admission to work in his lab come fall! Only undergrad that will work on project.</p>

<p>P.S. Also, some perspectives of some of these campuses would be greatly appreciated (FA, prof. relationships, diversity, easiness in settling into a predominantly white campus, any incidents of racial tension, etc)!!</p>

<p>Thanks for reading! I'm really excited to hear opinions!! :D</p>

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<p>Salam alaikum my brotha.</p>

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<p>i think you have a good shot at all of those schools since your gpa is up there, your ECs are impressive, and you have URM status, which helps a lot more than you think (ESPECIALLY for med school. keep those grades up, do well on the MCAT, and i would be shocked if you weren’t offered a lot of money at schools). consider adding more high-ranked schools to your list because, as i said, i think you have a good shot. and you’re coming from a pretty good school, so that helps as well. you didn’t say what you wanted to major in (unless i missed it?), so if you tell us maybe we could suggest some for you.</p>

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<p>Who cares if you’re the highest ranking black female officer?? Why would you want to make that racial distinction? Are you a racist?</p>

<p>Why don’t you just say “Highest Ranking Female Officer?” Is it because you weren’t? Well then don’t put anything. Being the highest ranking black officer isn’t an award, or achievement at all. You need to train yourself to be colorblind, like I have. Don’t think of yourself as ‘that black girl,’ who may have a harder/easier time getting into college. Don’t think of yourself as ‘that black girl’ who beat all the other black girls at ROTC. Think of yourself as a human being. Say, “I was the fifth highest ranking Female Officer in ROTC,” or whatever you are. I hate it when people imply racism for their own benefit.</p>

<p>Just remember, you’re competing with other people. Those people don’t care if you’re the Top performer in your race. JUST IMPLYING THAT suggests that you believe your race to be inferior. Isn’t that true? If you truly believed that black people were capable of the same levels of intelligence, and of the same accomplishments as everyone else, it wouldn’t matter that someone of another race beat you. Because all races are equal. Ok? So please stop thinking like a stinkin racist. People like you make sure that racial integration never happens…how lame is that!</p>

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<p>^^ affirmative action shows that your race DOES matter. i agree with you in that it should only be numbers and leave race out, but since it does, the OP has something going for her. she should use it to her benefit.</p>

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<p>To solidblu: For one, don’t make assumptions about individuals on the internet when you have no idea about them. I was clearly noting how I was the ONLY female officer of a minority status (to be more pc) at my particular high school where minority students are outnumbered by leaps and bounds. How can I be a racist when I am just wondering if there are other black applicants out there and am simply noting just how lacking my school was in terms of minority advancement? I definitely want the perspective of people who are much more knowledgeable about the application process than I am, but I also want the perspectives of minority students as not everyone’s views are the same. Before you jump to conclusions, I suggest you take a deeper look at yourself and know that by calling someone else a racist you in turn show your own ignorance. I wholeheartedly agree with the comments: I should rely solely on my credentials (which I am!) and I am not trying to downplay that fact. I just want advice: not a lecture from someone who thinks by telling off students interested in using a public forum for advice as a way to take their own insecurities out on someone else who simply acknowledges the past history of acceptances of URMs to these universities. Thank you for the advice, and I guess I will be sure not to note things that I thought were of significance. I just thought that fact alone indicated where I was coming from. </p>

<p>To ironicallyunsure: I am double-majoring in Biology and English. Thanks for the advice!! I didn’t want to seem that way, but I will make sure in the future to not seem as if I were relying on it. I just know that I was curious about it because I noticed it had never been asked in this forum. I guess I know why now! lol</p>

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<p>I’m a little concerned about this as many schools require 2 years in residence and won’t consider transfer students who have more than 2 years of college credit. I don’t know about GT and Vandy, but B says this:</p>

<p>[Brown</a> Admission: Transfer Students](<a href=“Undergraduate Admission | Brown University”>Undergraduate Admission | Brown University)</p>

<p>“Because Brown requires degree candidates to complete a minimum of two years in residence and in full-time study, students with more than two years of college credit are discouraged from making transfer application.”</p>

<p>B states that “Financial aid for transfer applicants is limited.” (same link as above)</p>

<p>Also, B is need-aware for transfers:</p>

<p><a href=“https://financialaid.brown.edu/Cmx_Content.aspx?cpId=56[/url]”>https://financialaid.brown.edu/Cmx_Content.aspx?cpId=56&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>To ironicallyunsure - </p>

<p>I thought Affirmative action was no longer being used in colleges? Wow, if it is, I’m definitely anti affirmative action lol</p>

<p>Sorry Neural, I didn’t realize there were still benefits for being black - I seriously thought affirmative action was dead. If its there, you might as well take advantage of it. Again, my apologies :)</p>

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<p>affirmative action technically is dead, but still lives on in some aspects…technically I do not believe a college can say it is affirmative action, but they can take it into account. It helps to be a minority in some aspects because a lot of schools love to say that they are diverse etc so they look for highly qualified minority students.</p>

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<p>it does, especially in med school admissions. but even for undergraduate admissions. my friend works in the AA office at her college (top 20), and i have family friends on admissions committees at various schools who have talked to me about it and said that they are more lenient with URM applicants.</p>

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<p>The schools that no longer use AA are public universities like the UCs and UMichigan who have gone to court over such matters. Private colleges can do whatever they like concerning admissions.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the advice guys! It’s okay, solidblu: I might have overreacted myself when replying back to you. I wasn’t trying to “ruffle anyone’s feathers”, so again I thank you guys for the advice! :)</p>

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<p>Look, almost all college apps have a section on race/ethnicity, so anyone who is a minority is exposed as such immediately. Pointing it out repeatedly in an application, IMHO, makes someone seem naive, entitled, and manipulative. </p>

<p>solidblu: How ironic is it that you got on your feather-ruffling, idealistic soap box over an important issue, only to immediately jump off and go into appeasement mode, apologizing and advocating use of the very same race card you just lambasted, because its use suddenly seemed profitable? </p>

<p>…a SERIOUS head scratcher…</p>