Any point transferring?

Transfer Students
1

<p>I've already kind of posted about this, but now I've thought about the issue some more and figured that it wouldn't hurt to ask again.</p>

<p>I'm a first year at a top-10 British university. Unfortunately I found that the school I picked wasn't a great match for me academically, and I am thinking of applying to some American universities as a transfer. Firstly, while the uni is ranked in the top 10, I am not really challenged academically, neither by the professors, nor by my fellow students. People refuse to participate in class discussions, and the ones who do,don't really make very deep arguments, which influences my learning experience a lot, considering that I learn by having my ideas challenged. I also found that I would like to focus on macroeconomics and political-economy, and hopefully combine that with studying computer science, but my university a) won't allow me to incorporate CS into my degree, and b) offers economics courses that are more focused on business studies, than actual economics. Now comes the ridiculous part because the only schools in the US that I can apply for are the Ivys, Amherest, MIT and Stanford, purely because in my country, these are the only colleges that you can get funding for. (not yet decided on which ones I'd apply to, but curriculum-wise, and in terms of the scholars whose work I really admire, Yale seems like the perfect place).</p>

<p>Now, I know, I know 1/2% acceptance rates :( But here are some stats and a possible hook</p>

<p>SAT: 2090 -- was supposed to re-sit it in December but had to go to a debate tournament (at least I did really well :D)
GPA: (different in the UK than USA) high 2:1s or Firsts, and still waiting for Jan exams. I also took a hard Math class I wasn't actually supposed to take (as in, everyone else on my course took an easier one) and I'll be auditing some additional courses next term.
Current major: Politics, Philosophy and Economics (would like to hang on to politics as well if possible, Yale actually has a program that could let me carry on all three and add CS to the mix)
Extra-curricular activities/projects: I'm on my uni's debating team (went to a number of competitions, won a couple of awards, e.g. finalist in a national tournament, and a top 3 individual speaker); MUN -- rocked some awards too, I'm going to chair in some prestigious conferences across Europe, and I'm the USG for my university's conference; got a piece published in an academic journal (it was on the microeconomics of ISIS), ironically enough I then got accepted to work with the editorial team of that journal e.g. to write intros to papers etc.; I started my own organisation which happens to be a social enterpreneurship project (ie. we're tutoring CS to people who are unemployed etc. so that they can either become self-employed or find jobs in the industry).</p>

<p>I may also have a possible hook, but then...Hooks are confusing, so I'm not sure if it is a hook: My parents live in my country of origin, so if you convert their earnings into pounds, they basically earn wages that are below the UK's poverty line. I got a scholarship to put me through a prestigious high-school in the UK but there are no scholarships for EU students at university-level, and although I do get a tuition loan, I still have to pay thousands and thousands of pounds for simply living in the UK, textbooks, going to debating competitions etc. I still didn't want to study in my country because not a single university offers the degree that I wanted to pursue. Because of that, I've got two different jobs to support myself, on top of doing all the other things mentioned earlier. Could I possibly turn that into a point about how much experience I could bring to Yale's campus? </p>

<p>My actual question is: is there a point in applying? And if so, should I re-take the SAT in Jan?</p>

2

<p>To be even somewhat competitive at any of those schools, you would need to retake your SAT and get it up to around 2250+. </p>

<p>IDK why you think you can only apply to those schools; if your family really is on the lower end of income in the UK, you’d probably qualify for some finaid at a handful of schools that aren’t as impossible to get into.</p>

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<p>Look at these schools and see what their policies are on international transfer students.</p>

3

<p>@TiredQuibbler Thanks very much for providing the link! I always thought that finaid for internationals was a big no-no, perhaps due to the fact that a lot of these schools admit you on a need-sensitive basis. I am wondering if there would be a point transferring to some less-impossible schools however, because in terms of job-seeking it may be best to stay at a higher-ranked uni (while stupid, it’s a big deal for some employers in the UK and my country). </p>

<p>If I were to re-sit the SAT (even if applying to some more achievable schools, because let’s face it but sub-2100 isn’t good by any standards), could I take the one in March? The deadline for applications is Mar 1st, but they don’t decide until May/June, so could the results still get to them in time? (I could do the January one, but that would mean passing up on a debating tournament, which isn’t ideal).</p>

4

<p>Are you a girl? If you are, then you definitely need to check out a handful of the Seven Sisters. Quite a few of them are really good about giving aid to transfers and have chill transfer policies. Moreover, they’re all excellent in terms of quality! :smiley: </p>

<p>You will go to grad school, won’t you? I don’t know what the market demands in the UK, but in the US, your career would typically require graduate level education. Going to a Top 30 LAC could give you outstanding resources to get into an Ivy/peer school for your Master’s, even Oxbridge; heck, I know of a girl at my puny public uni who got into London School of Economics last year. Where you go for undergrad isn’t as condemning as people would like you to believe.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t say sub-2100 isn’t good by any standards; I mean, above a 2000 is still like ~95th percentile. And anyway, it depends on the concentration of your score. If your math/critical reading components are strong (1450+), then your writing doesn’t really matter unless it’s really low (sub-600).</p>

<p>LOL I know how you feel. I missed the ACT last year because I broke into semi’s at a tournament (policy debate ftw). I don’t know if retaking the SAT will do much if you don’t have enough time for prep and taking it in March will depend on different school’s policies. I’m applying to transfer into 3 different schools, one will accept material as late as May and another requires all the goods by March 1. Just check out the schools you’re interested in.</p>

<p>Are you a really, really good debater? That may give you leverage, depending on so many things. LACs mostly do parli, big universities mostly do policy. IDK how recruiting goes, I just hear people talk about it often.</p>

5

<p>@TiredQuibbler Wow, thanks for all the advice, you’ve no idea how helpful it’s been :smiley: The problem is the concentration. I did really well at writing, but not so well at Math (660) because I remember not looking at the clock and totally messing up one section last year. And it’s annoying because I’m usually better at Math than the humanities. Like I said, I’ll be taking a Math class this term that I’m not even supposed to be taking because it’s ‘too difficult for people on my course’. So…could that maybe make up for the test score if I had a professor point that out in a recommendation?</p>

<p>As for being a really good debater…define ‘really, really good’? The society has 500 members, and I’m on the university’s team which comprises of 8 members, many of whom are second years anyway. On top of that, most people have done BP debating before, whereas I’m practically a newbie by uni-debating standards. As I said, I was in the final of a national competition last term, + was a top3 speaker at a pretty big London tournament. I’ll be doing a lot this term anyway, and I was planning to make this my big selling point because I know that America has BP IVs as well. (Also, I’ve had a lot of successes MUN-wise at university, and I was wondering if that’s worth talking about?)</p>

6

<p>A 660 isn’t all that bad. It’s not competitive by Ivy standards, though. I can’t say this with certainty, but my intuition tells me that SATs cease to be as cutthroat important when it comes to transferring. There’s probably a threshold of Critical Reading + Math that they use to determine competency or something.</p>

<p>However any single school chooses to interpret your overall performance is highly variable. Some might see that you’re accomplished in math, some might be unable to look past your math component. All I can do is shrug and tell you to go for what you want. Retaking the SAT, imo, is probably worth skipping the tournament for. But perhaps it’s too late to make that decision.</p>

<p>Definitely flaunt your debate achievements, they look great to me.</p>