<p>I am freshman at St. Mary's College of Maryland, a small, public liberal arts college in St. Mary's City, Maryland. I have a 3.95 GPA as of right now and I want to transfer to Vassar next fall to begin my sophomore year there. </p>
<p>I took many challenging courses in high school - AP European History, AP Microeconomics, AP Comparative Government, AP US Government, AP Modern World History, AP Environmental Science, AP Psychology, IB Chinese 6, and IB English 12. </p>
<p>I had a 2.88 GPA, only one definite personal problem (my mother was diagnosed with lupus, I lived with her and had no one else, had to miss school to take care of her, etc., etc., things that were covered in my hs counselor recommendation.) I was style editor of my high school newspaper (which won an award from the Columbia School of Journalism), senior vice-president and tutor of the National Chinese Honor Society, youth representative of the National Council of Chinese Americans, and secretary of my school's chapter of STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition. I belly dance and play the guzheng (long Chinese musical instrument). I also completed two study abroads during HS, one in Egypt and one in Ireland. I have strong AP exam scores (more 4's than 5's, but nothing below a 4) and I won the AP Scholar Award granted by the College Board. I am also a member of the National Society of High School Scholars.</p>
<p>In college, I am a writer of the newspaper, THE POINT NEWS. I am also a member of Asian Studies Club, sailing team, Piano Club, College Democrats, and Habitat for Humanity. I love to swim (for recreation, not competition) and take photographs (I have completed two art photography books) I am planning to get an internship at the US Congress. Admittedly, I have not done many extracurriculars because of the large workload as well as being here for only four months. But the few extracurriculars I do do are important to me. </p>
<p>I'm interested in double-majoring in international relations and political science, with a minor or concentration in Chinese. I love Vassar because of it's academic flexibility and wide variety of academic resources -- resources unavailable at St. Mary's (which I chose because of it's expense - as a resident of MD I only pay $12,000 tuition, but my family's financial situation has become more stabilized now so we can afford Vassar - and I also chose it because of my low GPA, I had limited choices). I also love Vassar's Chinese program and I want to spend my junior year abroad in China (the full academic year, not just a semester) at Beijing University. </p>
<p>I want to be a journalist. After Vassar, I plan to go to the Columbia School of Journalism and intern for either TIME magazine or THE NEW YORK TIMES, and hopefully become a part of those national publications. </p>
<p>I've heard that Vassar has an extremely low transfer acceptance rate. Their website says they accept 10-15 percent, College Board's stats show that they accept 8%, and some people on College Confidential have said that Vassar has a 3% acceptance rate. I'm really intimidated because of my low high school GPA and my low/average ACT score. Their website also said they lessen the weight on high school GPA the longer you're in college, but I'm applying for fall transfer admission during my second semester of college. My second semester senior grades average at a 3.5. I have significantly improved in college, but I'm wondering how much they will weigh second semester senior year/first semester college versus my entire high school GPA and college GPA so far.</p>