<p>I am a student at UPenn and I have discovered that it is not for me. My dream school is Brown, but I am not sure if I could get in. I am still going to apply there as well as Columbia, Duke, and Amherst. Do you think it will be hard to transfer between ivies? Which ivies are good with transfer students? What does it take to really have yourself stand out from the other students? What are some ways I can really spice up my personal statement essays? PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Well about the personal statement, try to find your own original perspective. Something that is really unique to yourself, and go from there. Draw caparison from your personality to the school’s.
I think that transferring from another ivy you got a good advantage over those applying from small schools, state schools, or community colleges. Nonetheless, transfers into ivies are still very competitive. I heard Columbia and Amherst are pretty good with transfers -not sure about Brown and Duke.
Also, I’m applying as a transfer to UPenn, so I wanted to know what made you feel that it was not for you (hopefully it’s not too personal). You can PM if you want.
Thanks.</p>
<p>all of the schools you’ve listed are extremely competititive for transfer admissions (rates are 10% or less for most). however, since you were able to get into Upenn, you definitely have an edge over many applicants, provided you are well rounded. As for the X factor thing adcoms at these schools look for, this is dependent on the composition of the call you’re trying to transfer into and the applicant pool; unless you have very well known national/international awards/achievements (like research, D1 athletics, the Putnam) in areas valued by these schools, it’s hard to say what the X factor for you specifically is.</p>