Brown Transfer - GPA advice

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hey all..I read through the posts on this site from time to time but have only posted a few times. I'm in serious need of advice, though, so hopefully some of you will have some! I desperately want to go to Brown - I applied out of high school and didn't get in (the office said that "nothing stood out" in my app), and applied last year as a transfer student and was wait-listed. The main reason that Brown stands out in my mind is their Architectural Studies program, which is run through the History of Art and Architecture department. My current school (Mich) has an entirely separate architecture school that's more focused on art, building models, etc., while Brown's program is more grounded in the history of architecture, which really interests me. So basically, I want architecture for undergrad, but not the kind that Mich offers. The big problem: my grades at Mich. Right now I have around a 3.4 or so, and Brown says that it usually likes a 3.5 or above. Here are my grades:</p>

<p>Freshman year:
Roman Cities: A
History of Art: A
Advanced French: A
Anthro. Bio: A
Writing: A
Statistics: B
Calculus: C
Econ: C</p>

<p>This year:
Archaeology: A
History: A
Physics Lab: A
Drawing: A
Physics: C</p>

<p>Oh, and my GPA in high school was a 3.92 (unweighted), every AP/advanced class I could take, and I was 2nd in my class of 220. Lots of extracurriculars and work experience here, and at Mich as well.</p>

<p>Needless to say, I'm very worried about those C's, though thankfully they're not in my intended field of concentration (History of Architecture, possibly English as well). On the other hand, a very close family friend that knows me well has offered to write me a letter of recommendation -- he went to Brown himself (and is an extremely active alumni) and his four children went as well. In addition, I'm hoping to garner support from a particular professor in the History of Art and Architecture department whose research is of particular interest to me. My thinking is, if this professor takes an interest in me and the department has room to take on another student, my chances for getting in could be raised significantly.</p>

<p>Wow, this post is super long..but my question is, are those few sub-par grades on my transcript enough to put me out of the running come this spring? I obviously don't test well in the areas of math and science and I'm devastated with my grades, since I really do feel like I learned a ton..but on the flipside, I could argue that Brown would give me the opportunity to take classes like those pass/fail (a popular alternative there) and not have to worry as much about testing/grades. I've also applied three times -- that's gotta count for tenacity! So what do ya'll think about my grades? And thanks for bearing with my dissertation here haha</p>

2

<p>I really don't think that schools have a GPA cutoff per se. They look at you as an overall individual...they want to see that you have tremendous interest in what you're studying, etc. There are a lot of ways to stand out and you've taken a lot of relevant courses. Also, the professor connection sounds really good. btw, yay for Ann Arbor!! (I don't go to u of m but I live here).</p>

3

<p>Thanks, I hope that professor takes a liking to me!</p>

4

<p>i am sorry, but i think u have too many Cs on there, but good luck</p>

5

<p>The overall GPA is really what matters, not the individual grades. Those C's balance out with your other good grades. It appears numbers just aren't your thing! </p>

<p>A 3.5 cut off is pretty important though. It's not a cut off, persay, but a pretty standard measure of what a good GPA should be. By all means, go for it, and apply to transfer, but you are going up hill a bit with a less than 3.5 gpa. I had a 3.64 (which isn't a whole lot higher on the plus side of 3.5) and I got in though, so you certainly never know.</p>

6

<p>Oh, one more thing. The C's have already happened, and unless there was some kind of medical or extenuating circumstances surrounding them, there's nothing you can do about it. So in terms of advice, I say just do the best you can in the classes you have and STOP taking physics and calculus classes!!</p>

7

<p>Thanks ClaySoul, I definitely think that I'm finished with physics and math for the time being.</p>

8

<p>Anybody have any other thoughts?</p>