Brown Transfer

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

I’m not sure if anyone will see this, but if you do PLEASE try to give me some insight in where I stand in regard for admission.

Stats:
Applying for Junior transfer
GPA: 3.95
Major: History
Minor: Political Science
Current College: Caldwell University, small four-year school in New Jersey
HS GPA: 2.7

Extracurricular Activities:

-History Honor Society
-Tutor at Caldwell’s tutoring center for Sociology, Anthropology, and History
-Community Service Volunteer fraternity member
-One of two applicants accepted in to the Scholar’s Program at the end of my Freshman year
-Member of the Socio-Political Club
-Member of the Film Club
-Part-Time House Painter since the 7th grade
-Worked in a Turkish Kebab House as a busboy during this past summer

Recommendations:

-Very very strong recommendation from the Sociology Department Chairwomen
-Very very strong recommendation from the History/Political Science Department Chairmen
-Very very strong recommendation from a two semester long history professor

Essays:

-I have been told they are very strong by my English professor as well as friends and family. Not to to sound obnoxious or weird but I am a good writer.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

2

Hey,

Gleaning off your post, I think that you already know that your application to any college is definitely strong – strong enough to warrant a deeper look.

You have a very strong GPA, and what seems to be a decent list of activities… but so does pretty much everyone else that makes up the pool of serious transfer applicants.

I ask these next questions for you to reflect on more than anything, please do not feel the need to answer these questions publicly unless you’d like open feedback:

-What makes you want to transfer to Brown?
-What makes you want to transfer out of your current institution?

Having recently gone through the transfer application process, I would argue that these are the most important questions you should ask yourself when applying (and considering to apply). In your application, you will be expected to answer both of these questions with honesty, depth, and introspection.

To the best of my knowledge, Brown does not release information on acceptance rates for transfer applicants, but to give some frame of reference as to the highly competitive nature of the transfer process:

Harvard accepted twelve transfer applicants out of a pool of approximately 1500 applicants. Amherst accepted 13 out of 400.

My advice for you is to really spend some time thinking about what sets you apart from the general pool of applicants. This is not always quantifiable, and that is okay. Use this to your advantage.

On top of your strong collegiate record, you have another big advantage in the amount of time you have left before applications are due. Use this time to really nail down your reason(s) for transferring, to perfect your prose, etc. I would suggest not obsessing over your application, but definitely giving it a read over every month or two from now until the due date in Spring. You’d be surprised how much your insights could change/develop with time.

It’s very hard to “chance” someone applying based simply off their GPA and EC’s, as no one can possibly claim to have “cracked the code” that is these college admissions. I wholly believe that the committee places strong emphasis on being thorough in their holistic reviews, and that who you are and how you are able to convey yourself is what allows students to stand out.

Best of luck to you, and let us know how it goes!

(P.S: reading over my post before submitting, I get the sense that I’ve been very negative in my writing, but that is not my intent – sorry!)

3

@tobrown2016 Hi,

Thank you so much for your advice I really appreciate all of it! To answer your second question, I want to leave my current school because of the lack of resources, opportunities, and just overall depth of our History/Political Science department. I want to be able to go somewhere with the resources that will allow me to fully take advantage of research on my own and hopefully with some professors. As most of my professors are adjuncts here and do not do research. My school is also very lacking in meaningful internship connections within my fields of interest.

My problem is that I could really find these opportunities at almost every school. But obviously Brown is an Ivy and along with that title comes all the “bells and whistles” of a great education and connections. Its location is also perfect for me, with Providence being a great town, and it still being relatively close to New York City and New Jersey. I need to put more thought and research into this first question.

Trust me when I say I understand how hard it is to transfer into Brown, or any Ivy League school for that matter. I hate to ask people to “chance me” just based off of these numbers because I know like you said the application process is so much more than just numbers, it is about the entire person. So without my essays or letters of rec. could you possibly tell me if you think I’m in the upper 50% of applicants? In your opinion is there anything that could give me that extra push? Such as a leadership position? Internship? or more volunteering?

Also were you accepted into Brown as a transfer? If so could you please share your story and stats so I can see what an accepted application looks like? And yes, I know that it is different for everyone.

Thank you so much! I really do appreciate and take into account any advice you can give me! (and haha don’t worry it was negative, it was just being honest and real.)

4

@tobrown2016 hey, where did you get the stats on how many people applied as transfers to Amherst? I was accepted to Amherst as a transfer. i was told about 10-13 were accepted. I do not know the number of total applicants that applied. Are you telling me the acceptance rate was about 3%?

5

@stephenvan I dont want to get your hopes up. I was waitlisted at Brown with a 4.0 with honors courses, president of this and that, brilliant letters of rec, excellent essays, highest awards available at my college, and management experience. I mean, you should definitely still apply - and too all ivys for that matter - but dont get your hopes up.

I strongly suggest you consider transfer to the top UC schools, that is Berkeley and UCLA. They do not ask for your HS transcript or test scores, so its really like having a fresh start. (Your HS gpa will not be ignored by Brown) And UCs consider majors in the decision process, and luckily History is not impacted. The odds are already in your favor.

6

It’s really impossible to chance anyone for transfer admissions. The percentages vary widely every year, because the number of transfer students depends on factors that change every year. How many students transfer out? study abroad? drop out? One year Brown may want 5 transfer students, the next year 200. Obviously your chance of acceptance would be significantly higher if you are lucky enough to apply a year they need 200. Also, Brown doesn’t release info about transfer students like it does for freshman-year admissions. We just don’t know what they are looking for.

7

I thought that my high school GPA is likely a weird strength in my application considering there is such a big difference from High School to college. It shows a very high upward trend.

8

and what do you mean by “luckily History will not be impacted.”

9

@stephenvan
I’m glad you didn’t take my message too negatively. Yes, I was recently accepted as a transfer for fall 2016 to Brown.
I’ll pm you some of my stats, but again stats are more or less just a “prerequisite” for having a competitive application imo

@Ahowooh
I applied to Amherst as a transfer and was rejected. In the letter, they released the accepted # and the rough number of applicants

10

@tobrown2016 Thanks so much for the stats! they give me a little insight into what someone who is accepted have. And you are definitely right the raw numbers definitely are only half, or less, of what goes into a compelling application.

I really appreciate any insight you can give. In your opinion are SAT/ACT scores important to Brown or a school like Brown? Is it a kind of a make it or break it type of deal? Is it worth retaking either of these tests to strengthen my application? Thanks!

11

@tobrown2016 Any help is greatly appreciated

12

Hi all! I was checking out the Brown transfer page from last year, but there weren’t too many posts about stats so I was hoping some of you could help me gauge where I might stand.

Stats:
Applying for Sophomore transfer
GPA: 3.86, all first-year courses 200 level or above
Major: Psychology
Minors: Music and Art (my ultimate goal is creative arts therapy)
Current College: mid-size four-year state college in Connecticut; Honors Program on full-merit scholarship (1 of only 10 students)
HS GPA: 3.74 (did not weight)
HS transcript: All Honors, 9 APs (all with 4s and 5s)

ECs:
-Psychology Honor Society
-Member of Philosophy Club
-4-month internship at Children’s Museum (Program Development and Community Outreach) - volunteered at this location for 3 years prior
-Volunteer at psychiatric hospital (doing arts-oriented activities with residents)
-Freelance muralist (storefronts, schools, community centers etc.)
-Wrote original 2-act musical for Independent Study
-Works 2 part-time jobs, both arts-oriented and working with people; Manager at one and Assistant Manager at the other
-High school, misc.: Nat’l Honor Society officer, Drum Major and section leader in marching band, multiple state art awards, club involvement, intramural sports etc.

Recommendations:
-Head of Honors Program (strong)
-Boss from Internship (very strong)
-Psych professor that I have had for 2 semesters (strong)

Essays:
I’ve only written the “Why Brown?” one so far - essentially, my current school, while it has numerous resources given its relatively unknown status, is limiting in the depths of its departments as well as the freedom it gives to students. I’m tied down to my major and can’t venture outside of the psych department or craft my own major in any way.
Brown is the only school in the country that has a Contemplative Studies concentration/major, and that is what draws me to it - I told a story from my life about my own experience in music and art therapy as well as meditation and how that shaped my future/career goals as a result - so Brown’s program in particular would really enable me to carve my own niche in that area.

Let me know your thoughts!

13

I forgot to mention: my SATS were on the lower end for Brown at 2160 (730 R 690 M 740 W) - I didn’t take the ACT. Should I try to re-take them, or are they not as important as a transfer?