<p>I'm a freshman at Occidental College and I think I might transfer to Vassar, Wesleyan or Trinity College. It's not that I hate Oxy so much as that I think Vassar would be better. I've lived in LA all of my life and I wanted to go out of state but I settled for Occidental because I wanted to be close to home just in case the transition would be rough and it gave me a good scholarship. Could I get in as a transfer applicant? </p>
<p>High School ranked 80th in the nation among public schools
HS GPA UW: 3.61
HS GPA W: 4.30
10 AP's (Self studied for one, World History (I got a B both semesters in WH Honors) and got a 4):
Sophomore Year:
Euro Hist 5
Junior Year:
US Hist 5
World Hist 4
Psych 5
Senior Year:
Art Hist
Envi Sci
English Language
Microecon
Marcoecon
US Gov't
SAT Scores: 2080 (one sitting)
CR: 670
M: 710
W: 700
2100 (superscore)
only difference is math where I got a 730
Subject Tests
US Hist 800
Math 2 680
Other: Took two foreign languages instead of just one. (I took 4 years of Spanish and got all B's but junior year I took Spanish 4 and French 1 and got A's in French, got an A first semester of French 2)
Extra Circulars:
Played piano for 9 years
Studied Polish in Poland over the summer and had an internship with a Polish software company
Took French classes in Paris over the summer between my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college.
Interned and volunteered/campaigned for a local Congresswoman
Intern for Obama for America 2012 Campaign
Freelance Political columnist for school newspaper
Salesman and Distributor of Alkaline Water Filters for a local family friend
Model United Nations
School didn't do class rank
Race: White
So can I get in?</p>
<p>What is your college GPA from Occidental so far? That is the most important factor in addition to your SATs (excellent, esp US History) and you hs GPA (solid, not stellar). Vassar only takes a handful of transfers so you need a compelling reason why you want to transfer to this particular college.</p>
<p>As a first semester freshman I’m expected to get a 3.625
Econ 101 A
French 201 B+
CSP (Writing Core Component Class) A-
Calc 1 B</p>
<p>Next semester I’m going to take
Econ 102
Politics 101
CSP (again core class)
European History since 1700</p>
<p>I want to transfer there for a bunch of reasons:
- I really wanted to go the East Coast, I’m from California, and I got waitlisted to BC, Tufts, Bates and NYU. My only East Coast options were my safeties, Gettysburg and Denison, and I didn’t want to go those.
- Oxy is too easy, I’m really bored by the econ program here and Vassar (and the other schools I’m looking at) have better econ programs with more classes that I like.
- I feel like Oxy is too close to home. The town where I grew up is only 1 hour away, and it kinda feels like a commuter school.
- I think that the more quirky and independent culture of Vassar or other East Coast liberal arts colleges would fit me better than the culture at Oxy. Here, students don’t really get involved, and I can’t really find any extracurriculars that I’m passionate about and meet on a regular basis.
- Since I plan on living in the East Coast after college anyway, going to Vassar or any other East Coast liberal arts school will give me access to internships, work opportunities and allow me to establish myself early, rather than just going there after college and starting with nothing.
- Going to the East Coast allows me to get opportunities for economics internships (in NYC) and politics internships (in DC) that I don’t have access to here.</p>
<p>Are those good reasons? Thanks for your answer.</p>
<p>Your reasons are sound. Are you parents on board for the transfer and increased costs of travel and losing your merit scholarship?</p>
<p>It’ll take some convincing but I feel like I can do it. i come from an upper-middle class background, so luckily money isn’t a big issue. Are my grades at Oxy good enough for Vassar? I know that they give some slack being the first semester of college and the whole transition thing… If not vassar, would you have other recommendations for similar schools?</p>
<p>Just so you know, Trinity is the outlier in that trio. You say you’re looking for quirky schools, and Trinity is a good school but not as quirky as Vassar and Wes by any means.</p>
<p>Edit: Since you like both east coast and quirky, Tufts and Bates might be worth another shot.</p>
<p>Other somewhat quirky east coast LACs: Bennington, Hampshire, Brandeis, Bard.</p>
<p>These are great ideas Slamherst. Do apply to at least two others, one of which should be a slam dunk.</p>