Can I get into Wesleyan?

<p>I am currently a sophomore at San Francisco State. I am hoping to transfer to Wesleyan as a junior. I know it is a highly competitive school, and that as a transfer I am at a huge disadvantage. Should I bother to apply?</p>

<p>Here are my stats; GPA. 3.7 or 3.8 (3.6 currently but I still have a semester to raise it)
executive board member for my schools chapter of college democrats, member of conduct review board, new student ambassador, cinema collective, volunteered with the sf democratic party, research assistant for the Culture and Emotion research lab, volunteer at outside lands music festival, and on Sundays I walked dogs for "mutvile".</p>

<p>Plus I plan to get highly enthusiastic letters of recommendation from two of my professors.</p>

<p>HS; 3.3, SAT 1710
grizzly green team, invisible children, art club, poetry club, volunteer at the library, and worked at mother's thrift store</p>

<p>I know I did TERRIBLE in high school. How important is high school information for transfer students?</p>

<p>Here are other schools I was going to apply to but Wesleyan is my main focus;</p>

<p>Hampshire
Syracruse
Skidmore
Siena
Suny Genesco and Suny Binghampton</p>

<p>I do not know how the common app works. Will Wesleyan know what other schools I apply to? Also will that hurt my chances, should I narrow the list? Also does anyone know how many transfer unit Wesleyan accepts?</p>

<p>More about me is that I am an independent student, and I am an African American female.</p>

<p>I don’t know too much about Wesleyan admissions, but it looks like you have a shot! You have a good GPA, and on top of that, you’ve shown improvement from high school. Since you’re applying as a junior transfer, your high school information matters less; however, if you really want to be sure, you might consider retaking the SAT or taking the ACT, because for now, it’s clearly the weakest part of your application. That’s just an idea, though, and I don’t think you’ll be significantly harmed if you choose not to. Work really hard on your essays and show them why you NEED to be at Wesleyan and nowhere else. </p>

<p>As a side note, be aware that Wesleyan is need-aware for transfer admissions:
Yes. Wesleyan is need-aware for transfer admissions, meaning that a student’s ability to pay will be taken into account for some portion of transfer admission decisions. (from the website)</p>

<p>Finally, if you really want to leave your current school, it’s a good idea to apply to those other places as matches and safeties. With an admissions rate so low, you never know if you’ll get in to Wesleyan, so it’s good to have other options.</p>

<p>I would advise you to do a few things: First, retake your college entrance exams. Wesleyan allows you to do it and 1710 would not be acceptable. Consider taking the ACT as often students do better on that–it worked for my son, who is now a rising sophomore at Wesleyan. Second, study the Wes website and the curriculum section and make a tentative choice of major (could be a double major), as you will as a rising junior, will have to select a major anyway. Showing passion in an academic area where you have been successful at SF State will make a good impression. Third, in your essay, write with passion about why you want to transfer–as Wesleyan does not have its own special essay, make sure what you are writing would play well when read by Wesleyan–i.e., don’t write about something that is not offered there of course. Fourth, visit the campus for an interview in admissions and take a tour. Take the tour first so that your most basic questions will have been answered. The more you know, the more good reasons as to why you shoudl be at Wesleyan, the more powerful will be your application. You will be competing with many top community college students with whose colleges Wesleyan has long standing agreements on accepting their transfers, so making the effort to fly on your own dime from SF will make an impression.</p>

<p>Good luck to you!</p>