CC to LAC--what are my chances?

Transfer Students
1

College GPA: 4.0 in English, college math, science, social science, and humanities classes (I’ve taken a bit of everything)

Units: 40 by Fall 2019 (intended transfer term)

Major: Classics, minor in English

Clubs and School Activities: Able-Disable Club, GSA (was an officer), Honor Society

ECs: I write novels and am a member of several writing groups and societies

It’d likely be tacky as heck to include anywhere on my application, but I have been encouraged on a few occasions to pursue my writing and this degree by a world-renowned author (you’d know the name if I shared it). It’s not a rec letter, exactly, but it’s neat!

Rec letters: 2 solid ones from professors I’m close to; I can get more if necessary.

I’m interested in schools like Wellesley, Wesleyan, Bryn Mawr, MHC, Barnard, or Bard. Pretty much anything small (under 10,000 students) on the East Coast.

What are my chances?

2

I think you have a pretty good chance, Wesleyan and Bard are known for taking a decent amount of transfer students.

3

  1. You have taken many classes and paid for them. Will they transfer? How will you feel if they don’t?
    Here is what Wellesley says.
    https://www.wellesley.edu/admission/esp/transfer/credit

  2. Is there a smaller LACy public state college in your state? You would get more credit transfer and it woudl be more affordable.

  3. How many transfers do these colleges take? Look in section D2 of the common data set

  4. Have you considered less competitve LACs? or CTCL schools?

4

Here are some things I would consider:

–Check affordability. Merit aid is hard to come by for a transfer student.
–Apply to a wide range of schools in terms of competitiveness.
–If you want to read about different LAC options get your hands on a good college guide book (ex. Fiske, Princeton Review) – chances are you can find one in your library. There are tons of wonderful LACs on the East Coast.
–Pay attention to how transfer-friendly each school on your list is (see post by @bopper above – to get the common data set you google “common data set XYZ college”). Some schools leave room to accept transfer students down the line while other colleges take very few transfers.
–With 40 credits (under 2 years), many colleges may want your HS records to use as part of the transfer review process so be prepared for that.

5
  1. I've been taking classes with financial aid, so it won't be a loss even if they don't transfer. Being that Classics entails Latin and Greek starting at the introductory level, it seems like it'd be better for me to enter as a second-year student than as a junior so as to start as early as possible. But taking the classes and maintaining a 4.0 demonstrates that I'm capable of doing college-level work.
  2. The only state schools that offer Classics are the UCs (I'm from California). I like Berkeley's Classics program, but because I'd be transferring in as a junior, it would set me back an additional year to take all the introductory Classical language classes I'd need to be able to progress to the upper-division requirements. I'm also a bit put off by the size of Cal; I've been on that campus about a dozen times and it's massive!!! I've considered UCLA and UCSD, but I've hated being on campus the times I've gone to visit friends and stuff.
  3. According to the 2016-2017 data, Wellesley accepts 21.5% of transfers, Wesleyan - 29.3%, Bryn Mawr - 9.8%, MHC - 40.5%, Barnard - 23.9%, and Bard - 58%. Berkeley, by comparison, accepts 23% and USC takes 24%, and my counselor seems to think I have a good shot at getting in at both.