Chance a Yale Transfer?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Current college: UBC (Canadian Transfer)</p>

<p>HS GPA: 3.9 uw
College GPA: 4.33 (4.33 scale)
SAT: C800 M700 W760 - 2260</p>

<p>ECs:
University-sponsored research for a book I am writing (education/psychology)
Started campus-wide literary journal
Director - largest Model UN in Western Canada
Plenty of MUN awards
Competitive Tennis - top 20 provincial (state) ranking
Varsity Debate
the list goes on....</p>

<p>HS ECs
Similar to college ECs</p>

<p>I am also a professional web developer/designer (4 years)</p>

<p>Recs: Will be amazing (including one from dean)
Essays: Very good.
Reasons for transfer: Rock solid (intellectual atmosphere, social scene, major selection, profs I'd like to work with).</p>

<p>I might also apply to Cornell and Columbia.</p>

2

<p>Is the tennis coach supporting you?</p>

3

<p>I am not ranked high enough/good enough to be considered on the basis of athletic merit. I doubt that I will be submitting an athletic supplement.</p>

<p>***Also, forgot to mention, I am a first-gen student.</p>

4

<p>is yale taking transfers for next semester? im assuming so, but just make sure</p>

<p>you seem to be a very strong and qualified applicant…unfortunately, most applicants to yale and columbia are as qualified as you are…at this level its all about making yourself stand out</p>

5

<p>n the event you haven’t filed your application, I’d take another look at reasons for transfer which I don’t find as rock solid as you do. The first 3 are not Yale specific and could be accomplished many places. Your answers should focus only on Yale.</p>

<p>In a thread above the poster says you can retake SATs for Yale. Consider as your math is below their median.</p>

<p>So few transfers make it in you really need to position yourself in an exceptional way.</p>

6

<p>SAT is not important when it comes to transfer to Yale. Yes, they ask for it, but it doesn’t make any difference. The essay(s) is what will get you in. There are people with 3.3 and 3.4 gpa from colleges that got in because of their essays, and 3.8, 3.9 gpa students that were rejected. It’s not number based. They’d rather admit 25 people of different cultural backgrounds w/ low gpa/scores that would increase diversity, rather than 25 people with 4.0 gpa and 2300 SAT. They already have freshman admits with high gpa’s and SAT scores, and the transfer program is made for students who otherwise would not have a chance to get in as freshman.</p>

7

<p>“n the event you haven’t filed your application, I’d take another look at reasons for transfer which I don’t find as rock solid as you do. The first 3 are not Yale specific and could be accomplished many places. Your answers should focus only on Yale.”</p>

<p>lol</p>

<p>Would you like me to write my essay out for you?
My reasons consider the precise type of “intellectual atmosphere” specific ONLY to yale, the very specific “social scene” found ONLY at yale, and a specific major I am interested in that is found ONLY at yale. I’ve visited the campus on numerous occasions, and I know that yale is exactly what I want in terms of a LA experience</p>

<p>Hope that clears things up.</p>

<p>***By the way, does anyone know how much Yale pays attention towards first-generation status?</p>

8

<p>Good luck! Even Yale doesn’t believe it’s intellectual or social atmosphere is one of a kind. I recruit aat the school, have for 2 years and I know how the school positions itself.</p>

<p>And b2p092 it must be coincidence the 2380’s get in every time!</p>

9

<p>If someone has a 2380 score, I wonder why they didn’t get in as freshman.</p>

10

<p>First, are you currently a fr or sop?</p>

<p>Second, what is it with these Canadian unis, this is the second one with apparently weighted gpas, is that right??</p>

<p>Finally, for btp092:

</p>

<p>It’s amazing you know so much about how Y transfer admissions works, care to share your credentials? My D is a soph transfer at Y who was also accepted as a freshman; 3.9-4.0 gpa, 2300+ SAT, etc. She says most of the soph transfers are pretty similar, which if you’ve read the sticky thread: Transfer Admissions 101, wouldn’t be much of a surprise since the HS record and test scores are weighted more heavily than the single sem/qt of college applicants would have when they applied.</p>

11

<p>I am a freshman.</p>

<p>Canadian unis don’t weigh, some just use the 4.33 scale.</p>

<p>“it must be coincidence the 2380’s get in every time!”</p>

<p>If 2380 writes a mediocre essay or has sub-par recs, will they get in? A high SAT score, most of the time, indicates an ability to dedicate oneself to studying for the test. I would imagine that someone who succeeds on the SAT will apply themselves elsewhere (whether it be dedicating oneself to ECs or writing outstanding essays). </p>

<p>That being said, does the fact that I scored 100 lower on the SAT than your hypothetical “‘in’ every time” applicant mean that my essays, recs, grades have a substantially steeper hill to climb? 100pts., in my case, meant 3 questions wrong in Math (harsh curve). I can’t see how the SAT, at these scales, has any real significance when you factor in essays and the like (in other words, if I write a better essay and have better recs than 2380, don’t I beat 2380?).</p>

<p>“Good luck! Even Yale doesn’t believe it’s intellectual or social atmosphere is one of a kind. I recruit aat the school, have for 2 years and I know how the school positions itself.”</p>

<p>Your ability to misinterpret what I write is astounding. </p>

<p>That being said, I would argue that every university does have a somewhat ‘unique’ intellectual atmosphere and social scene, however indistinct it may be from other similar universities (I would certainly agree with you that many universities are <em>almost</em> indistinguishable in these respects). Wouldn’t you agree that it might be effective to look then at specific examples within said categories - at the particular school that I apply to - that appeal to me? I may not find Yale’s intellectual atmosphere completely unique and removed from every other institution on the planet, but there are certain particular (unique) aspects of it that I might bring up, to positive effect, in the essay.</p>

<p>No, I do not bring up every detail I find unique to Yale in my essay. I am confident, however, that my essay effectively communicates a thorough understanding of what the Yale experience would mean to me (in terms of intellectuality, the social scene, and plenty more).</p>

12

<p>no need to get combative in this instance twentyseven</p>

<p>whether you think its just or not, sat’s still cary lots of weight for transfer applications…your sat scores while not in the “automatic” category are still admirable and will certainly not preclude you from being a very competitive applicant</p>

<p>its also important not to rely too much on the strength of your essay to offset other areas of your application, people seem to do that a lot on here (although there isn’t much to be offset on your app.)…while you will certainly need a very strong and convincing essay to get in, most everyone who applies to yale is going to have an outstanding essay as well, one might imagine</p>

<p>best of luck</p>

13

<p>Twentyseven, no, anyone who writes a bad essay with the best stats will not get in. But kids tend to believe a great essay will make up for other things. It won’t.</p>

<p>What I meant to say above is that I’ve been recruiting at Yale for 25 years. I haven’t met too many Yale grads who are not excellent at communications so I assume most are quite capable of writing good essays.</p>

<p>My son’s roommate at Dartmouth will be competing with you. He was rejected as a freshman with a 2360 and top grades. He’s a national math competition champ and an Intel winner. He has sought out professors to work with to create a hook and is working day and night to set himself apart.</p>

<p>I hired a Yale grad this year who transferred there from Princeton to work with a specific group of profs on an amazing project. The professors pulled him in based on research he was doing which is how many transfers at the very top schools happen. So you can imagine his essay didn’t say he was yearning for Yale’s social environment or wonderful Economics department, it said that he was on the same page as a dedicated team at Yale where important research was concerned. He could only do what he was looking to do at Yale. This is how you become one of the very small number of transfers.</p>

<p>You are clearly a good student but you do not attend a top college, do not have top scores and list no ECs that jump off the page. You will not get into yale without a hook, so see if you can find one.</p>

14

<p>hmom5. would you consider growing up in eastern europe, an immigrant from a war-torn country, a great hook?</p>

15

<p>At many colleges, yes. At an ivy, no, they have many such applcants.</p>

16

<p>please share with me twentyseven what SPECIFICALLY about Yale you like so much?</p>

17

<p>“kids tend to believe a great essay will make up for other things”
“2360…national math competition champ…Intel winner.”
“he was on the same page as a dedicated team at Yale where important research was concerned”
“you do not attend a top college”
“do not have top scores”
“list no ECs that jump off the page”</p>

<p>Hi hmom, I’m just going to ask for a final clarification. So essentially, what you’re saying is that, to have a decent shot at getting into Yale, I need to:

  1. Already attend a prestigious institution (such as Dartmouth and Princeton, as you mentioned)
  2. Have scored about 100 points higher on the SAT, since no matter how well I articulate my reasons for transfer/ECs/interests/life story/accomplishments through essays, most people applying to Yale are excellent writers anyway.
  3. Connect myself with research/work/an EC that is unique to Yale (I can’t really think of any other way someone could do this, other than through work that is Yale-specific. Do you have any other, more accessible examples?)</p>

<p>Just a bit confused, as some of this contradicts advice I’ve received from past Yale transfers (especially points 1 and 2).</p>

<p>Just on a side note, I’m a bit baffled as to why your son’s roommate would want to transfer to Yale. Your Princetonian example seems perfectly reasonable- though I wouldn’t imagine this case (college freshmen/sophomores engaging in institution-specific research) to be all that common. But to create a hook out of nothing, simply to transfer into the institution which rejected you the year before? I wonder whether the admissions office might consider someone who could benefit a bit more from transferring? (though your definition of ‘top’ might be rather malleable, yes, I do not go to a “top school”, which is one of my most basic motivations for seeking transfer)</p>

<p>I sincerely apologize if my reaction seems in any way confrontational or irritated- like your son’s roommate, I too have been working night and day :)</p>

18

<p>High test scores, prestige of current institution, and grades are important, but there are so many qualified applicants that one’s “story” is quite important. </p>

<p>I’ve actually heard that inter-ivy league transfer is very difficult, precisely because answering the question, “What does Yale offer that your current institution doesn’t?”, proves to be challenging to answer in a meaningful way. It says on the Yale transfer admissions website that transfers from community colleges (which aren’t prestigious) are given special consideration. Additionally, they look for individuals “contributing from as broad a range of backgrounds as possible”. </p>

<p>If the admissions committee simply went by GPA, test scores, and undergraduate institution, the applicant pool would be very homogeneous, and you’d likely end up with kids who devote 98% of their time to school, were rejected during high school because they weren’t a well rounded applicant, and are reapplying from their second choice college. </p>

<p>But I fully agree that with such a low acceptance rate, one surely needs a “hook”.</p>

19

<p>My son and his roommate are freshmen. The roommate, like many, can’t let go of his number one choice. He has his reasons which surround the fact that Dartmouth is an undergrad college and Yale a major research institution.</p>

<p>Colleges are not charities. They are not looking to meet your needs in accepting you, they are looking to meet the needs of the institution. Quarterback broke his leg? They will pass up Rhodes scholarship material to replace him. Highly accomplished artist applies? Great publicity opportunity to better position the school in the arts. Your great reason only resonates if it meets institutional needs.</p>

<p>What I’m saying is that kids who get into Yale as transfers all have hooks and nothing in what you provide tells us what yours is. And while Yale may not like to admit it because it’s much more PC to claim they want to meet the needs of a diverse population, most successful transfers come from other top colleges and are kids who would have gotten in as freshmen.</p>

20

<p>I think we need some input from past Yale transfers on cc.</p>

<p>hmom5, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you were trying to ■■■■■ twentyseven out of applying</p>