Chance me for these schools, please?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hi, I'm going to transfer from abroad, as an international student, and I'm thinking of, but not sure yet, of what schools I'd like to apply to. </p>

<p>Here are the ones I've considered (Probably from most to least competitive) I have more, but I don't want to give them away. I want to do liberal arts, no specific program in particular...</p>

<p>Dartmouth College-level (I know it's a dream regardless of how good my profile is)
USC-level (REALLY want to go to USC)
Northeastern-level
Loyola Marymount-level</p>

<p>I've just started college so I don't have a GPA, but so far, the lowest grade I've earned in all my classes is an 81% on a test that's worth about 8% of my grade for this term.
I've joined new clubs, but I just started. I also just started volunteer work.
I can afford 3 years in the U.S.A.</p>

<p>My high school record is as follows (I didn't want to give my exact values away, but you get the idea)...</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0...maybe more, if that's even possible? But it's unweighted.
SAT's: Combined score, low 2000's. CR about 650, Math and Writing over 700.
SAT Subjects: Two subjects, both between 700 and 800.
iBT Toefl: Near-perfect. English not my first language.
AP: High grades in many exams...
IB: Got 2nd-highest diploma score in my class this year, 7th-highest in the history of my school.
Recommendations: Awesome, my teachers and counselor were really, really nice and actually interviewed us to pick up more detail, even if I've known them for years.
Activities: Sports and Music for a solid number of years, consistently. Also true for volunteer and paid jobs.</p>

<p>I know it's vague, but I'm paranoid, you see, since I got rejected from EVERY school I applied to last year = aimed too "high" + peak number of students applying + asked for aid as an international student + financial crisis + my school's only-apply-to-six-schools-won't-release-more-transcripts-after-that policy. This happenned to many of my international friends who applied for aid, too...they were waitlisted then eventually rejected, even if their stats were well within the college's range.</p>

<p>What would be a safety transfer school for me, if I keep my college GPA at 4.0 as well?</p>

<p>Thank you...if more info is necessary, please tell me.</p>

<p>Would you guess, I'd probably at least get into Loyola Marymount? Or something of that acceptance transfer rate? (~50%)</p>

<p>It's just that I know there are TAG's which may disadvantage me. Or do they?</p>

<p>Also, I was on a special waiting list (kind of like waiting list AFTER all the positions have been filled, just in case someone decides to pull out after paying their deposit) that nobody seems to know about for one of my schools I will apply as a transfer. Do you think this would help?</p>

2

<p>I thought the TAG agreements were only for CCC to UC’s, not to private universities. Anyways, you’re prior decisions (ie the special waiting list), probably won’t give you any advantage, all it shows is that you were fairly competitive for that show when you applied out of high school. As for your chances, I’d say IF you get a 4.0, you’d be competitive at all those schools, including Dartmouth (though it’s a crapshoot just because they accept such a low number of students). However, if you’re looking for aid, it’s usually even more difficult for transfer to get aid than for freshmen. Also, being an international student will also make it difficult. So if receiving aid is very important to you, I’d say make sure you have enough safeties that you’d be happy to go to who may offer you some sort of merit scholarship.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for your reply.</p>

<p>I’m not planning to apply for aid. Dartmouth’s the only college I know that gives aid need-blind to international transfers so far.</p>

<p>If I’m not going to apply for aid, what would you suggest as a safety school?</p>

<p>It’s really hard for me to find “transfer safeties” since I have no idea exactly how competitive transfer admissions are.</p>

<p>Do you think I can base it on the acceptance rates and average GPA as well? Like if a college has an acceptance rate of over 50%, has an average GPA of 3.5, let’s say, and mine’s 4.0, would it be considered a safety?</p>