<p>I am a freshman at Williams College looking to transfer to a more cutthroat, overtly competitive school, where I can double major in Italian (not offered at Williams) and Economics. I also would like to attend a more gay friendly school.</p>
<p>I have narrowed my list to:
UPenn A&S (first choice by far)
Columbia (college)
Cornell CAS
Northwestern</p>
<p>I applied to UPenn SEAS (rejected), Columbia (waitlisted), and Cornell Engineering (Accepted) as a first year applicant (last year), but I felt like Williams was the best fit - well, I was completely wrong.</p>
<p>At Williams:
3.5 first semester - Dean's List
Co-Founder/Campus Manager of Dormaid at Williams College
CFO of the Williams College International Investment Group
Treasurer of Williams College Freshman Council
Founder/Photographer of the Williams College Fashion Blog</p>
<p>At High School:
Valedictorian - 100.23 GPA
34 ACT
800 Math 2, 750 Bio M
Awards: IB Diploma Recipient, AP Scholar with Honors, Honorable mention in 2 nationwide Italian-American Essay contests, District Attorney's Citation of Honor, All Scholastic Team for Private Schools in My Area
Volunteer: ~400 hours in total at my local food pantry, then a summer outreach to Philadelphia with the same organization, lector at local parish, religious education teacher/catechist of 5th graders.
Extracurriculars: Internship at the office of a state senator, President math club, Co-Founder/Treasurer Business Club, Co-President of School, Editor of the Literary Magazine, President/Founder Bowling Club/Captain of the Bowling Team (conjoint non-competitive and competitive league), member of televised Quiz Bowl team, NHS.</p>
<p>My question is: Am I competitive as a transfer for the schools I have listed, or should I look at lower tier 1 schools?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I also have a recommendation from a professor at Cornell if that means anything ~</p>
<p>Before I give you the usual chances, why do you seek a more cutthroat and competitive school despite receiving a 3.5 your first semester? Course difficulty and academic atmosphere are distinct entities, but still…</p>
<p>The class that I actually had friends in & competed with them for grades I received an A, whereas English, a class that was very covert with grades, I received a B- (albeit English is my weakest subject & the class is notoriously hard) The only way I will succeed in college is if the atmosphere in which I’m studying is full of kids who won’t give me the notes if I miss class or will cut pages out of my textbook if I leave it in the library. I really didn’t know that this was what I needed because my high school was entirely different. Thanks!</p>
<p>I am also a first generation college student, if that helps too</p>
<p>While your high school record is impeccable, your 3.5 GPA holds you back IMO. I am worried that my first semester GPA in the honors program will sink my application and I have a 3.7, so a 3.5 may decrease your competitiveness for Northwestern, Columbia, and UPenn. </p>
<p>I think that your best chance is by far at Cornell. I am applying to the other three as well (and Williams College!), and they all have dismal acceptance rates.</p>
<p>I really hope I can get in to Cornell - I’ve been conversing with the Italian language department heads at both Northwestern and UPenn and they seem pretty excited to have a student who wants to major in Italian (NU and Upenn both have only 1 or 2 current Italian majors) so I thought that’d kind of help. Thoughts?</p>
<p>So your reason for transferring seems suspect to me. Normally liberal arts majors like Italian aren’t really cut throat…to be honest it just does not seem like a very good reason to transfer, you will thrive or flounder in college based on your own work ethic, not by how cut throat a college is.</p>
<p>As a matter of fact, going to a cut throat school could possibly compromise your entire college career. If you are at an institution that grades on a curve, you could easily see your GPA deflate and you will be SOL. I really think you need to reevaluate your reasons for transferring. Is it that much of an imperative for you to be surrounded by competitive ******'s? You may find that once your in that kind of environment, it is harder to make friends and really enjoy college socially.</p>
<p>I know this wasn’t what you were looking for, but that is just my two cents.</p>
<p>I want to double major in Italian & Econ - my ultimate goal would be to become a business executive for a company like Gucci, Prada, etc. that has its headquarters in Milan. (I love business, and I love fashion - so cliche as a gay male, I know)</p>
<p>And quite frankly, I feel out of place as a middle class white male here not having attended an Exeter, Deerfield, Choate-type school. I also don’t think Williams is very gay friendly and don’t feel comfortable as a gay student here either - I mean, we have a QSU, but instead of liaising between the hetero and homo communities, it ostracizes the latter.</p>
<p>Williams not being gay friendly, I have to say that comes to a shock to me since LAC are typically liberal, but hey I guess they all aren’t the same.</p>
<p>If you are looking for cutthroat, NYU is the way to go. Its NYC in the form of college campus, and I know that the Econ department is fantastic and extremely competitive as well.</p>
<p>Other cut throat schools would be any that grade on a curve or experience grade deflation. I know JHU and UChicago do that but Im not sure if your GPA is high enough for you to be competitive at those schools.</p>
<p>I’d say Williams is more of the preppy, rich scene, which tends to a more conservative student body. </p>
<p>NYU is such a HUGE step down, I really didn’t think a 3.5 from the number 1 lac in the nation would place me on that level. </p>
<p>This thread comes down to this essentially: can I get into Cornell? I realize NU and Columbia are definitely stretches, with Penn being a slight bit easier but still a stretch. The grey area falls in if I can get my midyear at 3.8ish, making my GPA ~3.65, would I be okay for Cornell?</p>
<p>So Cornell’s transfer rate is actually skewered. It has a program where denied freshman applicants are able to gain admission if they attend another school for 2 years. So in reality the 20% rater is actually something like 10%. And a 3.6 would still be kind of weak, Cornell is still an Ivy. </p>
<p>You may have to swallow your pride and apply to schools in the 20s and 30s range. They are a lot better bets with your GPA. And dont count out NYU, that is probably the hottest college in the US right now. Its in the middle of NYC so the internship and work opportunities are unparalleled. As an econ major you would benefit GREATLY.</p>
<p>Dont get me wrong, you can apply to all the top schools and im not an expert so dont quote me (none of us on this forum are really), but a 3.5 is just kind of low, especially when all of your competition are pushing 3.7 and above and STILL will get denied. Transferring is a funny game.</p>