Chance Me: Transferring from a Top 10 LAC

Transfer Students
1

I’m a freshman looking to transfer from my current schools for a variety of reasons: slightly lacking department for the major I’ve become quite interested in since I applied to colleges, student body is not necessarily aligned with my social interests, etc. I’m partly happy at my school, but there is a lacking. Putting aside the “grass is always greener.” I feel it necessary to be certain that I am allowing myself to find the most resources to better my education; therefore, I’m exploring transferring as an option. This is more exploratory than definite.

Schools I’m considering (that have better departments/opportunities for me): Brown, Columbia, Williams Swarthmore, UMich, Middlebury, UVA, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, open to other suggestions

Major interest: Philosophy, potentially double in Econ

First semester GPA: ~3.7
Activities: leadership position in a club related to potential career, training for leadership in another for fun, member of another related to major

HS Stats:
GPA: 4.0
ACT Superscore: 35
ACT M/R/E/S (highest of each): 35/35/35/33 (I took it twice)
Numerous ECs

What are my chances?

2

Transfer admissions should be considered somewhat differently from first-year admissions in that not all colleges appear especially welcoming to transfer applicants. Williams, for example, recently accepted only 16 of the 413 transfer applicants who applied. As part of your own research into colleges of potential interest, be sure to check respective Common Data Sets for this information.

If you would like an indication regarding strength of economics programs, these analyses can be helpful:

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.usecondept.html

If you have an interest in integrating insights from the study of philosophy, economics and political science, consider colleges with an available public policy major.