<p>am currently a freshman at The George Washington Universiy in the College of Arts and Sciences intending to major in PoliSci/Government.</p>
<p>I have junior standing because of APs and went to an ultra-elite prep school in CA that sends 40% of graduating class to Top 15 USNWR schools. I was editor of our newspaper and a co-captain of the lacrosse team.</p>
<p>My stats are as follows:</p>
<p>Final HS GPA: 3.85 weighted (11 APs)
SAT: 1550 (V+M), 2170 (V+M+W)
SATII: 760 Math IIC, 730 History, 720 Eng Lit
Current University GPA: 3.76</p>
<p>I write for the newspaper at GW and am currently interning on Capitol Hill. I also pledged a fraternity and I am in an honors pro seminar here that our professor claims to be doing "masters level work." He would be the one to write my recommendation.</p>
<p>Am I competitive at a school like Georgetown, Penn, Columbia College, Yale, Berkeley, or UCLA?</p>
<p>You are certainly a competitive candidate at the schools you mentioned. You'll need to make sure you have two solid recommendation letters, just to clarify. All of your stats are fine. The essay you write that states your reasons for transferring will likely be the tipping factor for Yale, Columbia, Penn and Berkeley. Work on that statement, getting another excellent recommendation will also help. If you do the aforementioned things, you'll have a solid chance of at least getting into a few of those schools. Good luck, and don't be afraid to give GWU more time to fit your fancy.</p>
<p>UC berkeley is a little more lenient on out of state transfers, but your gpa is a little below their average for out of state. For out of state, i would say its between 3.8-4.0 (berkeley doesnt count sat scores) I would apply, since its just a little below it, but its definately not a guarantee since they dont like out of staters.</p>
<p>We all know Yale and columbia are extreme reaches, since they receive close to 1,000 applications and accept about 10-60 students per year. Columbia's applications + acceptances:
Transfer Students
Total number of transfer students who applied: 1,223
Total number of transfer students who were admitted: 78</p>
<p>Georgetown is your only match because 1) your sat scores are on par/ or above the average, or middle 50%. Your gpa is good and so is your hs record. They also accept a lot more applicants than (out of state) UC Berkeley/LA, Columbia and Yale.
Transfer Students
Total number of transfer students who applied: 1,523
Total number of transfer students who were admitted: 376</p>
<p>sorry, i posted that 6 applied, but it was actually 9, i re-edited it. So i hope those statistics help from the ucla website.</p>
<p>also, im not sure if you are considered a cali resident or not, because i think some schools take away your state residency if you go to another out of state school; that really depends on the school, and im not saying the UCs do that, but u might wanna check...</p>
<p>i highly doubt that, considering my permanent residence remains in california, i pay california taxes, i vote in california, and i own property in california. </p>
<p>but, as you say, i will check to make sure. i also heard that it is easier to get in if you don't apply for financial aid...</p>
<p>re financial aid: thats not true. Go ahead and apply. Since you are a cali resident, you should have no problem receiving fin aid or maybe even the cal grant. Either way, if you are not given the cal grant, uc berkeley has enough funds in grant money to fund you without it.</p>
<p>Also, the statistics i posted were not to discourage you from applying, i think u have a good chance at ucla/berkeley, unless all of the other 8 people applying from your school have like a 4.0 or something lol....but i think uc berkeley will be most likely to accept you since they have they accept more from oos schools than ucla.</p>
<p>cool, thanks...i have to say, georgetown is my favorite anyway, and from what your saying, its easier to get into as well. i may end up only applying there. we'll see...any other thoughts?</p>
<p>You should check out pg.1 of Andale's thread called "transfer admission 101." I think It should clarify most of your questions regarding recommendation letters.</p>
<p>I don't think Berkeley and UCLA are reaches! They should be matches instead. Their acceptance rates are simply high enough for you to get in, I think!</p>
<p>To which school/college at Georgetown University will you be applying? The Walsh School of Foreign Service is the most prestigious and it's requirements may set you back a year. If you are interested in foreign service, you may want to consider graduating from GWU and getting a master's degree from Tufts University's Fletcher School of Diplomacy; this is especially worthy of consideration for foreign service students as a year of study abroad is typical and you, therefore, may only get one year on Georgetown's campus. GWU is an excellent university, as you must know, and it will not in any way hold you back from getting into the best graduate schools in the country. If you are just applying to the college than, without knowing your reasons for transferring, you may be better off staying at GWU as Georgetown, IMO, is not that much better-if it is even better at all. Columbia College and Yale are worth transferring into if you have solid and convincing reasons for doing so.</p>
<p>When you're applying for Berkeley/UCLA, you could say in your essay that a reason for transfer is cheaper tuition. That's a compelling reason. (I just read an article on increasing tuitions, and it mentioned GWU having an "advertised sticker price" over $50k/year - 1st school to break that barrier.)</p>
<p>You seem to be doing great at George Washington. You won't be able to intern on Capitol Hill at Berkeley and UCLA...Like you said, Georgetown seems like a good option, if you want to keep your Washington D.C. connections. </p>
<p>Thanks UCB, that's a very good point for the UC essays, and also something to consider with Georgetown. </p>
<p>If anyone who has transferred to GU sees this, especially if you were a priority transfer as well, what worked for you? I heard there is a shelf GPA that guarantees admission for priority transfers...</p>
<p>I feel like GW is too party oriented and that there aren't enough serious students/classes outside of my pro seminar. The school is too pre-professional oriented, and kids are satisfied being second tier. Most don't care about schoolwork or pursuing gradschool. don't get me wrong, i am having fun, i just have a different perception of what college is supposed to be from the majority of my classmates.</p>
<p>To elaborate, the school itself (ie, the classes offered, the departments, the different majors) is all geared towards setting up kids with a job after graduation knowing nothing more than that which is most basic for their field (which more often than not, is international affairs or public policy). basically, GW is a bureaucrat factory, whereas Georgetown offers more of a traditional liberal education, which I am more interested in. </p>
<p>most of the kids seem uninterested in doing well in school, which i dont mind b/c it makes the social life awesome, though at times it is a bit intimidating/unbelievable that people are going out 6 nights a week. as a camp, this would be fantastic...its just not what i am looking for in a college.</p>
<p>Is GWU the only school you got into with those stats? It just seems strange that you wouldn't have gotten into any of the schools you mentioned as a freshman with the stats you have.</p>