Chances at UVA/Georgetown...where else to apply?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Right now I'm at a top-60ish public university, from which I would obviously like to transfer - for a number of reasons: middle of nowhere, feeling that I could be somewhere more prestigious, not very strong in my intended major (management or econ), etc, etc. </p>

<p>So first semester I got a 4.0 taking 17 hours
Classes were microecon, biology, sociology, precalculus, philosophy of technology, and business. Next semester I'll be taking 19 hours, with macroecon, calculus, spanish, english composition, western history, and management. Expecting at least a 3.7. </p>

<p>Test Scores:
ACT: 32 (36 reading, 35 english, 28 science, 27 math)...pretty sure I only got a 9 on the essay if that matters.
SAT: 1340/2070...640 on US History, 620 English (do I even send my SAT scores? i'm leaning towards 'no', unless sat 2s are required)</p>

<p>My primary problem, is my hs gpa. ~3.0 my freshman/sophomore years killed me...so I only graduated with a 3.41 despite a 3.71 and 3.85 for my junior and senior years. Grading scale was somewhat tough, at most other schools I would have likely been a few tenths higher. I only took 3 AP/IB classes though. </p>

<p>College Activities: Marketing club, 12 hours of community service for an animal shelter, some work on the newspaper. weak, probably.
More pertinent HS Activities: Higher editor for nationally-recognized hs paper, varsity tennis (all-district), appearance on tv for a Jeopardy-type show. </p>

<p>Essays will be solid, not quite spectacular, recommendations will be average. </p>

<p>Schools I'm planning on applying to at the moment, but don't really know what my chances are like:
University of Maryland CP -- Is my application strong enough for this to be a safety??
University of Virginia
Georgetown </p>

<p>But I have no idea where else I want to/should apply. My only preference is NOT in a small town. </p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>btw, I'm a white male from Northern Virginia if it matters.</p>

2

<p>haha i like your username</p>

<p>well essays and recs. are important, people usually take it for granted that theirs will be "spectacular." if everybody claims to have a spectacular essay written up and great recs. from profs., and you arent even claiming as much, then that would put you at a disadvantage</p>

<p>your ec's are a bit weak for gtown and uva and do not show a strong desire or passion...again, most strong applicants and even some mediocre applicants have solid ec's which demonstrate a desire towards their major or intended career path</p>

<p>that being said</p>

<p>you do have an upward trend in your academic performance, which is a big plus...I'm assuming that you intend to apply for fall '09? I'd make sure that they allow you to apply for transfer more than once, because in the event that you are not accepted you want to have the opportunity to apply the year after...i think if you got in some really strong ec's over the next year and maintained (close) to your gpa, you'd have a really great shot at both schools...as for applying this year...i certainly encourage you to apply to both uva and gtown, and you'll have an ok shot, i just wouldnt get my hopes too high just yet though</p>

<p>umaryland is pretty close to a safety for you</p>

3

<p>I don't think it's a bad thing that he doesn't want to say his essays and rec's will be spectacular. To me, it seems more like he's being realistic about this stuff rather than assuming he's the best candidate ever like some people do.</p>

<p>OP-Some schools require your SAT/ACT scores and some don't. Check the transfer section of each school's admissions website. Just keep in mind that those who do want them are going to judge them more harshly (not that they're bad or anything) because they only have one semester of college to look at.</p>

<p>Emory comes to mind, but they would probably also be a reach if you apply for this coming fall, just due to the impact of high school record on sophomore transfer admissions. There's also College of William and Mary, which would be in state for you (discounted tuition!), but there's still the issue of high school GPA. Both of them are pretty transfer friendly. I don't know how good any of those would be for your intended major, by the way. </p>

<p>You'll have much higher chances if you stick it out and keep your GPA up for another semester or year and get some good EC's on your record.</p>

4

<p>I was deferred at UVa with a full freshman year gpa of 3.8 (the longer your college gpa the better), SAT of 2170, and hs gpa of 4.2W/3.4UW.</p>

<p>Since some of our stats are kind of similar I would say its probably a reach for you. You can apply, but I wouldn't depend too much on it.</p>

<p>Edit: Also sometimes when they give you the "average gpa" for transfers etc they factor into that gpa certain privileged conditions such as athletes. So the average gpa for the normal person is probably always higher than they report on the website.</p>