Hello CC! I am going to be a current student at a top 50 large university. Unfortunately, I made a mistake financially in choosing this college and truly believe transferring would be best for me, especially with law school on my mind. Even in deciding this school, I was extremely indecisive because I didn’t like the campus culture all that much. I will try to make the most of my freshman year and get involved (as listed below), but transferring will definitely stay on my mind because I cannot imagine staying here for four years. I really believe I would enjoy my college years better at a different school that may be more promising in terms of financial aid.
I am only applying to colleges with need-blind admissions and that meet 100% need, even for transfer students. I was a Questbridge CPS and NCM Finalist. Hopefully this gives enough information regarding my parents’ financial standings and why I can’t stay at a private school which is not generous with financial aid. I was waitlisted at Penn, my dream school, Cornell, and UVa when I applied last year.
As of right now, I will be applying to Penn, Cornell, UVa, Dartmouth, Columbia, and maybe Yale
My stats are:
High School
GPA: 4.0 (weighted)
10/300 class rank
9 APs
31 ACT score (I took the ACTs my junior year, so I will be taking the new SAT sometime by December and have been studying hard and doing my research on it. I took a practice test while helping my little sister study for the SATs and I got a 1400, so hopefully my score would be higher by the time December rolls by. Writing is my strong point and I got a perfect score on the ACT essay, so I am hoping my SAT Essay will be around here too)
Editor-in-Chief of school newspaper
Vice President of student council
Captain of track team
Key Club
NHS, 4 other honor societies
writer for various online writing websites and publications
Various book awards, extracurricular awards, and academic awards, primarily from English and writing
Involved in local town politics
I was also chosen as the graduation speaker based on an essay contest
College:
I will be taking intro to micro, ethics, international relations, and a freshman literature seminar this semester and intro to macro, statistics, calculus, English seminar in literature (part 2 of my first semester class) and a political thought class
I will be writing for the school newspaper
I will be part of the prelaw society and write for the prelaw publication and I will be part of the international affairs society and write for the international affairs publication
Some clubs I was interested in are UNICEF, Habitat for Humanity, Amnesty International
I will also be working as an office assistant in my school’s English department
Something else that may be of interest is that I am a Philosophy and Political Science major and an Economics minor. I mirrored this around Penn’s PPE major because I was so interested in their program. I am not sure if this would “help” my application to Penn, but It is certainly something I would mention in my essay.
Again, I know it is early to think about transferring and I should give my current school a chance. I will certainly take advantage of everything my school has to offer, but I can’t sit here and at least not try to make a smarted choice financially and for myself by applying to colleges for transfer. I also know transfer admissions are pretty hit-or-miss and can be different from year to year, but it doesn’t hurt to hear others’ opinions. Thank you!
