Stats:
Top 50 university (GPA: 4.0), Honors student
Major: Neuroscience and mathematics
ACT: 35
A few leadership positions
2 research publications, with 1st author (1 in high school & 1 in college so far)
Superior recommendation letters most likely
High School:
GPA: 4.7 weighted (Rank: 2/1500)
GPA: 3.998 (unweighted)
→ This is how the GPA system worked at my school (4.0 for regular, 4.5 for honors, 5.0 for AP)
19 AP classes taken (All 5’s as scores)
President of 3 clubs with significant involvement in all
ISEF finalist & many other research accolades
Why transfer?
I chose current college for scholarship, but am not satisfied with education here as well as the lack of community.
Desire for non stem school
I am looking at Columbia university. Any other colleges that might be a good fit?
How are my chances?
You have a fantastic chance at Columbia. Do ALOT of research regarding the specific department you want to join at Columbia and talk about it heavily in your essays. Like specific research that professors are doing at Columbia that they aren’t doing at your school, or even better, not at any other university in the United States. Many people primarily write about how great Columbia’s location is in their essays. This will get you rejected because it shows that you didn’t do much research about Columbia. Talk specifically about how much you love Columbia’s core program. The fact that you want to go to a school with an emphasis less on STEM probably helps your chances because the core is a lot of humanities and social science courses.
I expect you to get in if you do your research. Essays matter much more in transfer admission compared to freshman admission. Good luck!