<p>I realize this is a stupid question, and I realize that you can't make predictions about anything, but I would like to know what people think about my chances are of getting into some places as a transfer. I recently applied this winter and the suspense is killing me (I find out in 3 weeks.) I applied to Stanford, Penn, Brown, Duke, and Northwestern. Here are some stats about me: </p>
<p>3.9 college GPA at a top 10 liberal arts college
87.5/100 high school GPA at one of the best high schools in the country
30 ACT, (32 superscored)
great recommendations
varsity college athlete
played varsity sports throughout high school
got a few outside recommendations for some connected people at these schools </p>
<p>I realize its impossible to make any kind of prediction and I'll take everything said here with a grain of salt. But I basically want to know if I have any chance whatsoever, or if i should be preparing myself to really not get any good news. Some of the admittance rates at these schools are pretty low.</p>
<p>The chances seem to be so low, Stanford is 2-4%, Brown is 9%, Penn is 18%, Duke is 9%, and Northwestern is 18%. </p>
<p>I’m worried mostly about my test scores and high school grades. I went to a very prestigious high school where I really just couldn’t pull off that 4.0 GPA. I feel that my test scores don’t make me look off the charts to these schools, but they don’t discount me either. I feel like my strong points are my extracurriculars, my application, my college grades, and my recommendations. are these all important in the transfer process?</p>
<p>Absolutely! College grades are probably the most important (once you’ve spent two years in college - applying as a freshman is a little different). ECs are important too and look great, especially if you have a leadership position. You’re right to acknowledge that regardless of your stats, acceptance is very very competitive. Still, I think you have as good a shot as anyone.</p>
<p>@jhaverford…imo your application will be competitive at all of the schools listed especially if you can blow them away with essays on why whatever school is a fit. Your high school stuff will be a small part of the application and can be overlooked with such a strong college record like yours.</p>
<p>I had a question for you, I see you go to Haverford…if you would not mind I was wondering why you wanted to transfer out? I ask because I am currently trying to transfer into Haverford (find out in a couple weeks or so) Again, if you wouldnt mind sharing a little on why you want to leave the school I would greatly appreciate it; I wanna hear both the good and bad about the schools I’m looking at.</p>
<p>In my opinion, Haverford is a great school if you are looking for a place that is extremely small, quiet, and open. I personally feel that it is a great school for a lot of people, just not for me. I realized after getting to school that I needed a bigger, more diverse, and perhaps even more career oriented school to go to. This is not a real surprise to me, considering in high school I was in the middle of a large city, and big time sports were important to me. HAverford simply doesn’t have the activity a large school provides, and I think if i’m going to really appreciate my years in college i needed to be a place I can be totally satisfied. there were benefits, like the small class size, but smaller classes are available at medium sized schools as well, especially in humanities/social sciences as you take upper level classes. in all honesty, it just got a little scary when halfway through the year i realized i had met everyone i would hang out with for the rest of the year, and i was really no longer meeting new people. everyone knows your name, and everyone knows about you. to some its great, it does create a small and welcoming community. to people like me though, i just needed a bit more excitement and activity socially and academically. The diversity just wasn’t there and I would like to be in a larger environment. that being said, if i come back to haverford i will get a great education and certainly have great friendships. i applied to transfer basically thinking my experience has been good, but it could potentially be a lot better elsewhere.</p>
<p>thank you so much for your response…I can definitely understand your reasons for wanting to explore transferring. It’s funny how what one person loves about a college can be somewhat undesirable for another, but in any case I agree either way you will be in a great situation.
I’m a commuter at a community college, I’ll spend two years at my next institution and I thought the transition to a smaller school would be a little less overwhelming but I also applied to some larger schools just in case I ended up feeling similar to what you’re feeling right now.
And by the way, is the Honor Code at Haverford as prevalent in student life as admissions make it out to be, or is it not a big deal on campus?</p>
<p>thats good to hear, the honor code was one of the aspects that really attracted me to haverford, thanks again for your responses and best of luck!</p>
<p>I have no doubt you’ll be admitted to at least one school. For transfers, I’ve learned that what most admissions committees look at is how you have improved since high school - if someone did awesome in high school, honestly no one cares, because it’s just high school, for pete’s sake, and it doesn’t measure either academic ability or intellectual potential - so if you have a good college GPA, good letters, and good essays, you’re golden!! :)</p>
<p>I was not admitted anywhere, which leads me to my next question. My final GPA this year is a cumulative 3.8 GPA this year as a freshman (the schools I applied to never saw my second semester grades, which kind of hurt me i think since I did well again.) here’s my question, should I go back to school and try again? do i have a shot a second time around at getting into Stanford, Duke, Penn, or Brown if I keep my grades around where they are now? Should i take the year off, do something really interesting, and apply again with my college GPA being high and this added bonus of doing something interesting (don’t think thats a realistic option, but some people have suggested it to me.) I guess any advice on my situation would be great. thank you.</p>
<p>Haha, the OP made another thread, essentially with the same info, asking whether he should try again next year. I asked the exact same question about NU over there. Hopefully we hear back soon, I’d like some clarification.</p>
<p>Honestly, from what I’ve gathered during this process, transfer admissions are a crapshoot. But someone with your stats honestly has the best chance at NU out of the schools you listed. Above NU, things are an absolute crapshoot. The schools with <5% admission rate seem to be more luck of the draw - either you are the total package that they’re looking for that year, or you aren’t. NU tends to admit enough students that it seems a more general conception of a highly qualified candidate works as a means to predict odds of acceptance. Elsewhere, it seems a sort of intangible “it” factor plays a more prominent role. Also, if you applied for FA at Brown, your chances were likely very slim as a result of the need-aware policy.
From one NU hopeful to another (and one with very similar stats down to the college athlete bit) I think you still have a solid chance at Northwestern. Your statement, however, seems to indicate that you’d rather go back to Haverford, and try the Ivies once more, rather than settle on NU if you got in. If Northwestern doesn’t provide an environment in which you think you will thrive, this is probably the best option.</p>