<p>I am a sophomore at a NESCAC (small college in New England), but have decided that I would like to apply for transfer to a few places for next Fall. If I don't get in it isn't the end of the world, as I can go abroad for my entire junior year, but I'd still prefer to go elsewhere if possible.</p>
<p>My stats are:</p>
<p>Major: Economics and Political Science (IR)
College GPA: Currently 3.89 and likely to be approximately 3.8 after this semester.
SAT: 1420/2150
HS GPA: 3.26 (not especially great, but it was higher the last two years)
Recommendation will be good (from a poli sci professor who is a Georgetown alum)</p>
<p>EC's: </p>
<p>Model United Nations - Vice President/Treasurer
Outdoors Club - Vice President
Tutor and Mentor for a 5th grader from the city
Campus Movie Theater - Manager and Board Member
Environmental Education House - Board Member</p>
<p>Also, I was one of 9 students to have an essay published in an annual book of first year students' essays this Fall.</p>
<p>I am applying to Georgetown, Wash U (WUSTL), Northwestern and possibly Brown or Emory. What are my chances? Based on this list of schools, are there other places I should consider? Thank you for your time and consideration!</p>
<p>For Georgetown- Your chances are fairly good. The average transfer gpa there is a 3.7 and it looks like you have some good EC’s. Really concenctrate on your essays and explain to them why Georgetown is such a better fit for you then your current school. Your highschool GPA will not hurt you because you have improved so much in college (if anything it will help because it shows improvement) </p>
<p>Other places you should consider- You should consider any school that is going to be a fit for you. You should not transfer just because its a “prestigious” school because you will not perform if you do not like the college’s atmosphere,faculty, students, etc. Also, keep in mind going to a top notch school is not necessary for getting into a good law or mba program. It is really about your GPA, test scores, and EC’s.</p>
<p>So after 3 semesters, my GPA is a 3.83/4. I’m very torn with this entire process. I don’t especially enjoy it where I am, but if I choose to stay I’ll have the opportunity to study abroad all of next year. I expect to have a pretty good last 2 years regardless of where I am, but I really don’t know what my best decision would be.</p>
<p>Given that I’m on track to graduate from my current college with good grades and probably honors, will it look better on my resume (for grad school, jobs etc.) to move to the better school or just stick it out, go abroad, and continue doing the best that I can here?</p>
<p>If going abroad is something you consider really important to your college experience, I would go abroad. You’ll never have the opportunity to go abroad like that ever again, and if you can tolerate your current college, I would stay. </p>
<p>I’m a transfer and I’m starting the grad school application process. Honors and a high GPA and good recommendations are all VERY important to grad ad coms. If you are making connections in your department and you’re well known, it might actually be more beneficial to stay there. If you graduate with Honors, are you required to prepare an undergrad thesis? </p>
<p>I know for me, studying abroad pretty much MADE my college experience. As much as I love NYU, being in Paris during the summertime is something I will always remember. It’s up to you to weigh the pros and cons. Some people don’t consider being abroad as important, some do.</p>
<p>Depending on the grad school to which one is applying, doing a semester-long study-abroad program could be detrimental to one’s application. If one is applying to a Ph.D program, one would do well to stay put at the university to develop key relationships with professors who will bat for her when time comes to apply.</p>
<p>For professional school, it really doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>Flowerhead, for graduate school, is it about what you did at college more importantly and where did you went to for college?
(There will be people applying to top programs coming out of a State University other than elites.)</p>
<p>missamericanpie: I would potentially have to write a thesis to graduate with honors in econ, but for poli sci, you can take a comprehensive exam instead. My school is very small, and I have made some very good connections with a few professors - incidentally one of those connections is with a Georgetown grad who is writing a recommendation for me.</p>
<p>flowerhead: In all likelihood I will apply for a professional school, so hopefully going abroad wouldn’t hurt me too much. Also, one of my semesters would be in Uruguay/Argentina with the goal of becoming fluent in Spanish which certainly can’t hurt.</p>
<p>Thanks for the insights! I’m happy to say that this semester is off to a better start than the last one, so I suppose I’ll have a tough decision if I get good news from Georgetown (which is the only school I decided to apply to).</p>
<p>I don’t know too much about that particular idea, even though I already know it isn’t recognized too valuably for grad adcoms.</p>
<p>Some people have told me that for employment, it matters and some have said it does not. Others also have said you need GMAT, GRE, MCAT, LSAT scores for such good places owned by the employers.</p>
<p>So I’m asking what do YOU think about the name of a college you came from in an employer’s eyes for admission? (Minority of them even ask for SAT scores if you just finished undergraduate year [yes, they’re elitist and you would try to avoid those who ask for SAT scores.])</p>