<p>Hello, Happy Halloween everyone. I have a slight predicament right now with my college situation. To fill you in on it:</p>
<p>High School GPA: Around 2.5, not very good.</p>
<p>I took a break after college and became involved in a non-profit organization (Currently vice president of it.) and started my own successful internet companies. That was a 2 year gap after high school and now I'm double-majoring in Business and Mathematics to redeem my rather detrimental high school grades. I've got a full scholarship at a community college this spring and was going going to go for a liberal arts with a math concentration degree and their Business Administration degree (Going for the MBA. Considering switching to Finance though.) I plan on starting my own clubs there as I've always been able to inspire people to get involved with similar passions.</p>
<p>You can probably guess where this is going. I want to go for a semester to prove my academic capabilities to cope at a far more prestigious schools. Harvard and Princeton currently don't allow transfers so I figure after this semester if I could possibly get into either:</p>
<p>Those are the schools I'm looing to apply for freshmen year. As I understand Oxford doesn't accept transfers either as well. So only a few of them can I apply to as a transfer if my first college plan here doesn't work out.</p>
<p>Furthermore, I need to take the SAT's still which I anticipate doing very well in. It's a matter of timing though. I want to take it January 23, and I understand Yale and some of these other universities need this information very early for consideration in the Fall semester. So that would mean I'd have to wait a whole other year to get in, and by that time I would be applying as a transfer student which makes it much more competitive with lesser odds playing to my advantage.</p>
<p>But assuming I get above a 3.8 GPA and do exceptional on the SAT's and get involved in my university do I have a good chance of getting into one of these schools? I spoke to an academic advisor and was told their valedictorian got accepted into Cornell (As a transfer.)</p>
<p>Can you tell me if my ambitions are plausible thus far? Can I make it for freshman year? If so, what other things can I be doing? If I could make it as a transfer what things could I improve on to make my application look even more favorable? Thanks for reading.</p>
<p>I don’t think HYP or Oxford are in the picture…I don’t really know about the other European schools though.
You probably have the best shot at BC.
I think you should probably look at lower tier schools with stronger business/finance classes…at this point I don’t think a top 25 is in the picture, but that’s my opinion. I’m not too familiar w transfer students.</p>
<p>Vbplayer: I considered that as well but also wanted to attend these for personal reasons (Besides prestige.) Can you elaborate more on your answer?
Djkovic: That was rather blunt. Can you elaborate on yours? And tell me what I might be doing to improve?</p>
<p>I don’t understand the vagueness of most (Not all) of those who responded. I can take take criticism and cope with the realities of my chances but could I at least get an elaboration on this? What if I were to come back telling everyone for example I still have a poor high school history but after that semester at CC I’m valedictorian, got a 2400 SAT, assumed presidency of a few clubs and kept active in EC’s, community service, scholarship awards, etc…? Here is a similar situation to mine that gave him a little more insight:</p>
<p>I appreciate my responses so far but can people tell me some constructive ways I can be improving myself? If you leave a link I’ll also reply to a thread you started. Thanks.</p>
<p>I dont think that many people are familiar with how transfer students stack up against all other applicants. Its hard to say whether or not you have a chance IF you are valedictorian and IF you get amazing SATs. Those are HUGEEEE IFS. EC wise - choose 2-3 things you are passionate about and do a lot of things that show you are interested in them.
And yes I can understand that there are reasons one wants to attend top schools besides prestige, but you need to look at all your options as well, not simply the top top tier schools.</p>
<p>You are too late to apply to Oxford for 2010 admission. The deadline was 15th October. Have you already applied? If so, bear in mind that ECs are irrelevant to a UK application (and also that “liberal arts” does not exist here, and there is no undergraduate Business Studies course at Oxford).</p>
<p>Hey Cupcake, yes I’ve heard that and that Oxford mostly concentrates on grades. If I went to Oxford I’d be taking up my Mathematics studies. I suppose I’d be trying for 2011 then. Any more advice?</p>
<p>Okay, upon further reading of your situation, this is what I gather.</p>
<p>Your whole business thing is largely irrelevant to these schools because of your poor high school performance. That said, your entrepreneurship definitely won’t go unrecognized on your application essays, so that helps a bit, but not at the ivys. </p>
<p>If you take the SAT now, I don’t necessarily know that they will count the “Scholastic Aptitude Test” if the testing date is after your high school graduation date, and it especially won’t count once you start completing any credits at a county college. </p>
<p>The worse reality for you is this. Until you FINISH your sophomore year of college, your high school performance plays a significant role in admissions for transfers and freshman applications. If you’re below finishing your freshman year (which as you say, you don’t even want to go to the CC), then your high school performance will be pretty much everything you consider.</p>
<p>If you want to even consider getting into the schools you listed, I think your best bet is to look at completing two years at the CC before you apply. If you have strong performance, and a good essay, you may be in pretty good shape to get a transfer WITH the experience you’ve listed (and will write about in your essays), and a decent bit of CC performance. Your HS performance by that time will be largely irrelevant. I still doubt the ability to get into the European schools, but solid performance should earn admittance to at least Boston College.</p>
<p>Few running successful internet (or any kind of) businesses would leave them. </p>
<p>You want to start at a community college if I understand right yet apply as a freshmen. At most colleges you can not do that. Regardless, one term at a CC will not erase 4 years of high school. Normally, 2 years of excellent work at a junior college would make you a serious candidate along with high scores.</p>
<p>Oxford doesn’t bother about your ECs, AFAIK. All they want are VERY good grades and I think deep interest and aptitude in the course you wish to pursue.</p>