Columbia - Worth a Shot?

Transfer Students
1

<p>I'm currently a Freshman at Rutgers SAS Honors. I would like to transfer to Columbia, Johns Hopkins, or Cornell, but don't know if I have the credentials to do so. My glaring weakness in high school was reading (590 Critical Reading), and that held me back from being admitted to a top tier school. But, I got an A in my Expository Writing class (aka Eng101) so I was wondering if this could ameliorate the 590 on Critical Reading. </p>

<p>So, while it hasn't even been a year since high school, I was wondering what my chances would be to the aforementioned schools as a transfer student for Sophomore standing. </p>

<p>College (Rutgers SAS Honors Program):
Intended Major: Double Major in Mathematics and Economics (Quantitative Economics)
GPA: 3.89 (after 1 semester: A in Multivariable Calculus (Honors), A in Expository Writing, A in Elementary Chinese, B+ in Intro to Microeconmics (Honors))
- Honors Program
- PBL (Phi Beta Lambda)
- LIBOR (Little Investment Bankers of Rutgers)</p>

<p>High School (NJ Public - Above Average):
GPA: 90.61 (Unweighted) / 98.42 (Weighted)
Rank: 18/603 (Top 3%)
SAT: 2120 (790 Math, 740 Writing, 590 Reading)
SATII: 760 (Math IIC), 670 (Chemistry)
AP's: BC/AB Calculus (5), Statistics (5), Psychology (5), Mechanics (4)
- National Honor Society
- President of FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America)</p>

<p>Scholarships:
- SAS (Statistical Analysis Software) Scholar
- Edward J. Bloustein Scholar</p>

<p>Reason for Transfer:
There are really two reasons. First, I would like to major in Financial Engineering (aka Financial Mathematics), but very few undergraduate schools offer such a program - Columbia and Johns Hopkins are two out of a handful. Secondly, I would like to do investment banking, but this is a very selective job, and a degree from Rutgers would put me at a significant disadvantage.</p>

2

<p>Sure give it a shot you never know what these people really want.Essay is gonna be very very important…Although I am not sure that columbia offers an undergrad degree in financial engineering</p>

3

<p>if you’re worred about your low CR score, you can always retake it. there are still 2 more testing dates before the app deadline.</p>

4

<p>Always worth a shot! If you apply as a frosh, you MUST retake the SATs and mitigate the damage of your 590 (as you well know). </p>

<p>Other than that, you look solid. Your high school record is of significant importance, so again, retake the SATs. Keep up the work at Rutgers and maintain your GPA.</p>

5

<p>Thank you for the replies. </p>

<p>I just have one more question. If I retake the SATs and can only manage a 670-700ish in CR, how significant will that be because a college student taking the SATs is different from a high school student taking the SATs?</p>