I know the title sounds crazy and believe me I’m also confused but let me explain. I have lived in Princeton my entire life and heard they accept undergrad transfers now and some from community college. I didn’t do the best in high school but after completing 1 semester of community college and now onto my 2nd I’m keeping my head up and working very hard. I’m currently an engineering science major and plan on going to compsci (maybe) if I transfer. I saw this article was posted and was surprised to see that it said
“The University opened the admission process for transfer students in fall 2017, particularly encouraging applications from students from low-income backgrounds, community college students and U.S. military veterans.” https://www.princeton.edu/news/2018/05/09/princeton-offers-admission-13-students-reinstated-transfer-program
Is there any way this applies to me or should I just not even bother since my past poor grades in high school?
If this does happen to apply to me what should I do to keep my chances higher than others?
Thank you for reading this post, I know it may come off as quite dumb but I was curious.
Hi there. I do not say myself to be an expert on this, but as a current Princeton student, from knowing some of these transfers, it seems that they really only looked at military veterans and students from low-income backgrounds this year. While I have no clue how it would fare this year, I would imagine it would improve in terms of scope only slightly. If your grades have improved, there definitely are very good schools that could be successful reaches for you. Nevertheless, they would still be reaches but I am sure you could find an amazing school to transfer to that is right for you. Princeton appears to be exceptionally competitive to get admitted as a transfer, and as a current student who is a freshman, I can tell you that I myself would not have even been looked at by the admissions committee if I had applied as a transfer. I mean, like, you might be thinking that I “don’t know much,” which is true, but this is all just what I have picked up on. Sorry if this wasn’t helpful or came off as condescending or harsh. The college admissions process really is such a struggle, and the transfer process is even more so. I truly hope that you will indeed find the right place for you, and, hopefully, that place could be Princeton.
The quoted sentence suggests that Princeton is emphasizing non-traditional students for transfer admission.
If your high school grades are poor, then (for any target four year school) transferring as a junior, meaning applying in your sophomore year with substantial college record, will reduce the importance of your high school record. Of course, your college record needs to be good, since college record is the strongest predictor of future college performance that you will be able to show as a transfer applicant.