Community College to Yale?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I was hoping a few of you could give me your opinion on my chances of being accepted to Yale. They only accept about 2% of transfer applicants, and I have no idea how competitive my stats are. I want to major in pure mathematics, and I am very interested in Yale's math department because it is smaller than most which means more individual attention. I really like their combined bachelors and masters program as well. </p>

<p>I have a few specific concerns/questions. Below these, I will post some information / stats about me that you can refer to if necessary. Thanks so much for your help!</p>

<p>Concerns/Questions:
~My college career has only recently been focused on mathematics. Same for my ECs. Also, my math scores sucked on the SAT. However, I AM a really good math student - I get 100s on all of my exams including the finals in my math courses. and I REALLY do like math a lot now. Colleges won't know that though. How can I get that across?</p>

<p>~I'm only taking four classes each semester, I don't know if that really counts as a rigorous course load. Should I try taking a fifth this semester? it's not too late for me to register for another, but unfortunately my CC doesn't offer any higher math courses after the two I am currently taking. It would have to be something like chemistry, and I don't know if that would even help my chances or not.</p>

<p>~I was planning to independently study Linear Algebra this semester, but there is no way for me to get credit from my college for it (I've asked). Is this something I should mention on my application, and will they even consider it in making their decision?</p>

<p>** Stats/Info about me:**</p>

<p>HS GPA: 4.0</p>

<p>SAT: 2100 (750 reading, 700 math, 650 writing). also, SAT subject tests (670 lit, 660 math level 2). </p>

<p>Note on HS: I took all of my classes at my current CC during my junior and senior year of high school, and earned my associates in liberal arts a month before I earned my HS degree. Degree was in liberal arts because it was tough to do anything else in the Honors Program at my CC, and because I hadn't decided on mathematics until the end of my senior year. Also, I applied to Harvard and Williams as a freshman in my senior year of HS, was rejected by Harvard and waitlisted by Williams, so I don't think the whole college during HS thing will impress any colleges...</p>

<p>HS ECs: Pretty extensive, and all occurred at CC. Primarily community service focused. I started a community service club at my college and was president of it for two years. was also a Scholar in Service at my college, completed over 500 hours of service in my senior year. participated in Alternative Spring Break, was the event chair of Relay For Life, created and led the first group at my college to participate in 30 Hour Famine, etc. However, nothing related to math.</p>

<p>College GPA: 4.0</p>

<p>ECs: nothing much this year because I am working a lot more to pay for classes, as a private tutor in math, SAT prep, etc., a supplemental instructor of a MAT101 (college algebra) course last semester, MAT131 this semester (statistics), and a waitress at a restaurant.</p>

<p>classes last semester: calc 2, statistics 2, spanish conversation 1 (above intermediate), physics 1
classes this semester: calc 3, differential equations, physics 2 , engineering computations</p>

<ul>
<li>One clarification: I am applying to enter as a sophomore, not as a junior.</li>
</ul>

2

<p>I guess I’ll be the one that’s brutally honest here.</p>

<p>You are not competitive for Yale.</p>

<p>Your grades and accomplishments are awesome, don’t get me wrong, but there are thousands and thousands of students all over the US with similar grades. You have nothing really special that sets you apart. You have perfect HS and CC grades, but honestly so does nearly everyone that applies to Yale. Your SAT scores are very high, but not at all competitive for Yale as a first year student, let alone a transfer which is more competitive. </p>

<p>Keep in mind the other students applying to transfer into Yale have 3.8+ GPAs from top schools like Duke, UChicago, Columbia, Harvard, etc. They also have near-perfect SAT scores and crazy good ECs. Honestly, if you were on the Admissions Committee, why would you choose someone with a 4.0 from a community college when there are dozens and dozens of students from very difficult top schools with perfect grades?</p>

<p>Apply if it’s your dream school, but don’t get your hopes up. There are many other top schools that you are competitive for, check those out.</p>

3

<p>Unfortunately Y does not have a history of being very friendly to CC transfers. D1 was a soph transfer to Y and outside of one CC transfer a couple of years ahead of her, she didn’t know any during her time there. You can apply to Y, but only as a reach on a realistic, balanced list of transfer schools.</p>

<p>While their transfer admission rate is also very low, Stanford seems to be more open to CC and NT transfers, sometimes making up to 50% of their transfer class.</p>

4

<p>I would think Stanford would be even more of a reach, considering my desired major. They must have plenty of brilliant math majors already. However, there aren’t that many people that head to Yale for mathematics. Thank you for the suggestion though, entomom. Why do you think your daughter was accepted?</p>

<p>Can anyone recommend some good schools to look into that are either very generous with their financial aid or have scholarships for their transfers? I am in a bit of a tough spot because my father doesn’t help me pay for college, but his income gives me a bigger EFC than I can pay on my own. That’s why I have only been looking at the very very top schools (which meet 100% financial need for transfers and don’t include loans in their finaid), and the very very cheapest schools (which are usually state schools that AREN’T very academically strong).</p>

5

<p>Balance major and acceptance of CC applicants and maybe it’s a wash, who knows, the numbers are much too small.</p>

<p>D1 was accepted to Y as a fr but decided to take a full ride at a top public due to financial reasons. The change in FA policies the following year by some of the most selective colleges made Y a more reasonable choice at that time.</p>

<p>See the Resources sticky thread for a link to a thread with merit aid.</p>

<p>For need based FA at 100% of need w/o loans, your pool of colleges is very small. Start with the few that do this for fr admits (I think there’s a list on the FA & Scholarship forum), then take out schools like Brown and Columbia which state that they have less money for transfers and may not cover 100% of need.</p>

6

<p>In terms of ECs, it’s quality over quantity. Just because you’re not Renaissance Man (or woman), doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not competitive with your fellow applicants. Tutoring to pay for school is more-or-less an extracurricular - and you can perhaps explain your lack of college ECs creatively for a college essay. You can as well take on a “challenging” idea (like start your own mini-business, do a paid internship, etc.) that will double as a source of income and an EC/hobby.</p>

<p>I don’t believe Yale is really friendly to transfers, especially those with need, but your GPA, SAT scores and previous high school history definitely doesn’t hurt. I believe you should look into great schools that A) Go well with your major B) Are friendly to transfers and C) would provide a nice financial aid packet for those in need.
University of Penn, and possibly Cornell, are more transfer-friendly than Yale, and need-blind (do not factor in income bracket on whether or not to reject applicant, and will provide financial means for student if need is shown). MIT, Northwestern, UChicago, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Emory, and a few others are also great choices.</p>

7

<p>^Per the OPs request for 100% need/no loan schools: Only Penn & Vandy do not include loans in their FA packages; the others all include loans, although some have initiatives that replace loans with grants for certain income levels.</p>

8

<p>Thank you to everyone who has posted for your help and advice. Especially you, entomom!</p>

<p>Can anyone comment on whether they think it would help a lot to enroll in 5 courses instead of 4 this semester? I’m in calc 3 , physics 2, differential equations, and engineering computations (an intro engineering course). I could take chemistry too if you think it would help?</p>

9

<p>Dude, check out Amherst if you don’t mind liberal art college.</p>

10

<p>I need someone to confirm this, but I think schools that are “full-need” would still take your father’s income into account when calculating your “need.”</p>

11

<p>Yes, most (all?) schools that give 100% need use the Profile which takes into account finances for both parents. I think the OP knows this and figures that since his father isn’t helping with the cost of college, they have to look at the most generous schools possible, those which give full need w/o loans.</p>

12

<p>yale takes transfer students from community college? if so, it must be very uncommon especially at sophomore level . is there any instate public university that you might be consider worthwhile attending?</p>

13

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<p>See post #3.</p>

14

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<p>Y has need blind admissions for both fr and transfers. No, they don’t take many transfers (they have few students leaving and therefore few transfer slots), but need is not a factor.</p>

15

<p>My local CC supposedly sent students to Yale in the past- so it’s possible!</p>