Confused about the required GPA?

<p>Ok so I noticed that the website had a few things updated/changed around, and noticed that they have this for Transfer students:</p>

<p>1) Complete required courses for intended CALS major with a B or better. See required preparatory courses. </p>

<p>2) Earn at least a 3.0 cumulative grade point average (3.5 for Biological Sciences).</p>

<p>So do we have to have AT LEAST a B in the courses they require, or is that "B or better" simply repeating number 2?</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure in most colleges they say you need a C- or better to transfer the credits, but I'm not talking about that. I'm wondering about what I posted above, that is for admission as a Transfer student.</p>

<p>So we can't go under B in ANY required course? I don't think that was on the site before and has just recently been put in, but can someone explain this to me?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>I think you already explained it to yourself. In order to transfer to Cornell under the terms of that program, every grade in a required course must be a B or better.</p>

<p>Frankly, I'm surprised it is so low. I think a GPA of 3.7 should be the cutoff.</p>

<p>Here's the deal: you cannot earn anything under a B for classes like gen. bio I and II, academic writing I and II, calculus, gen. chem I and II (if bio major). PLUS, your cumulative gpa has to be >3.0 (3.5 for biology) </p>

<p>e.g. you can get a C in history or Latin but requirements 1 and 2 still apply. Most contenders will have 3.8+ along with a good HS record.</p>

<p>^Second what the other posters have said.</p>

<p>While CALS will consider you with a 3.0/3.5 or higher...in order to be competitive you really need to hitting the 3.7 mark.</p>

<p>Oh ok now I have that part cleared out, but:</p>

<p>Does the same go for the colleges they have transfer agreements with/Transfers that attend one of the colleges on the list? I posted that as a question for someone who would be attending a transfer-agreement college.</p>

<p>I think the transfer agreement colleges just require all Bs or higher and a 3.0. Again, I think it should be higher.</p>

<p>wow...i think this whole transfer agreement process is ridiculous...why not just accept more qualified HS applicants instead of people from community colleges.
anyone concur?</p>

<p>they dont give GTs to unqualified applicants and it does not affect the number of HS applicants they take. They use GT because some people drop out, transfer, take a year off, study abroad, etc and they use that space for the GT people.</p>

<p>So I think there's been some confusion on this thread between some different categories are transfer students. Let me spell them out to everybody:</p>

<p>1) Guaranteed transfers. These are students that Cornell would have liked to have admitted as freshmen, but did not have the room, so allowed them a guaranteed transfer in six months or one year's time. All of Cornell's college exercise this option, but the contract colleges use it heavily. I know that 3/4 of ILR's transfers are GTs.</p>

<p>2) Students with transfer agreements. These are students who have been studying at a two-year college that has an explicit transfer agreement with CALS. Satisfy a certain set of requirements, and CALS guaranteed to accept you provided you have the credit. This is what Micny is asking questions about. </p>

<p>CALS</a> Admissions: Transfer Agreements</p>

<p>You may suggest, like rw7000 does, that Cornell shouldn't be accepting students from community colleges. But I disagree. Community colleges offer students a "second chance" to prove themselves academically, and if they past muster, I think the contract colleges definitely have some responsibility to educate these top performers, as long as their academic skills are in line with the performance of the rest of the student body. In my experience, transfers from community colleges often out perform students who were accepted as incoming freshmen.</p>

<p>3) External transfers. These are students that apply to Cornell from other colleges under no guarantee or transfer agreement. Their application is considered like most other freshmen. Often these transfers come from other top schools -- Dartmouth, Columbia, NYU, Rochester, Notre Dame, and Georgetown were just some of the schools I knew people had transferred from during my time at Cornell.</p>

<p>CayugaRed, for external transfers into ILR, how much of a disadvantage are people at out of state community colleges assuming 3.9+ GPA. One of my professors just put me in touch with a Cornell Alumnus from the class of '60 who is still practicing law. I may have the chance to intern for him this summer, is there a way to have alumni recommend you in addition to professors? I also have a personal connection to a M.D. who went to Cornell if I can get addition letters of recommendation that aren't from professors. Hopefully I can get that law office internship though because that will be perfect for helping my complete my essay.</p>

<p>In my own opinion, since you are applying to ILR, I think the recommendation from the lawyer would be more meaningful to your application than the letter from an M.D. Especially if your internship experience goes well.</p>

<p>Oh ok, I thought that you could just basically have a C- in one course, along with A's and B's in others, and balance it out to make your GPA 3.0+, and you would be good. </p>

<p>Anyways what would happen if like you had all B/higher than B's, but a B- or two in a course or two?</p>

<p>Is a B- a 'B or higher'?</p>

<p>No =/ So I'm guessing they won't make AANY exceptions, even if you have just one grade less than a B?</p>

<p>They'd evaluate it on a case by case basis, I'd assume. In the info I received last year for my GT, I was told that if I didn't meet some of the requirements, my application would be considered as an external transfer application instead of as a GT application, meaning there'd still be a chance I'd get in, but nothing would be guaranteed.</p>

<p>However, that's only what I heard from CALS a year ago, and they've probably changed some things a bit. So, check with your college to make sure.</p>

<p>^Indigo is right. If you have a grade below a B you can still submit your application but your acceptance is no longer guaranteed and you will be competing for admission with very qualified external transfer applicants.</p>

<p>If you are accepted through your GT and finish the semester with a grade lower than a B, they will evaluate you and either let it go or ask you to retake the course over the summer.</p>

<p>Sorry for double post, wouldn't let me edit, read below</p>

<p>Oh ok, because I just remember reading a few threads from GT's, and they were worried about what would happen if they received ONLY ONE course letter grade under a B. Most of the people just said "it's fine" or something, so that's why I was wondering, guess those threads were mainly false, I can try and find them again.</p>

<p>So no exceptions whatsoever for a GT who got one course grade less than a B right lol, in terms of going through the guaranteed process not the external. How come some of those threads said that they sometimes make an exception if you just have one grade less than a "B".</p>

<p>I will try and find those threads I guess</p>

<p>It's not that they'll make an exception, but getting below a B will simply cause them to evaluate you as a normal external transfer student. However, since you completed the rest of the GT requirements, they might look somewhat favorably on your application regardless. </p>

<p>You need to take what you read here with a grain of salt. None of us here truly know what the admissions committees will decide-- saying "it's fine" is us reassuring one another and assuming that one B- will still be good enough to receive an acceptance.</p>