Cornell Fall 2017 Transfer

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
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Applied to Columbia as a transfer student for Fall of 2017. Posting this on all the transfer forums I applied to (that exist) for reference. Will report back come decision day, maybe even live in the suspense as it approaches.

22YO white male from Michigan
Also applied: Michigan, Michigan State, Stanford, Harvard, Brown, UPenn, Columbia, NYU, Vanderbilt
School: Arts and Sciences
Major: Biology and Society

Objective
Currently Attending: Community College in Michigan
Credits: will finish with 88, which includes 12 from APs… I expect somewhere around 50 to transfer due a semi-difficult social work program I am completing that is nontransferable, as well as the APs being taken out.
College GPA: 3.95 (UW), 1 W in Fall of 2013
College course load: Sporadic courses from fall of '13 to winter '15. 17 CH’s in fall '15, 21 CH’s in fall '16, 22 this semester (never received lower than an A-, haven’t received A- since winter of '14)
Two gap semesters in winter '15 and winter '16
HS: Meh Public School in MI, ~1500 students, sends 2-3 students to Michigan every year and a student to an Ivy once or twice in a decade
HS GPA: 3.2ish
ACT: 28 (one and only sitting in March 2011)

Subjective
EC’s: Work as a “full time” school bus driver in addition to the 22 CH’s I’m taking, internship at residential juvenile delinquency rehabilitation program, another job in leadership role, the gap semester jobs and travel, serve on board of directors of local youth baseball league, run umpires program for the league for last three years. Passionate about them all.
LOR’s: I doubt they get any better than what they may have wrote. I didn’t see them, but the two professors absolutely loved me. Both hold PhD’s for whatever that’s worth.
Gap explanation: Really good. Solid reason, involved travel and learning
Why Transfer: Liked this essay the most, but it’s kind of supposed to be a lay-up for a CC transfer lol
Supplemental Essays: I’m a perfectionist, and I felt like there was something still to be said, but I know I’m a really good writer, so shrug

22

Hey all, I’m applying for Computer Science in the College of Arts and Sciences!

I recently changed my major, and I’m currently a freshman. I will talk about my major shift in my supplementary essay. About me:

Caucasian Female from New York
Currently attending Stevens Institute of Technology
Major: Biomedical Engineering/ Computer Science
GPA: 3.92 Dean’s List
College EC: Several clubs including Habitat for Humanity, Biomedical Engineering Society, Korean Student Association, and Women in Computer Science. Also was invited and attended a three day launchpad program aiding students in creating startup companies. I also created a calculator app! (I self taught myself several programming languages including C, Java, and Swift. College Programming taught me C++)

High School GPA: ~4.0 (weighted)
High School EC: Varsity Volleyball all four years (captain senior year), heavily involved in NHS, in school ensemble all four years, volunteered every week for Autism Awareness club, head writer for school musical for 2 years, audio board operator for school events for 2 years, secretary of a medical club and co-president for an international relations club one year. (and varsity basketball freshman year but I quit) Also played volleyball for a club team outside of school.

Work Experience: In high school I worked for the Career Development Center and advertised and published articles about opportunities given to students from the school (unpaid). This summer I also worked at a charter school and tutored children in 7th and 8th grade level math
Volunteer Experience: (mentioned Habitat for Humanity), A LOT with NHS and Autism Awareness Club, many events in my high school, also was as an assistant teacher for special education children for a summer (taught them about technology), volunteered at local library
Awards: Two all-star awards for volleyball, a scholar athlete award (I was on TV!), AP Honor Awards, Burger King Scholar, high school awards for good performance in gym and AP Calc AB.

SAT: 2120 composite (M 720, R 670, W 730)
AP Tests: World History 4, US History 4, Language and Comp 4, Macro 4, Psychology 5, Calc AB 5
College Rec: asked my english professor and I’m hoping it’s good because I think she liked me and I participated often!
I really do love Cornell and I hope to show that in my essays! It’s an absolute dream to make this university. Best of luck to everyone else applying!

23

I’m genuinely impressed at the caliber of the transfer students this year- @trynamakecollege , @mjr2013 , etc, you all are really raising the bar here :slight_smile:

I’m still setting things in stone with my 2nd semester at my own CC, but so far I have a 4.0 under an intense fully stacked course-load, with a 31C on the ACT. Once I have my “midterm” grades for the courses I’m currently taking, I’ll be able to better gauge if I have a shot at Cornell or not.

Best of luck to all of us!

24

Hey guys, here are my stats. Currently a Community College student as well. What do you guys think?

Highschool GPA: 2.3
Highschool Ec’s: Model UN & Peer Counseling

Current GPA: 3.9 (Honors student)
EC’s: Yale SMDEP 6-week intensive medical school prep program (Summer Medical and Dental Education Program), Have been an Undergraduate Research Assistant in a research lab at Yale for a school year, Yale Bio-MedSurf (summer undergraduate research fellowship) , Math Club Secretary, Env club treasurer, and student government. Have attended many academic conferences and seminars. Tutoring/mentoring/peer counseling.

Awards: “WHO’s who among American students in colleges and universities” or whatever
Diversity: Gay, first generation, and economically disadvantaged. I have a youtube video on hacking Pokemon I made when I was 11 and it has 30,501 views. I accidentally hybridized a cucumber once, creating a GINORMOUS cucumber-pumpkin hybrid with pics to prove!

Future plans - Medical school to pursue a career as a physician-scientist, researching microbial pathogenesis and treating patients.
SAT’s: 1190 total, 590 reading/writing, 600 math
Reasons for transferring: I have some strong reasons to transfer specifically to Cornell.

Best of luck to all!

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@milkshakezzz How many CHs at the CC? Congratulations on the high school to CC turnaround.

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@Mjr2013 I have 42 credit hours, and 15 in progress. Thanks, I appreciate it. It’s been quite the adventure, and time is just flying by!

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I should also mention, I’m applying to CALS for double biology and chemistry major, concentration in molecular biology & biochem.

@trynamakecollege , @mjr2013, I think you guys both are competitive af.

I have never gone through the whole transfer admissions process, but having done some pretty competitive summer programs/mentored a ton, I have some general advice.

Quality, and not quantity. Extra curricular’s should reflect your future goals, and you should indicate a very deep passion for what you are doing. Be able to articulate why you’re doing what you’re doing, how you plan to do it and the institution’s role in making that happen. What you bring to the table in sense of things you’ve learned from either life experiences (challenges->resilience->motivation), or skills and be able to exemplify preferably with anecdotes. Remember that the essay in itself is a piece of writing and should show off how damn good of a writer you are. Paint a pretty, and positive picture about who you are, why you are, and what you are made of - think back to those really defining moments in your life. Everything you write about should intertwine with each other to tell a story and relate to those amazing and revolutionary goals you have in life.

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@milkshakezzz “competitive af” LOL

Good post though

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@mjr2013 is this your top school?

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@milkshakezzz I wouldn’t place many above it - Stanford and Harvard, were I to pull off one of those Hail Mary’s. Columbia might be a hair ahead of Cornell. But Cornell is definitely up there for me.

31

@mjr2013 I see. Only time will tell! I think you’ll get in to one of your top choices. It seems as though you’re able to articulate yourself with a compelling story. Do you plan to pursue a graduate education?

Personally, Cornell is my top, and then Yale.
Expecting acceptances from: Yale, Amherst, Wesleyan, Boston College. My professors at Yale want me to apply to Duke and Vanderbilt, but i’m already drained cuz i’ve been writing essays for months now.

32

@milkshakezzz Make sure to apply to some safeties. Despite your impressive resume, and I do mean impressive, those four schools you are expecting acceptances from have transfer admit rates of 2.68%, 5.70%, ~22%, and 10.90%

I do plan on continuing to grad school. Med school mayyyybe.

33

@mjr2013 Hell yeah dude, med-school is the way to go! The need for graduate level degrees in humanities is in decline. Have you thought about what area of medicine you would want to explore? Do you have any plans for this summer? - there’s this awesome program called the “Summer Health Profession Education Program”, formerly known as SMDEP (Summer Medical Dental and Education Program). It’s a great way to find out if Medicine is a fit.

Thanks haha, reality can be a bitch sometimes :p, I have a state school as my safety. Tbh, if I don’t get into any of my schools I might just be a stripper for a semester… jk…(insert nervous laugh). lmao… It’s okay tho, Wesleyan has a seat for me i’ve been in touch with the president and dean of transfers since last year.

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@milkshakezzz I had never heard of it, but I love the idea. I am definitely considering applying. Just have to figure out if it will be financially do-able. Have a rent and car payment to make that the stipend probably wouldn’t totally cover!

35

For anyone who wants a hint on where to apply

Cornell human ecology has the highest acceptance rate.

I’m seeing a lot of people here wanting to go to med school, this is the perfect fit.

36

I know on this thread I mentioned I’m applying to the Arts and Sciences school, but upon further research, I actually found the PERFECT major for me in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences! I hope everyone’s applications are going well!

37

does anyone know the transfer acceptance rate for AEM vs Arts and Sciences?

38

Here are my stats:

Currently a freshman at De anza community College.
CC gpa: 4.00, (23 quarter units completed)
Recc letter from english prof.

HS gpa: 2.6
SAT:1780

EC: Event coordinator for environmental club
Worked as a host at the counter restaraunt
Lead lessons in web design at my schools coding club.

I was wondering what my chances were, any insight would be greatly appreciated.

39

I’ve looked around but I can’t quite tell what the transfer acceptance rate is for Dyson. Does anyone know?

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I’ve heard extremely low