<p>I am currently a freshman student at a top University (ranked in the 20s of Forbes) it is also a top 20 most rigorous university in Daily Beast. I have a guaranteed transfer to the ILR at Cornell with a 3.3 GPA. My current GPA is around a 2.9 or 3.0. I am nervous that I will not be accepted. But, as I stated before I am at a very hard University with an average Freshman GPA of 2.7 and average school GPA of 3.2. The person I have been contacting with at Cornell seems very interested in me and said many encouraging things and talks about "when I get here." Does the University I come from play a factor? It seems unfair that despite having a lower GPA then asked, a kid with a high GPA from a community college or lesser school would be accepted over me. What do you think of my chances of getting accepted? </p>
<p>You posted this on the general “transfer” subforum, however nobody outside of Cornell admissions, or possibly a few students at Cornell who may have heard something, are likely to know anything about how Cornell admissions evaluates its GT transfer applications. That’s very institution-specific, and very few other schools even have anything analogous to GT admissions.</p>
<p>I have no inside information about how they consider these applications. However, my own guess is, since they’ve gone to the trouble of publishing particular rules governing guaranteed admission, if you want to be guaranteed admission you had best meet those parameters.</p>
<p>However, they never said that you will be automatically rejected if you don’t meet those parameters, did they?
In the case of regular, non GT admissions, it is reasonable to believe they consider everything relevant they have before them, including the difficulty of your current course of studies and college. Why wouldn’t they?
So you might still be accepted. But it is not guaranteed. That’s my uninformed speculation.</p>
<p>@monydad No they did not, I heard in the past sometimes you are just put into the regular pool. But, in an email of my spring classes, the admission officer said “this will count for your elective when you get here.” So not official admission but thats a good sign. Still waiting on my second term class which are higher grades than first term (my schools trimesters). </p>
<p>My son is waiting for grades in fresh year so he can take advantage of the TO.
Cornell website says you get an answer 4/1 if you meet the criteria (GPA and any others you were given)
and if not, you hear later in April about a regular transfer application decision (essentially you lose the GTO,
but not an automatic rejection).</p>
<p>Well, this is in the past, but I have to wonder: if you were dead-set on tranferring to Cornell, why didn’t you just go to CC?</p>
<p>There are students who are confident of their abilities and prefer a different experience than CC.
Other students are probably not dead-set on electing the transfer option, they want to place themselves in someplace good in the first place then see how it goes there.</p>
<p>@monydad:
- Confidence may be misplaced, as it seems in this example.
- True, some students may not be deadset, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.</p>
<p>I don’t know whether this student was deadset on using the GT when he initially made his school selection or not.
I suspect more likely not, but the GT started looking more appealing to him when his butt started getting kicked at his chosen school.</p>
<p>FWIW another reason students <em>should</em> consider choosing a challenging school initially is because it may better prepare them for the rigors they will experience once they transfer. Getting in is one thing, getting out is something else. I’ve read on CC that the average transfer there loses one full point in GPA. Best be better prepared, to avoid this fate. I well remember one of my suitemates, a transfer who did great at an easy school, sweating as he prepared to apply to non-accredited laws chools. His previously-stellar GPA had plummeted as he had barely passed his coursework at ILR.</p>
<p>If you can’t <em>even</em>pull those kind of grades at school 1, maybe you shouldn’t transfer to Cornell, even if they let you. You might be in for a rough time.</p>
<p>That may be a good point to consider, depending on your career path.</p>
<p>What career path is best served with low grades ?</p>
<p>My son went to an honors program at a reasonably competitive public school for freshman year.
He pointed out that his GPA needs to be higher to stay in the honors program than is needed
to get into Cornell with the GTO. I told him if he can’t get As at the public U, he’ll struggle for Bs
at Cornell, work hard and prepare. </p>
<p>I worry either way, get in and hope he’s ready, or not get in and wonder if he’ll transfer elsewhere
(start app process all over again) just due to resenting the school where he got the grades
ruining the GTO opportunity. Even if they did him a favor, a kid will not look at it that way.</p>
<p>@blevine</p>
<p>The public university might have more grade deflation than the private. </p>
<p>@blevine: In some career paths/companies, a low GPA may not be detrimental. Especially once you’re out of school. You may have to start somewhere lower, but in the interview for any job after your first, they’re unlikely to ask about your GPA.</p>
<p>A guy I know managed to talk the Ivy-equivalent he attended to allow him to graduate with a sub-2.0 GPA. He got on to Wall Street soon after graduation and did well (obviously he’s pretty smart but partied more than he studied when he was in school).</p>
<p>@PurpleTitan Obviously there are people who dropped out of college and made it very big (Gates, Jobs…).
But there are those who must go to grad school to attain the career they desire, lawyer, doctor etc.
GPA matters at that point, a great deal. But I do agree, as a hiring manager myself, we would not ask for a GPA
to someone with many years of experience. That said, for a younger person, if they leave GPA off their resume,
I assume it was low, and I don’t care if they are lazy or not as bright, either is a reason not to hire them.</p>