Current BC freshmen in economics/English double major with a history minor and a 3.61/4 gpa. Currently taking 6 courses, taking an extra history course, in Honors Economics Tract. I’m applying to Georgetown University, Northwestern University, Dartmouth College, and Vanderbilt University. Currently involved in Parliamentary Debate Club. I’m expecting my gpa to be pushed down a bit after this semester. Last semester I had all As except for a B- in Calculus 1. Wondering how much this outlier grade impacts gpa versus if I had a solid litany of A-s instead. Thanks in advance for feedback.
Sorry I jus realized I had a typo on the header, I am a freshman at Boston College.
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No clue why you would want to transfer ? What’s wrong with BC? Are you unhappy ? Many are first year. You have to give things a chance.
I would look at each school. Do they want second or third year transfers ? I assume Junior but I could be wrong. I know Wharton, for example, only does 2nd year.
Your GPA will likely hurt at Gtown for example and they have just a 9% acceptance. I would look similarly at other schools.
Bc is wonderful. I hope you have a legit reason for wanting to leave.
Good luck.
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Were you accepted/denied last year at any of those transfer schools?
If you are certain you want to transfer, you will need to add a couple of likely/safety schools.
With respect to your interest in economics, this site may help you compare BC’s program to those of potential transfer options: Economics rankings: US Economics Departments | IDEAS/RePEc.
As a suggested addition to your list, look into Colgate: Economics rankings: US Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges | IDEAS/RePEc.
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Thanks for your question, I applied to Boston College ED1 so I didn’t apply to any other schools.
Y r u looking to leave ?
Thanks for the advice!
I’m looking to transfer because the core curriculum at bc, 19 courses, 15 core + 4 for language proficiency, makes it nearly impossible for me to double major and minor without some overloading, as core is ~1/2 of credits. I agree that BC is a great school, and the core curriculum can be advantageous to many, but I don’t think it’s a good fit for my educational goals. It seems to be much better suited for a single major or major/minor situation.
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Thank you I’ll definitely check this list out!
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Is it worth leaving where you have become established ?
Are you sure you can reach your goals at each of these schools, coming in late?
Are you willing to go to a school with less pedigree if needed?
I would strongly urge you to talk to a transfer and academic advisor b4 u make assumptions ? Lots of schools wrote great stories for their brochures but it doesn’t mean they are realistic ? Even if they technically are it doesn’t mean that ample classes are offered ?
To me, this could be a mistake of you like BC. Talk to them. I’m sure you can come up with a compromise plan.
Starting somewhere new is never easy. You’d be behind the curve socially, knowing others for group projects, etc and u might find yourself in a similar situation.
So be very careful and ensure u have the path you want laid out…is all I’m saying.
Good luck
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Thanks for the input, I am talking with some friends who go to some of these schools right now and will certainly consult other non-biased, not connected with these schools, people before I make any final decisions on transfer. Thus far, these schools have been recommended, but as you mentioned before I need to tailor this to my own circumstances as well, gpa, involvement, etc.
Based on your academic interests and desire for greater freedom in course selection, you also might look into Hamilton, which offers strong programs in economics, English and history in the context of an especially flexible curriculum.
I was wondering if open curriculum schools might be better…not sure. Brown. Grinnell. Rochester etc
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Those are all great suggestions, i meant to put Brown up there as well, Hamilton is a school I’ve heard great things about too!
I recommend you take a step back from transferring. Why? Because BC core is not a new thing. I’m sure you thoroughly investigated BC because you loved it so much you applied ED. You should have known about that before you applied. Now, barely halfway through your first year that you apparently have no other complaints about, you’re already contemplating transferring. Is it something other than the core?
Take a step back and consider if you have another motive for wanting to transfer. Because saying BC’s core is problematic for you after applying to it ED kind of seems off. Dig deeper and figure out why you really want to leave. If there is a real reason and you pinpoint it, knowing what it is can help you avoid choosing the wrong transfer school that might share that factor.
Even if your reason is as simplistic as wanting to transfer to a “higher ranked” school, admitting that to yourself is important.
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For transfer admissions, it usually boils down to two things 1) Reason why you are transferring and 2) Financial aid.
If you have a solid reason, and don’t need financial aid, it makes things a lot easier. The schools you listed are very tough to transfer into. The reason (not being able to double major) sounds reasonable to me. Just make sure that none of the schools you want to transfer into have similar core requirements. You might have to spend an extra semester or 2 to graduate. Factor this into your cost calculations.
Also the B- will be noted. Your GPA is decent, but know that you’ll be competing against students who have near perfect GPA. The college grades will be weighted the most, and then our senior year of high school.
Vanderbilt, with a reported acceptance rate for tranfer applicants of 37% on its most recent CDS, may represent an exception to this.
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Look into self-studying via something like DuoLingo and placing out of the foreign language proficiency via exam. That would reduce the “core” by 4 courses. Although I agree, a core curriculum of even 15 classes really does eat into your ability to double major. However, I’d imagine that you will have already done a lot of that core by the end of this year, and certainly by the end of next year. There will be 4.0 wanting to transfer to the schools you’ve mentioned, plus a lot of schools’ class of '2025 is oversized, because of all the deferrals from '24 into '25.
I would recommend that you make the most out of BC, unless you are terribly unhappy there. As I said, you can get around the language requirement? Surely you had 3-4 yrs of high school language. Can’t you brush that up over the summer with something like DuoLingo, and pass some proficiency exam? As for the core curriculum, can any of it be done by CLEP? If they’ll accept any of it, you can take a course or two on the free website Modernstates.org and then take a CLEP exam, to satisfy any of that core curriculum, so that you do the double major that you desire?
If you are a full pay student, I guarantee you that BC doesn’t want you to transfer. So make an appointment with the advising office, lay out your conundrum, and see if they can help you to work out a way to stay, and get what you want.
You’re unlikely to be able to transfer to a highly selective, big name institution with that GPA. To slightly less selective institutions, at full pay, yes, it would be possible. But if you’re otherwise happy at BC, I think you should investigate whether there is a way to make it work for you.
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I agree - according to BC’s website, you can double major - so there’s probably a way to pull this off - and it starts with advising.
That said, every school “markets” these wonderful opportunities - but I’m sure it happens with regularity. A double major can’t be uncommon at any school. Maybe not the norm. But not uncommon.