I have been denied by Penn as a Wharton undergrad (which is my dream school) and it was just as I expected. I did bad in high school with personal issues I do not wish to share. I want to make it all up in college and since I was denied from my dream school. I took it in as an incentive. I was naturally emotional for a while but that only resonated my desire to get into Penn more and work harder. I want to create this thread for the individuals that feel similar to me and want to cooperate in order to make a successful transfer. I will work hard and make a successful transfer. Who is with me!?
I’m in the middle of a similar situation. I graduated high school with a slightly higher GPA and a slightly lower SAT than you have. I was rejected from all of my top schools out of high school. However, doing well in my first year of college opened up so many doors for me. I play football and coaches from schools I had no business looking at before are now telling me I am a likely candidate for admission. On a website full of 5.0 GPA, 2400 SAT applicants, this was a very refreshing post. Everybody tells you to just “go where you get in” and after a while you start to believe it. But I’ve learned there is absolutely no shame in pursuing your dream school even after initial rejection. Wherever you start out in college just work your heart out. I’ve seen your previous posts and with a 2350 SAT I know you’re capable of doing well. Just work hard and you will be successful. I promise.
@jmalik981 good luck to you. it is def doable. i think a good strategy for this is to attend the most competitive, high-ranked school you can get into (or a school that is not ranked very highly overall, but it has a high ranked department), and literally bust your behind to get top grades. i think this is important since Penn does not just look for top grades in transfer applicants but also at the strength of the school they are transferring out of. also you will be called to answer the question why penn over the school you will be currently enrolled, i.e what can penn give you that your current college cannot & what you will contribute to penn too.
@cjrs123 I appreciate the feedback. It means a lot to me. @Penn95 Have you transferred to Penn? Can you share your experience with me? Listen guys, just because you get rejected from your dream school doesn’t mean you should completely give up on it. Penn is my dream school and the rejection did hurt me a bit. However, I know I can make it up and will attend the school even if it means 10 years worth of work done in 5. I will work hard in college and make up that bad high school GPA and prove that I am worthy. My extracurricular is on point also. (let me know if you want me to share it with you). I appreciate you guys.
I’ll be blunt. You seem overly obsessed with that institution. If you were applying to a job with me and told me that’s how you once viewed one particular school, I’d have SERIOUS reservations about your judgment and maturity and ability to function well in my organization. Frankly, I’d reject you out of hand.
You’re completely mistaken about the importance of any one school. I was accepted at multiple Ivies. Been there done that. I KNOW that the name on your diploma means something – but not that much. You don’t seem to understand that. You’ve set yourself up for grave disappointment. Good luck to you.
You should not be thinking about transfer plans now. You should be thinking about maximizing where you’ll be getting in.
You can’t transfer to Penn if you’re not admitted to a decent college.
Both goals aren’t incompatible, but your #1 goal should be good fit.
Now, if you can find colleges you like for themselves, and also work IF you were you even want to transfer…
You can pretty much only transfer to Wharton after your freshman year and you apply based on 1st semester grades, 2nd semester course selection, AND LEADERSHIP.
All in all, it likely means applying to colleges considered “lateral transfers” to Penn.
For “Leadership”, perhaps a smaller college might work since there’ll be fewer people interested in being leaders. Getting leadership in one semester’s going to be super tough.
You could apply to Haverford/Bryn Mawr but I don’t know whether 1st semester freshmen are allowed to enroll in a class at Penn… perhaps 2nd semester, and you could have the Penn professor write a letter of recommendation?
Another possibility is applying to Penn State ASAP as well as Schreyer. If you get into Schreyer, beside being part of the Honors College student council, plan on taking “Leadership Jumpstart”. You’ll automatically do a project where you’ll have to show leadership which will be good for Penn. However, Schreyer looks at course rigor and what you’ve done with your life, NOT test scores. (Test scores just so happen to be in the 1400CR+M range once they look.)
@T26E4 my reasons are personal. @MYOS1634 I appreciate the comment. I have also applied for University of Houston Honors and the honors college at my local CC (so many people transferred to Yale, Columbia, and UPENN from there). I will also be applying to penn state and their honors college. Thanks for the advice on leadership. I will try my 100%. I appreciate you helping me out.
@jmalik981 I’m with you. I was deferred, but am expecting to get denied. should I be denied, I am going to work my ass off freshman year and try to transfer into Penn.
Some of you are saying we’re “obsessed” with Penn or “praising” the ivy league title. I have to say why would you give up on your dream school? Accepting where you end up is fine, but that means your “dream” school is not such, because you’re willing to throw in the towel right away. At least for me, it’s not so much the ivy league title I want. Rather, it’s knowing my work ethic and intellectual curiosity lends itself to institutions like Penn. Knowing, for example, I’d be attending school with students from my class, who approached school nonchalantly and just cheated their way through, is utterly demoralizing.
If I don’t get admitted, I reiterate, I will attempt to transfer freshman year and sophomore year (I think you can try sophomore year?). If I fail, well, that sucks, and I’ll definitely not be attending Penn for grad school then.
@nodaysoff97 hell yeah man. Same here. Freshman year in college whether it is in community college or a decent 4 year university, I am going to work my ass off to transfer to Penn. Yes, they do accept sophomores applying for junior year. I will make an attempt for Sophomore year and Junior year. Penn is the perfect college for me. My plan starts now. First thing, get into the best college possible, and try to get into an honors program. Will show as much as leadership possible, show my instructors what kind of student I can be, and get the best grades a person can get.
@nodaysoff97 keep in touch with me. I appreciate your feedback.
I want to thank everyone here for making me feel as if I am not alone in this status.
you only listened to the advice you wanted to hear. Wharton accepts very few transfer students. You will have to explain what Wharton offers that you current college does not. And “prestige” will not be an acceptable answer.
Wharton will not accept someone from a community college. It’ll accept someone who’s shown decisive leadership and perfect grades in an excellent program that’s different from theirs (ie., economics and math, but not parrallel to what they offer - you’ll need to know exactly what the requirements are for your degree and for theirs, and how these are different.).
You need to choose the university that’ll be the “best fit” for you because that’s where you’ll do best.
You get that a big part of post-secondary education is the friendships you make and what you learn by living and progressing along with a group of peers, yeah?
These people aren’t disposable. Or at least they shouldn’t be. Wherever you go, go there 100% and make lifelong friends. You’ll only get out of it what you put in it.
Everyone, whether the feedbacks are negative or positive to what i am saying. I appreciate all of them as long as I learn something off them. I appreciate you guys TEACHING me. I will transfer to Penn. First thing to do: get into the “best” university/program possible. Then I will work my ass off showing leadership and PERFECT grades. I will show the professors what kind of student I can be.
Hey guys,
What do you think about IvyCoach? Looks like a great organization to me. Anyone received any of their services before? I think it is best to contact them now than later.