<p>For everyone who just got rejected, you still have a great shot at Cornell. You probably had pretty good stats, so transferring shouldn't be too difficult. Go to your local state school (something decent like Ohio State, U of F, UC Davis, whatever) and pay way less than Cornell. Then, get a 4.0, do some research, maybe join a club or two. Write an essay about how the rejection experience opened your eyes.</p>
<p>Get good recommendation from COLLEGE PROFS, don't go back to high school ones, you need to show you're growing and not the same person who got rejected. </p>
<p>Then apply for a transfer. The transfer pool and admissions process is much less stringent and competitive than the regular one. Transfer admissions aren't about how many stupid EC's you did, but rather how you can succeed in academia. </p>
<p>Yes, you'll miss one year of getting that social group, but join a frat or hope you get a bunch of cool transfer roommates. </p>
<p>So be positive. I was in the same situation 6 years ago and the hope that I'd eventually end up at Cornell anyway was a huge relief. And it worked out fine in the end.</p>
<p>Dotno, thanks for looking out for us in the rejected pool. Least to say March 31st has not been a good day. Are you still at Cornell, now? And perhaps you can be a bit more specific on the transfer advice? I don’t know I just feel lost right now. I’ve planned it out…I’ll be going to a state school. (I planned this last month or so as a back up…
I could use all the advice I can get</p>
<p>By the time I got rejected from Cornell senior year, I was so numb to the process. I actually didn’t get accepted to even one college I applied (all top schools, didn’t have a safety). I got one waitlist.</p>
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<p>I know it’s probably a real bummer, but not too often do you get a second chance at a dream. Cornell has one of the largest transfer programs in the country and easily the largest (and least competitive) of any top school.</p>
<p>I really can’t be any more specific. It’s honestly not that hard to transfer. Get a 4.0 at the state school and you’ll probably be accepted as a transfer. Maybe get a leadership position in a club or do some research w/ a prof in your field (great for a recommendation too!). Write an essay about your maturation process. I imagine the transferring admissions isn’t so random and stupid as the regular one.</p>
<p>I am not a transfer, but I have seen how transfers integrate into Cornell. I recently pledged a sorority, and several of my new sisters are transfers. They are as integrated into Cornell as I am, I am just saddened that they will be leaving a year before I do! They went to other schools, and worked hard (and also made sure to meet the requirements for transfer - check with your individual school) and are now as happy at Cornell as if they had started there. </p>
<p>As dontno said, go to a state school and make the best of it. Have a positive attitude, save money, and look for opportunities to get involved in something you enjoy. Best of luck to you. By the way…I was deferred in the ED process and when I finally got my acceptance, it was a huge relief that caused me to appreciate Cornell even more. It almost seemed like I needed that shock. I am so happy to be here now and I put my best foot forward every day. I often wonder if I would have that same sense of appreciation and gratitude if I had been accepted ED.</p>
<p>I would imagine that varies by college. CAS has been accepting 14-15% of transfer applicants. If you are among the best 15% then it will not be hard. It is harder, evidently, for the other 85%.</p>
<p>For those who want to transfer, please keep in mind:
CAS acceptance rate is about 12%, less than the freshman acceptance rate.
College classes are harder than HS classes, 4.0’s aren’t easy
Cornell rejects transfer applicants with very high GPA’s just like with HS admissions; on the transfer board, a 4.0 Cornell applicant was complaining of rejection
For Soph Transfer, they’ll see 1 semester of college, which is nothing, so HS GPA/SAT’s will still be really important. So if your HS GPA/SAT’s are kinda low, I reccommend you wait til Junior transfer
Don’t be fooled by CALS, HumEc and ILR’s high transfer acceptance rates - those include GT’s</p>
<p>Going to State U for the sake of transferring to Cornell might not be the best idea. Right now you guys are upset you were rejected and are making plans to go to an “easy” college for the sake of getting into your #1 choice from HS. Well once the hurt of rejection fades, you’ll watch all your classmates get excited about going to a college they love while you pick a college you don’t like for the sake of transferring to one you really want. Then you’ll spend 1-2 years at this school, and the acceptance rate is really low, chances are you’ll be rejected and then you’ll be stuck at this school, or will deal with the hassle of transferring to yet another college. Well, my personal advice is go to a college you genunially like, so if you end up in the 88% Rejected pool for transfer, you’ll still have a good college experience…just my opinion :)</p>
<p>In HS I was rejected from my #1 choice (not Cornell) and went to my #2 choice, NYU. I seriously considered going to a CUNY only for the sake of transferring after 2 years, then decided that was silly and I should go to my second-fave choice. Well now I don’t even like my old #1 anymore, and I’m applying to Cornell for transfer. While my current school hasn’t turned out to be the best fit, I can deal with getting rejected from Cornell because I won’t be too unhappy - imagine picking a college you don’t like for the sake of transfer and getting rejected: what would you do then? don’t set yourself up for misery. sorry if I sound like a pessimist. It’s just I was in your position exactly 1 year ago from today.</p>
<p>dontno: Thank you for your encouraging remarks. I applied for Cornell ED because I love the school, and I know that I’ll be happy at a provincial school by getting great marks and being surrounded by friends (and save money at the same time).</p>
<p>I was puzzled by my rejection, but I guess the admission process is just odd, but I might just go to WUSTL or UChicago for all four years who knows. I’ll definitely apply as a transfer in my freshman year. I just discovered recently that I am a pre-med (through an epiphany), and I think it’ll actually best for me to finish almost all pre-med requirements at University of British Columbia because my school prepares me well for the curriculum at that school, a school with less competition and more Asian food :D.</p>
<p>stargazerlilies - i had a few rays of hope left but you brought me down to reality…
i understand you were being informative and all but does this mean that it’s equally tough or tougher to transfer in?</p>
<p>and general question: does it matter if transfers don’t have EC’s? i was told that atleast the first semester you should not be involved in much just focus on grades :)</p>
<p>I think star paints a very bleak picture of the transfer process.</p>
<p>If you apply for sophomore transfer, they actually have 1.5 semesters. 1 full semester of official grades and over half a semester on your unofficial report (which is signed by your profs). Your grades probably won’t change much from the mid-semester report, so that’s a good amount of data and better than all your AP classes in “predictive” value.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if it matters about EC’s. High school EC’s DO NOT matter for transfers, but you should probably join a couple of clubs just to show you’ll bring something to the campus.</p>
<p>And now for my final, and assuredly most polemical, point. I don’t care how low the percentages are for transfer admissions. The truth is most of the best people were already accepted during their senior year. They probably chose to attend or have absolutely no interest in transferring. So your competition is all the other rejects and community college applicants. If you were at the top of the rejection pile this year (and if you have good scores, it’s probable b/c you’d be surprised how horrible some of the applicants are. I think two years ago 1000 applicants were automatically rejected b/c they didn’t fill out their name or something.), then it shouldn’t be too hard. I met a ton of transfer dummies (out of my 8 fellow transfers in my department, I was one of only 3 to graduate. And one of them struggled mightily. The transfer center was apparently a non-stop party.), so it doesn’t seem that hard to get in.</p>
<p>Agreed. If you are a hard working and intelligent student and still interested in Cornell, you will most likely do well. But don’t expect it to be a cake walk. You will work harder than you did at your previous school. </p>
<p>(Except for one girl I knew who transferred from Caltech for a better social life – she thought that Cornell was the perfect balance.)</p>
<p>Thanks cayuga and dontno, i was starting to hyperventilate again. lol no but seriously you guys are really giving hope and the motivation i need to face my next year. i was heartbroken over my rejection but they were my reaches. and as for the transferring - well for me i was going to go to a small state school in the hopes of transferring for sophomore year. eventhough cornell was a reach i figured go big or STAY home lol so that’s why i’m going to a state school not with the only intention of transferring. so hopefully i will be able to transfer and if not i’ll try again lol but by senior year…i will probably give in and realize that i am doomed…</p>
<p>the state school i settled for doesn’t have that great of an alumni so even if cornell is not in my future i plan applying to some other really great colleges as well. </p>
<p>Thanks Dontno! you have gave me a lot of hope!! I mean even though I didn’t apply for freshman admissions during my senior year of college, I am a prospective transfer applicant for the fall 09 semester and i am freaking out until I know my decision. Thanks to your words I have a bit more confidence!!!</p>
<p>Again, I suspect that there may be some differences here based on college.
The one CAS transfer student I know best was fully qualified, moreover had a “hook”, and would have been a highly competitive candidate for admission out of high school. I’m not personally familiar with entrance stats, etc, of the couple others I’ve heard about, or met, but I do know some of them also had hooks, and/or very interesting/ unusual stories.Based on what I do know, I would not have presumed that the profiles of those individuals looked much different from those admitted out of high school. Indeed, there are undoubtedly many people rejected from CAS out of high school whose backgrounds don’t look much different than many who were accepted. </p>
<p>When you’re only accepting 18% initially, or 12-15% for transfer; and doing so in a way as to build a class, and have consequently somewhat squishy criteria; there will be some highly qualified applicants rejected, who are not “worse”, but rather didn’t happen to fit as well initially, or appeal to some reader’s somewhat arbitrary whim as well as some others did.</p>
<p>However, back in the day I did know some transfers to some of the colleges other than CAS who quite clearly would not have been likely to be admitted out of high school. I have no basis to know the extent to which this may be prevalent currently.</p>
<p>The one CAS applicant I know of submitted HS counselor LOR, so at least to the extent HS extracurriculars factored into the writer’s letter & opinion these could still be brought to Cornell’s attention. I would expect personal story, including extracurricular involvements, to continue to have some relevance for CAS admission, perhaps moreso than at some of the other colleges. But of course I’m not on these committees.</p>
<p>cnfsdbrownie09 - no I’m sorry if I made it look bleak, it’s not. I was just trying to give you some advice as a transfer applicant who was sort of in your shoes a year ago. If you were close to getting into Cornell as a HS student, you will likely get in as a transfer, and lots of people go to State U’s and transfer in after 1-2 years. I’m just saying it might not be the smartest choice to pick a college that’s at the bottom of your list for the sake of transferring to another school. My advice is go to a college you like - maybe your 2nd/3rd choice if you got in - and try it out there, then transfer if you like. </p>
<p>dontno - No with 3 semesters, you’re thinking of Junior transfer, aren’t you? Soph transfer usually refers to applying Freshman year (Apps due in March) for Soph year so they only see 1 semester + Midterm grades. Unless you did Mid-year Soph transfer in which they’ll see 2 semesters + Midterm grades. But for them to see 3 full semesters, you’re talking about transferring in as a Junior.</p>
<p>I will be attending Boston College in the Fall but still retain a strong desire to go to Cornell. Do you think it would be worth devoting 6 weeks of my summer to the Cornell summer program in order to make my application stand out even more?</p>
<p>Is it possible to go to a community college and transfer as a sophomore or junior. I intend to take summer courses (A LOT) and try to get out of community college as fast as possible.
Any advice ?
Thanks in advance</p>
<p>^ yep and I believe some CC’s even have transfer agreements with cornell for certain majors, you might wanna look into it if cornell is your #1 choice.</p>
