Post your sats, comments, questions, whatever is on your mind and relevant to your transfer. I’ll start.
Applying for sophomore year.
HS: 3.2 GPA, 2180 SAT (800 Verbal, 800 Writing, 580 Math)
ECs out the ass: class president, president of multiple social studies related clubs in debate, speech, civic engagement, founder of a statewide student advisory committee for our Department of Education. Community service club pres. in IT charity (refurbishing donated computers to re-donate back to community).
Very passionate about civic engagement/public policy, and a larger interest in the humanities
Part time employment in jobs since soph year (HS).
Household income below $20,000, family of 5 (two siblings in college), asian-indian 1st generation college student.
Currently at a big ten school, on track for a 4.0 this semester. Major is Law/Public Policy, minor religious studies.
Let’s assume big, and say I also pull a 4.0 next semester.
I can get excellent recs from two professors I’ve gotten to know extremely well. One of them also went to Cornell (coincidence, I promise). Looking at the two Common App essays, I do have personal stories (tied to my situation) to share regarding why I went to my current school and why I want to transfer to Cornell in specific.
chance me, or don’t, share your thoughts/questions. good luck to anyone applying!
@kaukauna Well, in senior year I was mainly IB/AP courses and straight As. It was 3.2 still because of the hell that was freshman and sophomore year. I certainly had the upward trend, which correlated with my EC involvement too, and that’s due to life changes outside of school too. Basically I think I’ve got a pretty unique story to tell that ends with academic resilience…
What I find difficult is finding a way to express why I want to transfer and why I am not 100% set with my school, but not talk bad about my school…after all, I don’t think my school IS “bad”; I just do not feel it is for me. I guess that’s the struggle of any transfer applicant?
@Vctory Indiana University Bloomington. Good luck to you. Stats/school if you don’t mind?
Nighthawk. Yes you definitely want to frame it as a positive decision. Maybe in your exploration for that answer you will find how bad you really want to transfer. In any event good luck to you. I think it’s great to strive and to have ambition.
I kind of know what you mean about your school. I love UMD, but I can’t really study what I want to study here. I have amazing friend groups, great EC’s here, and a fraternity I love, but it’d be worth the transition to study what I want to study.
Hey Everyone, also applying for Fall 2016, any thoughts on my stats? I haven’t decided whether I want to apply to the Applied Econ program within the Dyson School or just an Econ major in A&S yet.
University: Drexel University
Cumulative GPA: 3.45 / Concentration 3.71
Sophomore Status - Note I will be applying as an incoming sophomore since we are on the quarter system and will be a pre-junior next year since we go for 5 years
Major: Mathematical Economics
Made Dean’s List for Fall and Spring of Freshman Year
Completed all the recommended courses for Dyson as well as 2 chem labs, accounting, and multivariate calc, computational programming, some engineering classes
EC’s
Undergraduate Advising Assistant
Greek Life Involvement
Peer Mentor
Part-time job at a bank (actually a banker not just a teller)
Currently applying for Finance / Econ internships
Ongoing volunteer work
Other Skills
Fluent in French and German
High School
GPA: 3.8
Full International Baccalaureate Program (7,7,6,5,4,4)
EC’s
Internship at Economic Development Corporation (with rec letter)
Part-time job at another bank
Visual media design clubs
Main motives for transferring are that I’m looking for a more well-rounded program where I can build in international perspective and languages into it; current program of study is very specialized and doesn’t allow for much outside of econ/business classes.
I recently transferred to CALS as a bio major from a community college. I got a 3.0 in HS and didn’t take my SAT. What admissions are looking for in a transfer is college grades; EC are important to have but grades are number one.
@Rivers231 wow! Congratulations. How are you liking it?
honestly, let me be clear and say I am passionate about Cornell. I’ve researched into their faculty, their curriculum for majors I’m interested in, and I’ve got a personal affinity for NY having been born there. my dream school since my sophomore year; but special circumstances prevented me from applying in my senior year.
what i’m worried about however is not being able to convey this. like, with any Ivy school (and really any school) correct me if I’m wrong you really need a specific reason to transfer. I’m worried that me going “It’s CORNELL! faculty, program for my major, etc” is frankly not enough - I feel like they could just say “IUB has good faculty and a good program for your interests too. Stay there.” you know?
and frankly, I also feel like Cornell doesn’t have time or consideration for any personal/special circumstances. strictly academic?
i’m not asking for your essays straight up, but very generally, any tips on really conveying our personal passion for Cornell in the essays?
@nighthawk4 That’s great that you’re interesting in Cornell. So far I really love it here, so many opportunities I didn’t have while in community college. Honestly, I’d say tailor your essay to your program. For example, what I did was looked up specific programs at Cornell that I was interested in applying for and talked about those. Every college is different so you might have to look around. Be very specific.
You’d be surprised at the variety of people who go here, just apply and be positive.
Hi guys! I, too, am applying for next fall and I really don’t know what to expect from Cornell, so here are my stats:
HS: 3.7 unweighted GPA, 32 ACT with writing. Did pretty much every extra curricular activity I could. Treasurer of NHS, SNHS, Varsity golf team captain (on it all four years, landed 5th in the state), leadership in marching band, president of students against destructive decisions, founder of the debate team at my HS my junior year, became public forum team captain, then VP and ended up being nationally ranked. Did tons of community service and all that.
Currently: At Florida State University. Finance major. Got into a lot of top private schools with presidential scholarships, but they were all out of states and even those scholarships weren’t enough. FSU offered presidential, honors, and another merit scholarship so I’m being paid over my tuition each semester to stay. It sounds ideal but FSU really was but plan B school and it is nowhere near challenging. I have a 4.0 right now and am taking 12 honors credit hours at once (18 honors hours to graduate full honors, my advisors almost fainted) and it still isn’t challenging enough. Im a graphic designer for a marketing team that markets for a real local business and a part of the AMA club at FSU. Also in the Women in Business club and team captain of my Intramural Tennis team. I know all my profs pretty well for rec letters.
Im just worried about not standing out or having enough to offer Cornell or any Ivy/top school. Do I have good chances? I applied last year to be a freshman but wasn’t accepted. My stats were good I just think I wasn’t what they were looking for, but a friend of mine with lower stats got in. How do I make my transfer justification essay stand out and what are my chances.
Financials: household income: Definitely under 60k, but assets might be way above 100k, my parents aren’t willing to fund anything because FSU is already paying me and they don’t want me to be in debt, but i feel that a finance degree or similar will pay me back if i go to a top school. Thought?
@nighthawk4 Yeah that’s what I’m mostly worried about. The main reason it’s lower is because I’ve changed my major so many times; Drexel is a technical school and it’s very difficult to explore everything that it has to offer since we specialize so early, which is one of the reasons I want to transfer since I’d like a more well-rounded education. I ended up doing chemical engineering for a term and hated it and it brought down my GPA with it, but the classes that I did poorly in were physics, design lab and chemistry which don’t have anything to do with the major I’m actually interested in now. I got a 1940 on the SAT in high school and could definitely do better now, do you think it’s worth retaking it?
As for your essay, I think you should really look into what Cornell offers as a whole that your school doesn’t and highlight how that intertwines with what you bring to the table academically as well as a member of the student community. Don’t focus on telling them what they already know, because admissions knows it’s a good school. Good luck!
@nighthawk4 I don’t think you should redo the SAT. I would really hammer in your defense of your GPA, I think what you said about Drexel makes sense. Good luck to you too!
Hey everyone. Currently a freshman at Fordham University, applied as a senior and unfortunately got denied.
University: Fordham University
Anticipated GPA: 3.7 / 3.8
Major: Computer Science
Applying to: CALS Information Science
Will have completed all required courses on top of Arabic and Philosophy (core)
EC’s
Resident Hall Association Freshman Senator
-Lacrosse team Attack
-Fordham IT Consultant
-Member of Computer Science Society
-Currently applying for Tech / Finance internships
Other Skills
-Proficient in Arabic and Spanish
High School
GPA: 3.2
9 AP Classes
I don’t think High School EC’s really matter, nor do SAT/ACT scores for CALS.
Anybody have any tips for a freshman to make this look any better? Also best of luck to everyone!!!
@tjclue04 Sort of in the same boat as you; I feel like you really wanna get into the 3.9 / 4 range. Also have a really unique / compelling reason for Cornell. Good luck!
Hi guys
I’m applying ILR, looking forward to hearing any thoughts/comments
Junior transfer applying
current college: One of big4 universities in SUNY system ,sophomore
major: Business
current cumulative GPA: 3.84, probably can make it higher than 3.84 at the end of this semester
prerequisites: perfectly meets ILR Junior transfers’ course requirements
ECs:
presidential honors society,
100+ hours of volunteer works in the US
50+ hours of volunteer works out of the US
Korean language center at a local catholic church, teaching assistant
summer internship at a law firm; G****** LLP
part time job at a local crab meat factory (not sure if it’s EC)
HSgpa: they don’t do GPA calculations, don’t think hspga matters when it comes to junior transfer
Status: International student, F1 Visa
else; I don’t need any financial aid
