Hi there! I am transferring schools for the Fall 2018 semester, and would appreciate some counsel regarding the schools I am considering.
To begin, some information about me:
College GPA: 3.9
Coursework completed in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and maths.
EC’s: President’s list; several academic awards: Classics, Political Science, Writing; member of the university’s admissions committee; member of the university’s court; volunteer tutor at a local school; legal intern at a law firm that serves minority and other disadvantaged communities.
I would like to major in the Classics and the Biological Sciences/Biochemistry, and, perhaps, pick up a minor in Political Science.
I am most-interested in LACs, though, as you will see, there are a few universities I am considering. What is your estimation of the strength of the programs/departments at the schools listed below—Classics and Bio/Biochem primarily—and do you have any personal experiences with the schools that you feel might be useful in sharing? Do you feel there are any schools absent from the list that you feel I should consider?
The Schools:
Amherst College,
Bowdoin College
Carleton College
Haverford College
Macalester College
Reed College
St. John’s College (Annapolis)
Swarthmore College
Vassar College
Wesleyan University
Brown University
The University of Chicago
Rice University
University of Michigan
University of Kentucky
You may want to consider whether your prospective choices are reasonably transfer friendly. Bowdoin’s most recent acceptance rate for transfers, for example, was 3.4%. You can access the respective Common Data Sets for this information on all of your schools.
You might want to trim that list down a bit as we’re a bit deep in the transfer application season, with most deadlines coming up on either March 1st or March 15th, unless you’re feeling confident writing that many essays.
Your GPA is great! Now, would you be a full pay student to these universities or would you require financial aid? Most of the colleges on your list meet full demonstrated need, but some of them are need-aware. Bowdoin, Vassar, Reed, Brown, and Wesleyan, I know are need-aware for sure.
With respect to further LACs to consider, you might want to know that The American Journal of Philology was centered at a liberal arts college only once in its 100+ year history, when it was edited by a Hamilton College classics professor.
merc81: Yes, I agree. And between my prospective choices, there is certainly a range of friendliness to transfers–from Bowdoin and Chicago at the lower end of things, to St. John’s and Kentucky at the higher end of the spectrum. Though, St. John’s is a bit different insofar as you aren’t transferring into the college as much as you are beginning again. Reed College is rather friendly to transfers, accepting around 30% of applicants, and the rest of the schools are somewhere between 10% and 15%. Part of the reason why I have so many prospective schools is because I am well aware of the fact that, in general, and certainly for these sorts of schools, the chances of being admitted as a transfer is slimmer than being admitted as a first year, and I am hopeful that the greater number of schools applied to will result in (somewhat) better chances of being admitted to at least one.
AGoodFloridian: I am making good progress on the essay portion of the application, and only have a few essays to finish. So it isn’t as daunting as it may otherwise be. I do have financial need; the last few years has seen some relatively serious tumult in my family. That the school would be 100% of demonstrated need was one of my criteria in the college search.
I should also mention that one of my letters of recommendation is from a professor who is currently on-staff at Brown, which will presumably be of some benefit, however small.
I really like your list. The only one I’d remove is St. John’s, which is pretty mediocre for classics. Consider replacing it with Holy Cross.
If you’re female, definitely take a look at Bryn Mawr.
Brandeis might suit you rather well, I think. It’s small for a university (3600 undergrads), very good for ancient studies and biochemistry, and has an unusually high transfer admit rate (~40%). It’s a bit more “nerdy” than some of the other selective private universities.
Since you’re open to public universities like Michigan, UNC Chapel Hill is exceptionally strong in classics and political science and is also strong in biology. It’s one of only two public universities to meet the need of out-of-state students, and it’s much easier to get in as an OOS transfer than as a freshman.
Many of the other top private universities not on your list - Stanford, Duke, Hopkins, Penn, Wash U, etc. - are great for all of your academic interests. Classics courses will all be very small at all of these. Biology courses are often large at the freshman/sophomore level, but you may be beyond those if you’re coming in as a transfer student. The downside is that they’re extremely difficult to get into as a transfer applicant.
With all due respect to Hamilton, it’s unremarkable with only 3 full-time professors in classics. There are markedly less selective LACs with stronger programs (e.g. Rhodes has 7 classics profs on faculty). That said, students majoring in classics for fun don’t need to be as choosy as those aiming for PhD programs in classics.
Thank you! It has been rather difficult whittling things down, so that is encouraging to hear. And I concur; St. John’s is the school I am least certain about applying to.
I am not female; one of the reasons Haverford appeals to me as it does is due to its relationship with Bryn Mawr, and the ability to take full advantage of their offerings in Classics and Classical Archaeology as a student at Haverford (or Swat, for that matter). And, my understanding is that Haverford is quite strong with the biological sciences–biochemistry and biophysics in particular–so that would check a few boxes for me.
I had not considered Brandeis, though I will definitely look into it. Thank you for the suggestion! And thank you for the information about Chapel Hill. I was aware of their strength in Classics, but was not clear on their financial aid offerings for OOS transfers. That is very handy information to have.
I had UPenn on my list for quite a while (and I am still considering it in place of UChicago, as Penn seems to be more friendly to transfers than Chicago is, though I do love Chicago), but decided that I could make use of its resources by way of Swarthmore or Haverford. Do you recommend I consider Penn more seriously? I believe it is also more friendly to transfers than Brown is, but I figure that my recommendation from a Brown faculty member will be quite useful.
Hamilton was under consideration for a time, but I moved away from it for the very reason you stated. By virtue of the size of the department, their course offerings are rather more limited than other LACs, and I feel they are missing specialization in some important fields of study (e.g. Late Antiquity). And as far as LACs in New York go, Vassar was more appealing to me.
Note that While Hamilton currently houses four full-time classics professors, many of their about 40 classics courses appear to be supported appropriately through their other humanities faculty, such as those who teach from the perspectives of history, philosophy, government and literature. For example, Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages is offered through the history department. Beyond that, Hamilton’s biology/biochemistry and government programs are excellent.
Regarding need aware policies, their impact on your application may depend on the degree of financial assistance required. However, since your application appears as if it would be strong for at least some of your choices (i.e., not one that would be under marginal consideration), you should not be unduly concerned about this, @buffalotrace94.
Are you transferring in as a sophomore or junior? Rice was overenrolled for its freshman class of 2021 this year, so transferring into that class may be difficult unless there is some attrition.
It should be irrelevant to applicants if a school is need aware or need blind; meeting full need is the important thing. A school’s being need blind or aware doesn’t affect how much you like a school, but rather only the chance of admission. If you otherwise like the school and it’s a good match, apply!
@Houston1021 Last year’s transfer round for Rice was a bloodbath, many of the applicants were rejected- more than usual because exactly that. I’m really curious to see their common data set for the 2017-2018 cycle, but it hasn’t been released yet. I’m crossing my fingers that this year’s 2022 class isn’t overenrolled.
merc81: Thank you for the reassurance. I admit, I was somewhat uncomfortable with the need-aware practice present at a few of these schools, but it has been lessened. So I thank you for that. The financial assistance I will need will hopefully be less of an issue when taken within the context of the turmoil that has been coursing through my family–death of a parent, raising my siblings and so on.
Houston1021: I will be applying to enter as a junior, though I would likely stay an extra semester to shore up some gaps in my language training.
vonlost: Yes, I agree. And that the schools would meet full demonstrated need is one of my criteria for the schools I apply to.
Publisher: Princeton would be a dream, for sure. However, as this cycle will be the first time they accept transfer students in quite some time (at or around two decades if memory serves), I do not believe applying to Princeton would be useful to me. Especially because every indication is that they are looking for more non-traditional students–those from community colleges and veterans. I attended a conference at Princeton last year, and had a fantastic time; it seems like a pretty extraordinary place, and the Classics department is superlative.
AGoodFloridian: I’m right there with you; it seems like a fantastic university, and I enjoyed my visit to the campus.