fine HS stats w/ not so great college stats

Transfer Students
1

<p>I am sophomore at a top LAC applying for math/applied math major at MIT (rejected during HS), Caltech (waitlisted during HS, withdrew), UChicago, Cornell, UPenn, JHU (wailisted during HS, withdrew), and my state university (accepted during HS). </p>

<p>I have satisfactory performances in the required liberal arts courses but become hating more and more the way LAC handles math/science (which also affects my grade). I ended up in this LAC pretty much because it was the only decent place I got in for freshmen application. Because of my inaccurate knowledge about the way US college application process worked, I didn't know how to present the non-scholastic aspects of myself and appeared like a passive study machine who should get a better life by learning the liberal arts. </p>

<p>In fact, math has been my favorite subject for a long time, and I also enjoy sciences. My ideal job since childhood (which was spent in China, where the spectrum of student performances on math/sciences are actually much more normal than that of the Asian stereotypes here) has been something that is heavily math oriented. However, I wasn't well-aware of the stereotype, did little to defend myself in that aspect, and very likely suffered from that during my college app process, esp. b/c that stereotype prevailed in the high school that I applied from. </p>

<p>I started my US education in the middle of my second semester of 9th grade. That public high school is in a good neighborhood with significant numbers of both high-achieving students and underachieving ESL students. My weighted HS GPA was in the 10-15th percentile mainly because the registrar only let me take non-honors or non-AP classes at the first couple of years, and the weighted GPA for A's in these classes only equaled to B's in honors/AP classes. </p>

<p>Later, although taking some adjustments, I did fine in my honors/AP classes and got all 5's in 11 AP exams (all of the possible math and sciences exams except stats and E&M and Compsci AB, my native language and some social sciences) except a 4 in Eng Lang (course taken at Stanford EPGY) and a 2 in Eng Lit (course taken during senior at local highs school, only had time for about half of the questions). I also have active participation in math/sciences clubs, NHS, and non-varsity sports and made some remarkable distinctions. </p>

<p>I failed to mention my significant leadership experience before coming to the US but expected the admissions officer to understand (which they didn't) the difficulty for a new comer to adjust from a merit based system to a popularity based system among adolescents who held bias against an ambitious girl who was very good at math/sciences but carried some accent.</p>

<p>I talked to this U Chicago alum over a telephone interview who was a poli sci major, but according to her tone, she seemed to view me as a stubborn girl who sentimentally defended my unsatisfactory math/sciences performance at a top LAC out of pride rather than objective self-assessment. In fact, I had always been afraid of writing (except that I tried sci-fi/creative writing a couple times and did amazingly well). The application of certain emotional appeals on my writing probably came from the curriculum of my literature teachers in China and of my writing professor in the LAC.</p>

<p>Do I have any chance? I have been taking some math courses from a highly-ranked research university and despite the difficulty to get A there do learn the subjects much better than at a LAC. I did a research in a relatively prestigious program last summer and will continue this year. Can these compensate for my 3.24 GPA and help me get in at least one of those choices? I have not heard any decisions so far, but junior transfer seemed to be my last chance to correct my undergraduate academic path.</p>

2

<p>At this point, now that you have 2 years of college under your belt, transfer universities will look almost exclusively at your college GPA to determine whether or not to admit you. They will barely glance at your HS transcript, and indeed many will not even ask you to send in a HS transcript or ask about any HS activities whatsoever!</p>

<p>You need to sell yourself as a viable and academically robust college scholar based on your college transcripts and college extra-curriculars. But, it is mostly numbers now for transfer and your number is currently a self-reported 3.24. You know, I know, and many adcoms from elite universities know that a 3.24 is not an exciting GPA. If you were to stay at your current university and graduate with a 3.24, that is a great and worthy accomplishment. Is it enough to transfer to an <em>elite</em> university like MIT or UChicago? Very very very unlikely.</p>

<p>Since your GPA is not terribly exciting, you will need to write mature, thoughtful, engaging, essentially positive essays that make an adcom jump up and say “WOW - I want this student on OUR campus, I don’t care that her GPA is a bit on the low side compared to other transfer-admits to our college.”</p>

<p>Take that phone call with the UChicago alum seriously. Being assessed as “stubborn/thick-headed” by an adult who is essentially trying to be helpful points to the possibility that you need to assess how you present both your potential and your downfalls. </p>

<p>One thing I can point out from your post here is that you blame your bad grades on your LAC. It doesn’t matter if you “like” how they handle their classes - what matters is how you OVERCOME your disappointment and apply yourself enthusiastically anyways. You always had the option of leaving that college right away and taking a gap year instead of slumping along with (what I perceive) a bad attitude and then blaming the college.</p>

<p>So - assess where you are today. Forget the past “stories” of who is at fault. You drive your own life now. Take stock of your talents, drives, abilities, current GPA, available financial resources, a realistic view of which transfer colleges are a MATCH and go from there. Seriously consider giving yourself an attitude adjustment and excelling at your current LAC - there is always grad school. If your last two years at your LAC sparkle, that will make all the difference. You can edge your 3.24 upward, especially in your choice of major.</p>

<p>So, sure, apply to reaches as you have. See what happens. But if it doesn’t work out I suggest you look at the positives you have right now in your life, starting with your own LAC.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for your sincere response. I did try to portay myself that way in my application and used the space to explain the situation and gave examples of how I have been trying to overcome it (one way is to find that internship and do research, which was not available to me before, and I might not have gotten that without volunteering to work in a professor’s lab the winter after my first semester at that LAC ). There were also some family and personal reasons that affected my academic.
The negative impressions like “stubborn” were just my concern, and her tone was actually friendly. I just hope she would not take my enthusiasm wrong. Thanks!</p>