Giving Back to the Community: Advice from a Harvard Transfer

Transfer Students
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<p>Thank you so much for this wonderful thread! I’ve been glancing it over today and yesterday and have found it very helpful.</p>

<p>I’m a first year student at Smith College (Northampton, MA) but I want to transfer to either the College of Wooster or Ohio Wesleyan. Smith it’s a women’s college and let’s face it, girls find themselves here thinking it won’t matter but really, it does, and I don’t like being in an all-female environment. Two, I am from Ohio and originally wanted to get as far away as possible because I OBVIOUSLY couldn’t get the education I wanted (obviously I just wanted an excuse) but now I’ve found that I’m 10 hours away from my family and closest friends mainly because I wanted to defy the norm and get in/go somewhere no one else was and get away. I’ve come to realize that’s not what I want anymore. Third, Smith’s history program does not offer classes in my area of interest and not many in my concentration as a whole (US. History overall, early American/colonial/antebellum to be exact). We’re part of a consortium so I could take those classes at another college, but since I don’t have a car, my only option is the bus, which is often late. </p>

<p>How do I express problems one and two, which are just as important to me as problem three, in a transfer essay?</p>

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<p>What makes you qualified to answer these questions? How can you justify making fantastic generalizations (most transfers mess up here…) without any basis other than your own experience? You’re making assumptions through extrapolation from your own singular experience. You don’t have access to the admissions committee at harvard; you don’t know why you or your peers were accepted. Telling people otherwise is unfair. For all you know, you may have done something unique that you haven’t accounted for, which led to your acceptance (rather than the drivel you’ve been posting here). If you’re going to give advice, have some experience beyond your own singular experience. In fact, you argue that being from an ivy is an advantage as a harvard transfer. Last year, harvard accepted ~10 transfers. 50% being ivy transfers means ~5 were ivy students. Statistically significant? Hell no.</p>

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<p>^ Calm down.</p>

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<p>Thanks Transferadmit,</p>

<p>I, along with many people would love to go to the Ivies if I had the chance to be accepted, however I’m not sure that is possible for me. I have currently have my eyes set on Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory, USC, UNC, UVA, and by a longshot, Cornell.</p>

<p>My stats are located here in this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1020210-what-my-chances-few-top-colleges.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1020210-what-my-chances-few-top-colleges.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>What I was mainly concerned about in regards to which classes to register for Spring dealt mainly with the rigorousness of the courses. I have so far registered for Calc 1, Econ, Psych, Biodiversity, Wind Symphony, and Principles of Leadership. I am not sure about whether or not to take Wind Symphony and/or Principles of Leadership because I’m not sure taking those would help me get accepted into my target transfer schools. Would having a good chair placement in wind symphony help me? And as for the 2 credit hour Leadership class, it’s part of a leadership program I’m doing, do you suggest me taking that as well? </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>supertme, another supervirgin on CC. If you don’t like the advice why are you wasting your time trollin’? I don’t see you taking your time out to give other people advice. And I don’t see you having any credentials to be telling how a Harvard transfer student to be giving advice.</p>

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<p>What would you say about recommendation letters? Isn’t it awkward to ask one of your professors to write you one?</p>

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<p>Same question as smarts.</p>

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<p>Itohang- I hope for your own sake that English is your second language.</p>

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<p>I can already see this developing into another useless argument. @supertme41, you are right. He is not qualified to answer these questions, but yet he never claimed to be. @TransferAdmit is merely trying to compose a useful thread for future transfers. Most of his advice is logical and sound. If you do not find it to your liking then do not post, or view it. Simple as that.</p>

<p>Don’t clutter a useful thread.</p>

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<p>same for you as well, because you couldn’t even spell my username right.</p>

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<p>Ditto what MitchAPalooza said: the OP’s advice has been pretty spot on and he/she hasn’t said anything that I wouldn’t also pass along to prospective transfer applicants. The whole point of this thread is to give general information to prospective transfers, and that’s exactly what the OP is doing. </p>

<p>supertme41: Your argument is vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it fails to address essentially all of the OP’s statements and instead shifts the focus onto his/her credibility, which is illogical in a community such as CC where the vast majority of us have never been nor will ever be privy to adcom proceedings and thus rely on our own personal experiences and anecdotal evidence to justify our claims. BAM. Lawyered. </p>

<p>If you’re looking for advice from adcom members or ex-admissions officers, consult the printed literature. There’s not much on transferring relative to say freshman admissions, but it echoes a lot of what you find on here and isn’t so different from Andale’s Transfer 101 thread.</p>

<p>OP: I’m really jealous you got into Harvard. Quite a feat!</p>

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<p>It’s illogical to question anecdotal evidence now? Regardless of the forum, anecdotal evidence has to be taken with a grain of salt. I don’t question whether or not the op’s statements are fundamentally true or logical- I simply question the way in which these conclusions are drawn. </p>

<p>Who are you, anyway? You claim that all of the Op’s statements are spot on and that you would pass on all of this information. Are you an admissions officer? No, you are probably a recent transfer, and you’re going to agree with the OP’s anecdote because it supports your own limited experiences. All that I ask is that the tone changes from “it will be held against you if…” to “my fellow transfers all did this…” as that is really all that you can say with any shred of support.</p>

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<p>All I said was that it was “pretty spot on” and that it jibes with what I’ve experienced, read, heard, and observed. It’s understood (or should be) on CC that advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt given that we’re mostly students, but you were unnecessarily hostile and rejected the OP’s claims outright. It’s not as if he/she is making outlandish or demonstrably false claims. I mean, really, is there objectively bad advice being given here that you want to call into question? If not, then spare us this unproductive argument.</p>

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<p>I’d rather embrace his information that constantly question it. Everything can be questioned. If you apply your line of reasoning to its full extent, you will arrive at the fact that you have no useful knowledge to deal with and therefore might as well know nothing and just shoot in the dark. </p>

<p>Life needs assumptions. Without the countless leaps of faith we make everyday, life would be impossible.</p>

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<p>Hey TransferAdmit, I am currently a freshman in an extremely similar situation as you. I am also a student at Penn, Wharton in particular, and would like to transfer out of Wharton to a more liberal arts based college that would satisfy my interests in politics and economics, two subjects that I don’t cover as much with the narrow, business based Wharton approach. My GPA as of now is around 3.8, but the main doubt I have is whether the reason I have is good enough, or should I delve deeper into it? </p>

<p>Thank you</p>

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<p>I got into Johns Hopkins as a transfer (8% acceptance rate, which admittedly is quite a bit higher than Harvard’s 2%) and I basically agree with the OP’s advice. I think that each point in a transfer essay should essentially boil down to: I want to get X from my education. At my current school I have done all that I can to get X, but at another school I can get X in a way that is somehow better.</p>

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<p>Gap Year a Problem?
Cherna- First off, as a community college graduate, you will need to transfer if you want a “full” 4-year B.A. degree; colleges understand this, so your compelling academic need is pretty clear. That should be a good feeling, as this is usually the most difficult part of the transfer application.</p>

<p>Now, for the gap year: I do not see the gap year as being an issue. I feel it might actually make your transfer case even more compelling, especially if you invest in an interesting experience (travel, work, research, etc.). It will also give you more time to work on your essays, reflect on your potential paths forward, and do your research. </p>

<p>Seeking More Diversity: Transferring from an All-Girl School
Star- Your reasons strike me as excellent and it seems you have put quite a bit of thought into them. This is great! In terms of how to write the essay, I will have a post on this over the next week or so. But for now: you have all the meat of the essay here. I would probably take the following approach:</p>

<p>1) Transferring is clearly a very individualized experience. I push you to be specific, whether with academic or extracurricular goals, because successful transfer admits can clearly communicate their unique, individualized need for transfer in a compelling way.</p>

<p>Given this, I say for your case in particular your first two reasons (wanting out of the all-girl environment and wanting to be back in Ohio, closer to your family) should be the ones you lead with. If you look back at my first post, I stated a compelling academic case is needed if you lack, among other things, a family-linked reason to be in a specific location. You clearly have this, so roll with it. Be honest and say you want to be back with your family in Ohio.</p>

<p>2) In terms of the all-girl item, I would refocus this and say that you would like a more diverse college environment. You have reflected on what you want to get out of college, and you feel a mixed gender college would provide a better platform for the education, both social and academic, that you are looking for.</p>

<p>3) Regarding the academic need, I would push you (as should come as no surprise, if you’ve followed my posts this far) to be more specific about what aspect of US History is not available. I don’t doubt you for a second, but people might find it a bit strange that a college in Mass. doesn’t have strong resources in US History since Mass. is so stereotypically associated with being #1 in US History.</p>

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<p>Recommendations</p>

<p>Smarts / Storm – I will have a longer follow-on post regarding professor recommendations but will give you both some initial thoughts here. </p>

<p>Before approaching a professor, I would advise you do your research thoroughly. You should understand what specifically you are looking for academically and/or extracurricularly, and you need to be able to communicate this to them in a compelling, noncontroversial, respectful way. </p>

<p>Good approach: “I love Philosophy and want to be a professor of Philosophy. As I’ve delved more into the field I’ve come upon the sub specialty of feminist philosophy. I did some more research and Yale has a top-notch program in this area, with Professor X and courses A, B, and C. I’ve learned a lot at Current College but given my academic goals I would really like to take my learning to the next level at Yale.” </p>

<p>What was done right here?

  1. Established love for field, building common ground with professor
  2. Saying you’ve gained something from your current college, you’ve learned a lot so far
  3. Showing you’ve done your research
  4. Presenting it as a unique growth opportunity for you
  5. Not disparaging your current school</p>

<p>Bad approach: “I want to transfer to Yale to study Philosophy. Yale just has better resources and professors all around. I want to learn from the best of the best, and I’d like your recommendation to do so”</p>

<p>In the meantime, try to build a relationship with a professor before approaching him or her. Perform well in class, be energetic, and express a genuine interest in the material. Go to office hours and ask that professor how he/she got to this level of his/her field. Try to make it a mentor-mentee relationship. </p>

<p>Also, it can’t hurt if your professor is an alum of your target school. If your professor went to Yale but teaches at College X, they will likely still have pride for the alma mater.</p>

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<p>Transferring from a Business School
Geemas, your reason for wanting to move to a liberal arts school is clear since you currently attend a business/pre-professional school. Your challenge will be to show why you don’t want to just transfer internally to Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences to study ‘Name Your Liberal Arts Subject.’</p>

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<p>Which Courses to Take
ltohang, I would focus on proving a compelling academic need and showing you are taking advantage of / exhausting your school’s resources in that space. If you are transferring for economics, I might take a number of courses in this field. </p>

<p>I can’t really say what could would be “better.” I think it is important to take courses you enjoy. If you enjoy wind symphony and want to hone your leadership skills, take these courses. I wouldn’t overthink this though - you are not applying to be recruited as a varsity wind instrumentalist, so I doubt this course would be a deal maker or breaker.</p>