Harvard Transfer 2017

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
41

Hey all–Can someone chance me please?

Hoping to transfer from NYU Stern (very pre-professional) to liberal arts curriculum

Fall GPA 4.0
Spring GPA ~3.9
College ECs: student council rep, treasurer of entrepreneurship club, under consideration for publication in 2 undergraduate journals

HS GPA 3.7 unweighted
SAT 2200 (700 CR/740 M/760 W)
SAT IIs: 710 Bio E, 760 Math 2C
APs: Calc AB (5), Lit (5), Physics C E&M (5), Physics C Mechanics (4), Chem (4)
HS ECs: varsity debate team captain, president of a cultural club, director of local youth organization, 3rd dan black belt

Essays: strong creative writing, lots of anecdotes and storytelling

Fingers crossed for everybody! :slight_smile:

42

^^ @dulais: Here’s the deal: Harvard only admits about 8 transfer students per year based upon academics – the rest are probably recruited athletes unhappy with the playing time they are receiving at their current university – so Admissions looks for students who would benefit the most from Harvard’s resources. In other words, besides the prestige of the name, what does Harvard offer you that you cannot get from NYU? Does Harvard offer a major that NYU does not? Does Harvard offer more courses in your field of study than NYU? Does Harvard offer you more research opportunities than NYU? If you have answered those questions with clarity to the satisfaction of Admissions then you stand a good chance. Unfortunately, none of that can be gleaned from looking at your GPA, test scores or EC’s. Best of luck to you!

43

@gibby: Thanks for your feedback! I emphasized my desire to switch from Stern’s hyper-practical business curriculum to a liberal arts curriculum both in my personal statement and in my supplements, so hopefully that will work in my favor. Regardless of whether I’m accepted or not, I’ll find some avenue to explore my interests outside of business. Thanks again for your honest advice and help :slight_smile:

44

@gibby so per say that an applicant from a state school or a community college will have a better chance than say someone from another ivy or a top 25 school?

45

^^ @student23456543: Yes, that’s my feeling, as a student from a top 25-school basically has all the same resources and depth of curriculum at their current school. However, a student at a state school or CC does not.

To wit: NYU (the university, not Stern) has a wonderfully diverse liberal arts curriculum, so why seek to transfer from Stern to Harvard and not from Stern to NYU Liberal Arts? Yale used to have this sentence on their transfer application page, but has since taken it down. I believe it also applies to Harvard, as well.

46

@gibby @student23456543 transferring from cc in Seattle. 3.99 GPA, A- in non-math/sci, I applied for chemistry at Harvard though was just accepted to Berkeley for EECS. Homeless for 3 years starting my sophomore year, 2.xx high school GPA, drop out. Sub 30 ACT taken a few months ago. I’m 28, father has post doc in synthetic organic chemistry from Stanford, and and I grew up with him as a single father. Bred for academia, fell off, climbed back. I’ve held nearly every position at an engineering firm in Seattle over the last 8 years that integrates electronics into diecast aluminum and injection molded parts. They’ve given me the means and the flexibility in recent years to return to school.

I grew up knowing EJ Corey’s name like he was my neighbor. It would be a great honor to study under him. Excited and thrilled about Cal, but definitely seeing if I picked the right powerball numbers elsewhere.

Good luck.

47

Can someone chance me as well? I am getting more and more nervous as the decision date gets closer.

I am a student at my local community college hoping to transfer as a Junior for Computer Science.
Cumulative GPA: 4.0
I have taken the most challenging STEM courses at my school. I took the most challenging course, which has the lowest grade average at the school (~50%), with an honors option.

College Extra Curriculars: President of Computer Science Club, President of my Phi Theta Kappa Chapter (Honor society for community colleges), Vice President and Cofounder of Chess Association at my campus, led a youth group for high school guys, computer science teachers assistant for my old high school, and I worked three jobs.

College Awards: All-State Academic Team for Phi Theta Kappa, Top-Ten All-State Academic Team for Phi Theta Kappa, Coca-Cola Academic Team (Nation Wide), Service/Leadership Award at my Community College, and a Who’s Who Amoung Junior Colleges Award

High School GPA: 3.77 Weighted

High School Extra Curricular: 4-year varsity football starter, 2-years on varsity track, track captain, student mentor, created the second largest youth group in the district with ~ 100 people consistently coming to each meeting.

ACT Score: 28 (Not the greatest. Taken a few months ago.)
The reason my ACT score was so low is because I had no time to prepare because I also underwent three surgeries during the semester (It was rough, and I wrote about it in my “additional information” portion of the application).

College essays: In short, I wrote about how I turned down a couple of football scholarships last minute because I was doing what I felt like everyone wanted me to do, but not what I wanted, which was to pursue computer science. I also wrote about a Harvard professor which I wanted to learn from because of the research which fascinates me.

Thank you for your unbiased opinion.

48

You’re very accomplished. Unfortunately, even if anyone attempted to chance you it would be useless, as there are only a handful of people accepted. Harvard will pick and choose applicants based on their needs.

49

Does anyone know how much legacy factors into their admissions decisions? My grandpa went to Harvard but idk if that would help me at all.

50

@lbmoney: Harvard’s definition of legacy is that your mother or father must have graduated from Harvard College/Radcliffe College. Grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins do not count. Nor does it count to have a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt, or cousin attend one of Harvard’s graduate schools. So in your case, legacy will NOT help you at all (sorry).

51

so decisions are probably coming out tomorrow? using previous trends it seems like it

52

Did anyone else get an email from Harvard stating they wanted additional information about you?

53

@Jesus0512 No, did you?

54

@Jesus0512 No, I received a missing document email a while back but nothing else.

55

@dlp58sk8 I did. Strange. @Jbevarts I receive that same email too a while back.

56

@jesus0512 was it a verification of data from your application or some entirely new character supplement?

57

@Jbevarts character one.

58

@Jesus0512 and what did they ask for specifically? if you don’t mind

59

@dlp58sk8 “send food, we’ve been reviewing admission applications for 40 days straight, anything would help”

60

@dlp58sk8 What he said ^ & just basic questions.

  1. Where do you come from.
  2. What matters to me.

And others. Pretty much it.