<p>Well, obviously I didn’t just do this for college. I didn’t even know what college I wanted to be at until this year. College wasn’t even a thought in my mind until these schools were proposed to me by teachers and guidance counselors. I joined a majority of these clubs because I love public speaking, writing and reading. After become immersed in clubs such as mock trial, model United Nations, school newspaper and debate team it made me realize what I would like to do in my future.
At my school, teachers, counselors and even other students stress how important undergraduate school is in order to provide one with the most successful future possible. I know there are other ways to success but while at Harvard (I believe) and Columbia, I saw that they had a program where you can get a JD and MBA in five years. That really interested me because I would love to be a lawyer and have always been told how much an MBA can help in life as it provides valuable knowledge and opportunities. But, many knowledgeable adults have told me without an undergraduate degree from one of these schools the chances of getting in are almost impossible. So it’s kind of difficult to simple “move on” if I hear this every single day at school.
Now, I know I’ve probably ****ed you all off with this whining, but everyone has told me that the name of the school totally matters when applying for a job or going for a graduate program. So, starting in my junior year I tried everything to bolster my application in hopes of applying to Harvard and Dartmouth. This is when I joined clubs such as the Spanish club and quiz bowl. I know I’ll be scolded by the group for this, but honestly everyone does it. I know many seniors who applied to Ivy League schools and successfully got in who started joining many various clubs and other activities in order to impress these schools. While Harvard said no to me, Dartmouth offered me an option to transfer after one or two years of “strong academic work.”
So if it is Emmanuel in the fall, and I go there with an open mind and truly feel as though I don’t belong there and would like to transfer, what do I need on my application to have the best possible chance. Obviously, I need impeccable grades, but I’m looking for what these colleges really want out of their applicants.</p>
<p>I imagine Harvard and all selective colleges look for the same thing Yale does: [Transfer</a> Program | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“Transfer Application Process | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions”>Transfer Application Process | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions)</p>
<p>"A transfer candidate’s academic strength is our first consideration. An applicant for transfer admission should have an outstanding academic record. The average GPA of admitted transfer students is usually 3.8 and above in a demanding selection of courses. </p>
<p>Transfer candidates should also have particularly compelling and well-defined academic reasons for wishing to attend Yale.</p>
<p>Wanting to leave one’s current school is not a sufficient argument for admission to Yale. Transfer candidates should explain in their application essays how studying at Yale would give them an educational opportunity particular to their interests that could be experienced nowhere else.</p>
<p>The Admissions Committee also gives serious consideration to a transfer applicant’s motivation, curiosity, energy, leadership ability, and distinctive talents. The personal essays and evaluations from college faculty members, deans, and secondary school counselors provide a great deal of insight into these qualities. We hope to find students who have made significant contributions to their college and local community. </p>
<p>Also see: [Transfer</a> Students: 8 Things You Need to Know - The College Solution (usnews.com)](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-college-solution/2010/11/16/transfer-students-8-things-you-need-to-know]Transfer”>http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-college-solution/2010/11/16/transfer-students-8-things-you-need-to-know)</p>
<p>FWIW: I think you are getting bad advice from the adults around you. Being a Harvard reject DID NOT stop these folks from becoming tops in their field or finding a good job. Why should it be different for you? </p>
<p>[Famous</a> Harvard Rejects Named by Magazine - ABC News](<a href=“Famous Harvard Rejects Named by Magazine - ABC News”>Famous Harvard Rejects Named by Magazine - ABC News) </p>
<p>"Rejected by Harvard? Not a problem. You’re in good company.</p>
<p>The list is, well, impressive. Investor Warren Buffet, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner, NBC “Today” show host Meredith Vieira, former “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Brokaw, New Yorker magazine editor David Remnick, CNN founder Ted Turner, folk rock legend Art Garfunkel, Matt Groening, creator of the animated television series “The Simpsons,” Sun Microsystems chairman Scott McNealy, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center president Harold Varmus, and Columbia University President Lee Bollinger round out the list.</p>
<p>"It’s Harvard that should be embarrassed, not the people on the list,‘’ said Bom Kim, founder of the independent magazine 02138 and a Harvard graduate himself. The Harvard admissions office "accepted [convicted Unabomber] Ted Kaczynski and rejected Warren Buffet. The process is not even close to perfect.‘’</p>
<p>Also, given what’s going on with the law profession today, you might want to explore a other options for graduate school: [Pop</a> Goes the Law - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“Pop Goes the Law”>Pop Goes the Law)</p>
<p>“That loud pop you’re hearing is the bursting of the law bubble—firms, schools, and disillusioned lawyers paying for decades of greed and grandiosity.”</p>
<p>The popular explanation for the recent application plummet is that information about the profession’s darker side, including the recession’s exacerbation of the attorney glut, has finally started reaching prospective law students. Let’s hope so. Marginal candidates and those choosing law school by default might be opting out, and the law-school market may finally be heading toward self-correction.</p>
<p>85 percent of 2010 graduates from American Bar Association-accredited law schools carried an average debt load of almost $100,000. Average law-school debt for the Class of 2011 broke six figures, and that number has been growing in tandem with unemployment rates for new graduates. Even if a career in law turns out to be the right path, the financial burden can be staggering. If the law ends up being the wrong path, then debt becomes a lifelong Sisyphean burden.</p>
<p>The median starting salary for lawyers graduating in 2011 was $60,000 (a 17-percent drop compared with the $72,000 median starting salary for the class of 2009). Even those numbers overstate new graduates’ financial reality for another reason: They’re based solely on salary information for the 65 percent of graduates reported to be working full time in a position lasting at least a year."</p>
<p>“I saw that they had a program where you can get a JD and MBA in five years”</p>
<p>You are getting bad information somewhere. A separate JD and MBA should never take longer than 5 years – that’s the normal length of time for those two programs. A JD takes 3, an MBA takes 2. Harvard and a number of other universities have a program where you can get the degrees in FOUR years. Northwestern has a program where you get them in three. Anyway, none of these has anything to do with undergrad, and you won’t even be eligible for them until you have at least a couple of years of post-college work experience.</p>
<p>JD/MBA is a 4 year program after the completion of an undergraduate degree: [5</a> Reasons Not to Get a Dual JD/MBA - Law Admissions Lowdown (usnews.com)](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/law-admissions-lowdown/2012/10/01/5-reasons-not-to-get-a-dual-jdmba]5”>http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/law-admissions-lowdown/2012/10/01/5-reasons-not-to-get-a-dual-jdmba)</p>
<p>It CAN be four years – it sometimes takes 5 or 3.</p>
<p>Hold on! Dartmouth offered you something that looks like a transfer option conditional on strong academic work at Emmanuel? Holy cow! That’s amazing! What more do you want? (Yeah, I know. You want that at Harvard. Tough cookies; it’s not happening there.)</p>
<p>You should be jumping up and down with joy, not whining like this. You have two super options to get where you want to be: four years of being a great student at Emmanuel, or one year of being a great student at Emmanuel and transferring to Dartmouth and continuing to be a great student there.</p>
<p>And, by the way, it is completely wrongheaded to complain that you are in exactly the same situation as classmates who didn’t care about school at all. Here’s how your situation differs:</p>
<p>-- You are much better prepared. You know more, and can start at a higher level. You have specific goals. And you have a good work ethic.</p>
<p>-- You are going to college for free. </p>
<p>Those are not little differences; they are big, gigantic, honking differences. But . . . watch your back! Some of those people who didn’t care about academics at all in high school can surprise you when they get to college. Everyone grows up at a different rate, but pretty much everyone does grow up, and now is when it starts happening to more and more people. You will find it much harder to stand out in college – including at Emmanuel – than it was in high school.</p>
<p>You might be able to do it, just believe!</p>
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<p>Thank all of you for your advice and constructive criticism. </p>
<p>I talked to many people about this situation and formulated a conclusion based on my best interests and the input of others. </p>
<p>I’ve decided, while this may not be the best decision, to delay going into a college. I recently passed the real estate exam and currently in the process of getting hired by a local real estate agent. Real estate has always been an area of interest to me and while I’d much rather be a lawyer, I think this would be good for me at this point in time. </p>
<p>Emmanuel has given me a wonderful opportunity to continue my education but I simply just do not want to go there. I went through orientation, met some professors and spoke with alumni but I disliked every moment. While this was just a span of two days, I would rather see what plays out with this job opportunity which could eventually lead into a career for me. </p>
<p>As for Harvard, I’ve basically given up. There’s really no possible way in and I’ve accepted that. While this is a crushing defeat and has decimated my academic goals that I’ve yearned for even as a small child, you can’t always get what you want (and that’s how life is). While there’s a chance at Dartmouth, I really don’t want to go through a school like Emmanuel which I don’t even like for just a possibility at a school like that. </p>
<p>Obviously there’s a strong possibility that I will enter college in the near future but I probably won’t have the same choices that I currently have presented to me. I’m just going to have to move on from this stage in my life and settle.</p>
<p>I feel like I could really relate to you xxjpxx20. I know you can’t settle for less, but I’d say to do not dwell on Harvard. I really really liked what someone said earlier about “[orienting] your life to make yourself the very best, smartest, most effective person you can, and watch how the world opens up for you.” I’m an observant person and I noticed that many of my successful friends are independent and live as though an Ivy League education would be nice, but isn’t necessary to succeed, because they believe that they can be successful without it. </p>
<p>I think you shouldn’t give up on Harvard. I’m probably not. Just reapply and see where it gets you. If not, you might have regrets many years from now. But I think the key is to hope for the best, but expect nothing. Good luck with everything!</p>