Hi! I’m seeking to transfer to Smith College for the Fall 2017 semester as a rising junior. Admittedly, I applied at the last minute, and I am so lost on what I am going to do for the fall if I don’t get accepted.
Current school: Regional campus attached to a public state school
College GPA: 3.79 / Major GPA: 4.0 (I have As in all my classes except for the B’s I received in 3 math courses and 1 chemistry course…)
Major: English with a Creative Writing Concentration; I would like to double major in Film and Media Studies, too, should I get accepted.
College awards: Recipient of a competitive scholarship award for demonstrating excellence in my declared major, recognized in undergraduate writing award, longlisted for a flash fiction anthology.
College ECs/activities: writing center tutor, honors program member, an advice columnist for a feminist magazine, volunteered as a tutor for elementary/middle school students, co-president/co-founder of creative writing club, etc. I have quite a bit of editorial experience – e.g., I worked as a fiction editor for a lit mag, an interim managing editor for an online literary arts collective, as an editorial intern for a non-profit women’s publisher (mostly proofreading poetry chapbooks and writing blurbs), and I was selected for a competitive writer’s workshop with my current school’s writer-in-residence. I also work in a grocery store.
Recommendations: I submitted 3 – one for the editor/poet I interned for and 2 from my history and English professor/employer, respectively.
And because I had to send my dreaded secondary record as well, here it is for context:
High school GPA: 2.9-3.01 (I honestly have no idea what I graduated with.)
IB diploma?: Yes
(I did not send my test scores or my APs – however, I received 4s on the 3 I completed. My high school didn’t offer many.)
Other notes:
-I applied after their preferred priority deadlines, so I am sure this might influence my admission chances–especially housing and receiving grant aid.
-I did not interview with the Admissions Office.
-African-American
-I have reasons for wanting to transfer from my current school (a large public state school), but I don’t want to go into extensive detail here. My reasons are rather conventional, mostly because of the lack of opportunities offered in my major, my need for a smaller school, a stronger writing program, rigorous academics in the liberal arts, etc., etc.
-I have too many introductory courses and did not fare exceptionally well in classes pertaining to math and sciences.
-Smith wasn’t the only school I applied to as a transfer. Initially, I applied to Wesleyan and Barnard (I had an interview with Wesleyan, too), but I couldn’t apply to more due to my own financial issues at the time and inability to receive fee waivers. And I was rejected by both, so I’m not sure what I should do. I feel hopeless at this point.
Anyways, do you think I have a chance at getting accepted?