Demographics
US citizen, New York
Homeschooled, got a diploma through community college, transferring with Associate’s
Female, Caucasian
Major and scores
Bio major, would also do biochemistry
HS GPA: 3.83 (out of 4.00)
College GPA: 3.86
ACT Score: 33
Coursework
Took college classes to finish out high school and get my associate’s, currently have 71 credits. 8 of my classes are honors, including 2 research-based classes .
Awards
Part of multiple honor societies, and was nominated for the SUNY Chancellor’s award
Extracurriculars
Worked at college as a peer mentor and tutor, as well as in the financial literacy department. Did an internship at another college, as well as environmental service work abroad and other volunteering. I am also heavily involved in religious life on campus and highlighted my faith in supplemental essays (Jewish).
Essays/LORs/Other
I am not the best writer, but I think that they are decently strong, especially those about my faith and commitment to the environment. I believe my LORs are strong.
Schools
Safety: SUNY ESF (got in)
Likely: RIT (got in), Drexel (got in)
Match: Swarthmore (waiting)
Reach: Tufts (waiting), Amherst College (waiting), Bowdoin (waiting)
Your information is not incorrect, as such, it just refers to an earlier time period. For example, for the fall of 2020, Swarthmore accepted 13.4% (1 out of 7) of its transfer applicants, which comports with your range. This indicates Swarthmore is reasonably welcoming to transfer applicants in at least some years (an aspect I have not seen with, say, Bowdoin, to use a contrasting example from your list).
I should add that the 1 out of 50 ratio in my earlier post was rounded. For the fall of 2022, Swarthmore accepted 1 out of 41 transfer applicants; for the fall of 2021, Swarthmore accepted 1 out 61 transfer applicants.
For further statistical information on any of your listed colleges, see their Common Data Sets.
It looks like OP has some good options already. The most selective LACs likely would have considered OP more of a frosh admit, as dual enrollment courses taken in high school wouldn’t necessarily transfer
Some of them are considered dual-enrolled, but I will be coming in having completed an associate’s degree. I have 71 credits, 24 of which go to high school and 60 go to the degree, so they overlap.
I think you misunderstood. Some selective colleges do not really consider community college courses equivalent to college level work, and may not accept them as credit-worthy, particularly in a traditionally college aged student finishing high school. You would enter as a frosh regardless of the DE credits you have.
Because I was homeschooled, I wasn’t college-aged finishing high school. In fact, I graduated early. I was under the impression from various counselors that I would be entering as a junior more or less, and that a decent chunk of my credits would transfer.
I suggest reading the individual school websites. Perhaps your counselors are more familiar with public universities or less selective privates? Trust but verify is a good lesson. You already have good choices and may soon have more… but I would completely understand if the transfer credit policies influence your enrollment decision.
Here is one example from your list…
While there are clearly many good reasons for high school students to expose themselves to college level course work, for entering first-year students, Swarthmore normally does not grant Swarthmore degree credit for college work done prior to starting school at Swarthmore (including the summer before Swarthmore), but advanced placement into courses with prerequisites may be possible. Such placement decisions are made on a subject-by-subject basis by the individual Swarthmore departments.
I saw that but thought that only applied to what was used to finish high school. Since the rest was a degree, I thought it was more likely to transfer. I won’t be an “entering first-year student” and it’s not “high school transfer credit”.
Did you apply as a transfer student or as a freshman admit? Perhaps contact admissions to confirm the policy that will apply to you.
Selective privates want 4 years of revenue. Many that will accept credit use it to allow more electives or place a student into higher level coursework but will not allow a student to graduate early. Many publics (especially in-state) will accept the credit in which case a student could graduate in 2-3 years. It really depends.
It is too late to fix now. You might still apply to a few publics, and you do have RIT and Drexel.
Most kids entering selective LACs have college credit, whether AP or DE, as it strengthens their application for frosh admission. If you are below 17, you are not a good candidate for admission absent truly exceptional circumstances, and certainly not a transfer.
I see. I guess I’m misunderstanding your situation… I thought you were a homeschooled student who was dual enrolled and simultaneously earned an associates degree. In which case you’d be a freshman admit. If you completed your high school degree first and then attended community college to earn an AA, then you’d be a transfer. Was that the case?
As you said, you already have choices so this is nothing to get too worried about. We simply wanted you to be aware that selective privates may have transfer credit policies that make them less attractive if you are counting on graduating in two years for financial reasons or otherwise.
I was homeschooled and started taking CC classes in 2020. I graduated high school in 2021 and continued with an AS, which I’ll graduate with in May. There is a small amount of overlap in credits between the two, but I did one and then the other. I am not counting on graduating in 2 years, but it would certainly be good.
I suspect that the SUNY will give you credit for the Associate’s degree, done at a NYS comm college. I do think that this is going to wind up being your best and most affordable option. Some time ago I posted a link to an article about top students from certain community colleges being accepted to some of the top colleges in the US, via a special program called transfer scholars network. Our Partners - Transfer Scholars Network As it turns out, Swarthmore is one of those colleges, but it’s unlikely that your community college was one of the community colleges in the program. In addition, I would think that they would be looking at students with 4.0 GPAs at the community college.
