Honest transfer chance?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

Hey guys,

I’ve recently been considering applying to transfer to Harvard as a Junior. I just finished my freshman year at a local state school and my parents have just informed me that I may apply else where after I finish my second year ( financial reasons kept me close.). I am a computer science major and if it matters I’m an URM (First generation and Latino).

High School:
Rank - top 22%
GPA: 3.67
SAT: 2300
ACT: 33
AP: European History, Biology, English literature.
ECS: nothing much here. President of the biotechnology club and worked 20 - 30 hours a week to support my family.

Gap Year: I spent 6 months in Brazil ( My parents are from there ) teaching english and mathematics at the local high school. Started a YouTube Channel that now has about 40,000 Subscribers

College:
Local College
GPA: 4.0 ( I expect it to be within 3.8 - 4.0 by the time I apply)

ECS:
Research Assistant - Mostly did computational genomics with a professor in the biology department. We developed a new course that will be offered the next school year in which I will be partially teaching.

Mentoring & Tutoring - I’ve been mentoring & tutoring since I first set foot in my college and I plan on continuing till the end. Mostly focused in biology and Computer Science.

Technician - I am currently employed at my schools IT department. Basically removing viruses and performing diagnostics.

TV White Space Initiative - We live in a very rural area and kinda has been monopolized by an ISP. I’m working with public officials to turn our small town into a smart town using TV White Space. Right now, I’m trying to convince Eversource to let us use their poles and wires ( will probably be successful, as Eversource hates this company and is really pro-broadband.)

Internship with a housing organization - It is one of 12 of its kind in our nation ( basically waived of all rules set in placed by the US department of housing and urban development ). I am designing and implementing a database for them for their upcoming project.

Start-Up, Co-Founder - Me and buddies have created a start up that is doing fairly well. We are mostly focused on creating apps for iPhone and recently android.

Planning:

Research Assistant ( Next school year ) - I will be working with another professor researching something in regards to cryptography.

Internship - Recently an organization that deals with TV White Space wants me to intern at their company. I plan on doing so in the fall and spring.

Winter Internship: Not really sure what I am going to do. I think I have a pretty good chance at landing one with BAE System.

There are a few other side ECS which I won’t go into to much detail about. Mostly involvement in clubs, some of the side projects I am working on, and that I was part of another research team before the one listed above.

Letters of Recommendation: Most likely stellar. I’ve requested from 2 people already ( A professor who is now the dean of sciences, and the Executive Director for the housing organization I am interning. ) I probably will request from 2 more professors that will speak very highly of me.

Essay’s: I’ve only recently started this but by the time applications role around, I think they will be amazing.

I understand that applying to any school like Harvard that chances are always slim but I do I even stand a chance? Likewise, can anyone inform me if the language requirement is a deal breaker for me < https://college.harvard.edu/academics/planning-your-degree/graduation-requirements >? I understand that credit transfer wise I will probably become a sophomore but I haven’t taken any foreign language courses and do not plan on doing so.

2

Sure go ahead and apply. The number of transfer applicants accepted is tiny, so be realistic, but you have an interesting story.

Foreign language may not be a problem. Is there a reason you didn’t take any? If so, have guidance write a little about it to accompany your transcript.

3

@compmom well the reason I am avoiding a foreign language is because I would like to learn chinese and my current college doesn’t offer it. The school does offer French, German and Spanish though.

4

The reality is that as a transfer student, it doesn’t matter how good your stats are. Harvard doesn’t need transfer students. You could have perfect scores and be at the top of your class. That’s all well and good. What gets a transfer student through the door is their reason for transferring, and it better be a good one. That’s the bottom line. There’s about a 1% acceptance rate for transfer students.

5

I don’t think stats are as relevant as some of the life experiences in this case.

6

“The number of transfer applicants accepted is tiny, so be realistic.” That’s very true, but the actual numbers are staggering. In the last several years, more than 1500 transfer applicants have applied for about 12 transfer slots. My guess is that 25% to 50% of those transfer slots are offered to recruited athletes. So, a non-athlete’s chances are less than 1%, and probably more like 0.05%. My advice: By all means apply as transfer applicant, but don’t expect much to come of it, even with your life experience.

7

Something you might want to consider is applying to Stanford - a surprising number of accepted transfers have been community college students in the past. Compound that (potential) bias in your favor with your URM + first gen status, test scores, and interesting life experiences/ECs, and I think you may have a real shot. Then again, with such selective schools, how much of a shot does anyone really have?

8

Thank you guys for the input! I definitely think I will apply when it comes around.

9

The chances are extremely small, unfortunately. Smaller than if you had applied as a high school student.