<p>Hello everybody,
I am hoping to transfer to William & Mary for the spring 2012 semester, but am worried that my GPA is not strong enough. A long story short; I just finished my sophomore year at the University of Southern California, majoring in Neuroscience and interested in pursuing Biological Anthropology. However, I can no longer afford to go there and am going to apply to several Virginia schools (Im a Virginia resident). William & Mary is my top school. </p>
<p>At USC, I ran cross country and then switched to the rowing team, and was doing this until a couple months ago. Because I was spending so much time and energy on sports, my grades really took a beating and I had to repeat Biology 220 (D- the first time, but got a B+ the second time). My freshman grades were not so great, but this last year I have improved a lot, all As and B+s. I did not apply to any schools for fall 2011 because my GPA was so bad, a 2.8, and I am now taking a leave of absence from my University for the fall.</p>
<p>My GPA is now a 3.17, not as good as I would like. From what W&M says on their website, a transfer GPA of about 3.5 is competitive. Additionally, I did get into W&M as a freshman. Do you think they might hold this against me? And what do you think are my chances for getting into W&M? Is there anything else I can do? Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>Glad yo’re interested in transferring.</p>
<p>A 3.1 GPA is going to be lower than a lot of the GPAs held by other students applying to transfer. However, the fact that you were a varsity athlete studying very difficult subject matter will be taken into account as will your upward grade trend. Are you going to be a varsity athlete at W&M? That will also play a role.</p>
<p>The fact that you got into W&M as a freshman will absolutely not be held against you and is something you should mention in your application.</p>
<p>We would highly encourage you to explain why your grades were initially week and what you’ve been doing to improve them. Submitting mid-semester grades is also a must for you so we can see if the upward grade trend is continuing.</p>
<p>We’d also encourage you to contact our transfer admission dean during the summer. Discuss your GPA with her and see what advice she can give in terms of what courses you should take this semester. She will also be candid with you about your GPA and your chances for admission once she has some additional info from you. Her name is Kim Van Deusen and her email is <a href=“mailto:kim@wm.edu”>kim@wm.edu</a></p>
<p>I will be sure to contact Mrs. Van Duesen, thank you for the advice!</p>
<p>I’m not sure if you guys are still respond to this thread, but I just had a question about transferring.</p>
<p>Do you guys take midterm reports into account when calculating GPA’s of students?</p>
<p>because I currently have a 3.1 GPA but with A’s in all my current classes, I would end with a 3.52. (I’m a freshman applying for sophomore standing.) Thanks for the answer!</p>
<p>We don’t recalculate your GPA based on mid-semester grades since they’re not final but we absolutely take them into account when making a decision on your application.</p>