How competitive am I as a transfer?

Transfer Students
1

I struggled in high school due to some traumas I’d prefer not to discuss on a public forum, and I developed severe PTSD as a result, which limited my ability to achieve academically. I believe I earned a 2.7 cumulative GPA and a SAT score (old scoring system) of 1470. Going to a CC was my only option.

In my community college, I have earned a cumulative GPA of 4.0 and have been on the Academic Honors List every semester. I am involved in two clubs (was an officer for a year before scheduling conflicts ended that), have a job on top of school, am in the midst of querying literary agents for the first in my series of books, and have launched several successful charity campaigns. I am also in contact with a very famous author (who shall remain nameless on public posts such as this, in an effort to preserve their privacy… and mine o.O) who has said they are looking forward to reading my books. Maybe that counts for something, maybe it doesn’t, but it’s still worth mentioning.

I’m planning to transfer as a Classics major with an English Lit minor. My top schools are:

*UC Berkeley (I’m in- state and in the same county, so I believe that gives me higher priority)
*Wellesley
*Boston College
*Bryn Mawr
*University of Chicago
*USC
*UC Santa Cruz
*Smith

I know some of those are reach schools, but how much so? I do have the 4.0 and some ECs, but I expect my high school grades are likely to bring me down a few pegs when I actually go to apply. I just want to get a sense of what kinds of schools I actually have a proper shot at. Am I competitive?

2

How many credits you have? I believe at most colleges if you have over 30 , or sometimes over 60, they don’t look at your high school scores at all.

3

You should apply to more UC schools. You should definitely get into a good UC if you are instate and have a 4.0 from you CC. Uchicago, Wellesley, and BC are high reaches. Don’t know too much about Bryn Mawr and Smith.

4

UC’s give priority to in-state CC applicants but not in county. CSU’s use local service areas in giving priority to local transfers, not UC’s.

You look like a competitive applicant and congratulations in turning things around in college.

Here is a link by major/UC campus and Transfer GPA to give you an idea of your chances:

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major

Best of luck.

5

i’d encourage you to add a TAG to the UC of your choosing.

Also, can you cover full tuition at USC and BC?

6

Adding on to the reaches, I would consider Vanderbilt. One of the reaches that people seem to frequently get in.

7

I’ll have 60 by the time I transfer

8

@blackkitteycat When looking at more prestigious schools like Ivies they require high school grades no matter what.

9

That makes sense. That’s more or less what I was trying to get at. I realize my high school grades and scores weren’t competitive in the slightest, but I didn’t really know how much they would factor into transfer admissions. Thank you!