How Do I Go About Transferring?

Transfer Students
1

Got denied to Georgetown. Intended major is International Affairs. Also got denied to Penn, but wasn’t really fussed about that. Currently accepted to 3 schools:

Penn State University
University of Pittsburgh
George Washington University.

For reference, here are some high school statistics:

1930 SAT first testing, 2000 second.
32 ACT
3.75 GPA on a 4.25 scale
Volunteered in Haiti, Guatemala, Netherlands, and England
National Honor Society/Spanish Honor Society member
QuizBowl team captain
1st degree black belt in Tang Soo Do
Studying abroad in Catalonia, Spain
Proficient in Spanish, currently learning Catalan

My GPA and test scores were subpar for a school like Georgetown. Would a great first year college GPA be enough to surmount them, or are they still weighted heavily for sophomore transfers? Keep in mind Georgetown asks for all testing dates to be submitted, so I can’t hide behind my ACT score. SAT’s must be submitted as well.

I’m very uncomfortable pursuing this major at Pitt or Penn State because from what I can gather their programs are very weak. Especially when I want to pursue graduate work at GW or Georgetown, that would mean finding a job in DC, one of the most expensive cities in the country. Going up against GW/Georgetown grads looking for a job would be extremely competitive and coming out with a degree from GW/Georgetown would be a huge advantage there.

GW is an attractive option and the Elliott School of International Affairs has a lot of great options and support for what I want to study. The problem is their total cost of attendance is $64,000. I only received $12,000 in merit-based aid.

My parental contribution will be $9,600. My expected family contribution is $32,000. There’s a huge disparity in what my parents are able to pay and what they are actually paying, which means I get little to no need-based aid. I’ve received no need based aid from any of the schools I’ve been accepted to.

What would be the best option to transfer in to Georgetown? Transfer acceptance rates are extremely competitive. I have a feeling GW would give me the best connections in terms of recommendations, because there are numerous faculty members at GW who are Georgetown alumni and/or former employees, including the dean of the Elliott School.

As nice as this would be with professor connections and DC location, that’s a $52,000 gamble. If I didn’t get accepted as a transfer after the first year I don’t think I would be able to finish off a degree at GW.

The inverse is that Pitt/PSU aren’t located in DC and don’t have as many faculty members with connections to Georgetown. However, they would save quite a bit of money. I would still have around $100,000 in debt at either after 4 years(which is absurd), but regardless that is far more manageable than what I would incur at GW.

Alternatively, I could go to community college, but that is an absolute last resort.

To top it all off, I’m here studying abroad in Spain until July. Makes communicating with financial aid and admissions offices real fun.

What do I do? It’s stupid, blind, and foolish, but I just cannot bring myself to give up on Georgetown. I am confident I can produce the stellar GPA required for a transfer at any school. I really can’t explain what that school means to me, and I am willing to do absolutely anything required to make it happen. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

2

Okay, let’s deal with things one at a time…

My advice: Try taking general education classes at a local community college (and make sure they will transfer to the place you’re interested in transferring to!). The main reason people take longer than four years to graduate from a four year school is because of all the general education requirements we have to go through. So, check up on the general education requirements and see if any at the community college would transfer to the transfer institution.

I know you said it’s a last resort, but it’s cheaper (WAY cheaper) and you ease up your workload at the transfer institution.

Work as hard as possible with community college - the work load is generally easy so you could easily do something else, like maybe something on-campus?

Just my suggestion.

3

I’m aware, and price-wise community college would definitely be the smartest choice. However, I’m from south-central Pennsylvania and the community colleges here aren’t standout. I would have an uphill battle trying to compete with other transfers, especially when there are sometimes kids that actually transfer OUT of Ivy League schools to go there.

That being said, it would be the best idea financially. I’ve talked to my school counselors in the US though and they told me my chances of managing a transfer to Georgetown from our local community college (HACC) would be very very low, even with a 4.0. I feel like I have to weigh tuition costs against transfer potential…and that is not a fun decision to make.

Thanks for the input.