*How many schools should I apply to for a transfer?*

Transfer Students
1

Can’t seem to find any clear answers that fit my situation, so sorry if the questions seem repetitive. I’m planning on applying for junior year transfer and am currently a high school senior (was rejected by my state’s flagship, so I’m going to a lower-tier school in-state).

STATS
UW GPA: 3.31 (I know… I’m in IB Diploma which killed my GPA with Cs in junior year but now I have mostly As. Second semester junior year GPA was 2.57 and first semester senior year GPA was 3.52)
SAT 1: 660 CR, 620 M, 660 W

  1. Should I re-take the SAT? I took the SAT 1 twice (first time: 1890, second time: 1940), and have never taken the SAT 2. I'm wondering if colleges like to see the SAT 2 or it doesn't really matter since your college GPA weighs out more (?) and if it's worth taking either the SAT 1 or ACT. I want to apply to some reach schools (i.e. Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Duke -- my college HAS sent kids to those schools if it counts for anything) and I'm not sure if my SAT score is good enough to bother applying there.
  2. How many schools should I apply to? I'm hearing two sides of this argument. One is that transfer acceptance rates are generally way lower so you should apply to more to increase your chances of getting into at least one school, but I also agree with the argument that more applications usually results in lower quality work being put into each individual one. So which one is better to follow through with? Around how many? 5? 8? I guess I would be okay with not transferring since I would stand out more in the school I'm attending, but I would prefer to go somewhere else, probably a bigger school.
  3. Any other advice?

:slight_smile:

2

Hello!
Generally applying as a transfer is A LOT easier than applying as a freshman applicant.
My HS unweighted GPA was a 3.0 (my school did not do weighted), but I attended one of the best public high schools in the country. My ACT was a 28 (1860ish?).

In my opinion, there is no point in retaking the SAT. If you’re a junior transfer, most schools may not even ask for it/ or even ask for your HS transcript.

I applied to Bucknell, Wesleyan, URichmond, RPI, UMichigan AnnArbor, and UNC Chapel Hill, as a sophomore transfer. I was only rejected by UNC Chapel Hill and my current GPA is a 3.27. (note i applied as a engineering or undecided science major, so it’s not like it was an easy major to get into).

I think you should apply to up to 5. Bigfuture has transfer acceptance rates for every school. so you should look at that. Also pay attention to how many acceptances were from community colleges versus 4 year colleges.

Best of luck! PM me for additional questions.

3

@jixijga Thanks so much! I feel a bit more encouraged now :slight_smile: Were you at community college though? Or a four-year college? Also if you don’t mind me asking, what were your ECs in college/hook?

4

I was at a 4 year college! I did not do any ECs/or note any down (for senior yr of HS nor first year college). The only thing I put in common app is part time jobs, but nothing impressive.