I need your opinions for a prospective Transfer Student.

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>My name is Ben, I signed up for CC because I just wanted more input on a prospective transfer. In high school I did fairly well. I had to turn down all the colleges I wanted to go to because of financial problems, so I ended up at CSU Sacramento. It's a nice school, but I feel like I'm not being academically challenged, even though I'm in the Honors Program, and I want to give it another go in terms of transferring schools.</p>

<p>Here are some of my "stats"</p>

<p>High School -
GPA: 3.9 Weighted
Classes: Took about 7 AP classes and 2 Honors classes
Test Scores: ACT 30, did not take the SAT
Extra Curricular: Student Member on the Board of Education, Youth Speaker of the California Assembly, National Honors Society, and a few others</p>

<p>College -
GPA: After my first semester, 3.86 1 B+ and 4 A's, A's in all three of my honors classes, and taking 20 units next semester
Major: Economics
Extra Curricular: Honors Program, Student representative in the University Budget Committee (work directly with the President of the University), Financial Relations Committee, College Republicans, and Student Economics Association
Recommendations: My history teacher already offered to write me one, he graduated from Notre Dame. And also my math teacher, who has a PhD from Berkeley, is willing to write me one (we debate politics after every class, she knows me fairly well). </p>

<p>I think I'm doing a lot better at college than high school in terms of GPA, but I'm worried that a semester of work won't be adequate in terms of what colleges are looking for.</p>

<p>So my question to you is: Do you think I have a shot in getting into top-notch schools? I'm looking into schools like Claremont McKenna, Notre Dame, U Chicago, Stanford, Duke, and other schools with great Economics Department (if you can suggest some schools, that would be great!)</p>

<p>There are a lot pros and cons for Sacramento State, but overall, I'm just looking for a school that will challenge me, be a school full of intelligent students, and properly prepare me for graduate school and the workforce. And I don't think Sacramento State can do that for me.</p>

<p>Here are some questions I'm hoping you can answer:
What are some things I can do in order to fully understand the transferring process?
What kind of problems will I face during that process?
What are some of your experiences with transferring?
What kind of advice can you give?
Can you share your personal story if you were a successful transfer student?
Is it worth the hassle (because quite frankly, I feel like I'm wasting my money at Sacramento State)?</p>

<p>Your help is sincerely appreciated, and let me know if there is anything else I can do to paint a picture of my situation.</p>

2

<p>What are some things I can do in order to fully understand the transferring process? Just remember your high school days of applying for schools and rushing to get it all done in time.
What kind of problems will I face during that process? professor recommendations from both high school and your college. Transcripts and getting professors to give you mid year grades.
What are some of your experiences with transferring? I had a stressful one just because i was not prepared.
What kind of advice can you give? As an economics major i can tell you to always stay close to your department. Having a ggreat relationship with them helps you look very good with whatever school you are applying to showing that you are dedicated.
Can you share your personal story if you were a successful transfer student?I did not have enough credits so i had to get my high school transcript which got lost in the mail and deadline had passed. I eventually was able to get it sent and got in the next two weeks. I made great friends with one of my professors and she wrote a terrific recc.</p>

<p>Is it worth the hassle (because quite frankly, I feel like I’m wasting my money at Sacramento State)? Honestly it is worth it if you think in the long run. I was wasting my money at a private university that felt more like high school and i was not learning anything. Depending on what you do with your economics degree. If you are going to go into buisness(consulting, ibanking,hedge funds, etc) then i would also recommend Haas, Wharton(upenn), Dartmouth, harvard,NYC.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for your help, that really cleared things up. </p>

<p>I’m guessing there is more emphasis on my high school record since I only finished one semester, is that correct?</p>

4

<p>You are correct. Do you still have financial issues? There isn’t a lot of aid available for transfer students.</p>

5

<p>I do have financial issues still. Will that be a problem?</p>

6

<p>It depends. There is VERY little merit aid for transfer students.</p>

7

<p>These colleges that brag about people with families making under 60k having to not pay tuition, does that apply to transfer students also? </p>

<p>Does a large endowment fund mean they are more generous with aid? </p>

<p>Also, someone told me that the LAC’s are more generous with financial aid, is this true and if so what LAC’s do you recommend?</p>

8

<p>Merry Christmas everyone!</p>

9

<p>the 60,000 thing is true for transfers as well. Though, some schools (Brown) aren’t need blind for transfers. So, applying for aid will make the admissions process a little more difficult.</p>

<p>And yes, merry christmas.</p>

10

<p>Do you guys think I’ll have any shot with the really top schools such as Columbia, Standford, Yale, or UPenn? Applying for schools are rather expensive.</p>

11

<p>Stanford and Yale both take ridiculously low numbers of transfer students. If money is an issue, I would concentrate on schools of that caliber that are a little more transfer friendly, such as Cornell. There’s probably a Cornell transfer that can expound on Cornell better than I can.</p>

12

<p>To be quite honest with you, I’ve never really been interested in Cornell, I don’t think it’s the school for me. Everyone is obviously welcome to dispute me, maybe there are parts of Cornell that I didn’t know about but would love.</p>

13

<p>Your welcome. Some schools like some ivy league schools(brown,yale) and LACs wont provide alot of funding for transfers. That was the main reason i did not transfer to a college i applied to. The school i transferred to gave me almost 100% met need and i just needed to take out a small loan. I have a friend that goes to Cornell and he says he likes it but i have not visited it so i can not defend it. Columbia i think has a need blind basis for transfers so they will cover you more. I am not too sure of their acceptance rate</p>

14

<p>Where did you transfer into?</p>

<p>And also, how will I know if a school covers transfer students or not? I’m sure no school website will say “Hey Transfer Students, we won’t give you much aid, but you should still apply anyways!” Do you catch my drift?</p>

15

<p>I transferred into northeastern. Since it gave the most aid. </p>

<p>If you look at their financial aid website they will show institutionalized funding/scholarships for transfers if there is any. They don’t blatantly say well the dont give money to transfers, they will say funding is low for transfer students due to lack of funding after freshman class. i would also look to find any transfers that would tell you about the school you are interested in going to.</p>

16

<p>When you say find any transfers, do you mean find people who have transferred? How would I go about in doing that?</p>

17

<p>I would around on college confidential in the forums of the schools your interested in. There are always transfers giving advice. Have you decided on the schools you are going to apply to?</p>

18

<p>You know I think I’m just going to aim really high and see if I get into one of them (or find schools that are very helpful in aid). </p>

<p>The schools I’m probably applying to are:</p>

<p>BYU (Because it’s cheap and has a great Business school)
Claremont McKenna
Columbia
Duke
U Chicago
U Notre Dame
and U Penn</p>

<p>These are all susceptible to change, but I think those 6 or 7 are a little more realistic than applying to Yale and Stanford (with the exception of Columbia). </p>

<p>Any other suggestions on where else I should apply? I plan on majoring in Economics with an emphasis on either political science or finance.</p>

19

<p>Those are some pretty good choices and more realistic. Claremont McKenna has a strong economics department. U Chicago will probably be a match. Columbia, Duke and U Penn will be a reach but you still have a chance. Wharton would be very difficult to get into. Another school i think you could look into is University of Michigan-Ann arbor since it has a higher acceptance rate than other schools and is in the top 20 in business and economics. i think for transfers it is about 30% and has pretty good recruiting to top firms like(McKingsley,Bain,etc)</p>

20

<p>My cousin goes to Ann Arbor, and we discussed about it. It doesn’t appeal to me very much, seeing as how Michigan is such a dying state. And seeing as how Ann Arbor is a public institution, I predict it will have the same problems as the UC system (which is the reason why I’m trying to avoid public schools altogether). I think the main thing I don’t like about Sac State is the unstable education I’m receiving there, and it is my understanding that this is less apparent in private institutions. </p>

<p>Transfernkid you’ve been such a great help, thanks a lot! I will post more questions if I have any.</p>