<p>How much of an impact does being an underrepresented minority(URM) play into transfer admissions? </p>
<p>Wondering mainly because I'm applying to many top univerisites for transfer and I'm an URM(African American).</p>
<p>Well… that is a question that is rarely asked here on college confidential, although many people make assumptions on both sides?</p>
<p>I think it makes the same impact as in Freshman admissions. Either way, colleges are trying to improve the diversity of their campuses (although focusing too hard on increasing racial diversity sometimes decreases other forms of diversity). </p>
<p>The average SAT scores for URMs tends to be slightly less. For example, if a white or asian person has a 2200, a URM can do with 2050 or 2100. With GPA, there is less impact of being a URM (because GPAs vary less among URMs and others than SAT scores); maybe .1 difference in averages. Good luck and don’t use race as an excuse to set lower standards for yourself; work hard and you will be recognized (and may even get into top universities as a transfer).</p>
<p>It’s hard to say as many top schools accept very small numbers of transfers and so may rely mainly on freshman admissions for URM recruitment. </p>
<p>OT: I have read some of your other posts and see that you have just completed your soph year with a full load each semester. Are you aware that many top schools have residence requirements? For example you must spend 2 years at Brown & Penn; and some like won’t even consider you for a transfer if you have too many credits (more than 2 yrs for Yale) or are close to graduating (within 3 semesters for MIT). If you are planning to attend your current college next year, you could stand to lose many credits or possibly be ineligible to transfer, do check the websites of the colleges you’re interested in.</p>
<p>Thanks, and I have definitely set my goals high. By asking this question, I was in no way implying that I am relying on my status as an URM because I have lower stats than the top universities, because that’s not true. I just heard that being an URM makes a positive difference in admission decisions, but I didn’t know how significant the difference was.
I also do know that I have to complete half my credits at most top ranked universities, and I most likely am eligible for any university in that perspective.</p>