<p>Does anyone have any advice/knowledge about transferring between ivies and similarly competitive schools? Is it harder or easier to transfer from a good school? And would your current school attempt to block your transfer (since it reflects poorly on them)?</p>
<p>I'm in a similar situation; not an ivy but a school of the same level.</p>
<p>I believe it's significantly easier to transfer from a good school. For one, your grades will be more impressive coming from a competetive school, and I think that the school you are applying to is flattered that you would choose their school over another highly regarded school. By the way, I was accepted to both Brown and Columbia applying from University of Chicago. I also read of someone on this board who was accepted to both Dartmouth and Harvard applying from Columbia with a 3.3 GPA.</p>
<p>It's probably easier. I've been looking at the profiles to the school that I'm transferring to and it seems like 60% of my fellow transferees are from UPenn</p>
<p>How did you go about getting the necessary recommendations from faculty and top administration? After all, these schools have retention rates exceeding 96% and I would imagine that they try very hard to keep their students. I am fairly certain that I want to transfer (for departmental and logistical reasons that I won't get into) but I am worried that revealing such intentions will turn the school against me--and make it especially painful in the case that my transfer is not successful.</p>
<p>The dean for your class will talk to you about your decision but the administration probably won't actively prevent you from leaving. I don't remember any cc'ers posting anything about negative about the way the administration handled their transfer process this spring. They care about the retention rate but they do realize that their school isn't for EVERYONE.</p>
<p>Now that I'm reading my last post..When I said 60% I was exaggerating..but a heck of a lot of domestic transfers seem to come from Penn college and Wharton</p>
<p>I was initially afraid of how my professors would respond when I asked for recommendations, and I had a whole explanation prepared, but when I started into it, my calc professor said, "no need to explain. For all I know you have family out there." I don't think the professors are that concerned about the school's numbers, and they may even be flattered you went to them for a recommendation. I am glad I had a coherent explanation ready, though, as my class dean did ask for it, and remarked that they were "very legitimate reasons." She included parts of it in her letter as well. At least at Chicago, everyone was extremely helpful during the process. I would recommend not telling them you intend to transfer at the beginning of the year; you should wait till application deadlines are rolling around. I also think it's best to give your school a chance, especially if you're already going to an excellent school (which is this thread's theme). Don't think about transferring at all for the first quarter/semester, or else you may have a long, rough year.</p>
<p>Sometimes, your professors or dean, whoever is writing you letters of good standing/recommendations, will ask for a personal statement from you explaining your situation first. That seems fairest. It helps them to understand how they can help you. (also, lucky for me, one of my rec writers turned out to be an alum of my prospective school, though I didn't find out until much later).
Besides needing letters from them, you should really get to know some of your professors anyway. It will reshape your educational experience. One of the biggest things I regret leaving behind are some really great professors for sure.</p>
<p>so is a Cornell to Penn transfer quite possible for me. I am dying to go to penn...of course i will keep an open mind at cornell...but just trying to plan ahead. My high school stats were as high as it gets with the exception of my sat score (1450) which from my high school was honestly quite average.</p>
<p>Collegekid1988, you should have no problem. That does not mean that Penn admissions is guaranteed, but you have as good a shot as anyone.</p>
<p>"Now that I'm reading my last post..When I said 60% I was exaggerating..but a heck of a lot of domestic transfers seem to come from Penn college and Wharton"</p>
<p>This is interesting to me. Sweet where are you transferring to? It was my understanding that virtually no one transferred out of Wharton to another institution. I'm interested to see where all the Penn kids are going... since I think Penn is so great.</p>
<p>either going somewhere cheaper, or somewhere like YH</p>
<p>I was the one who transferred from Columbia and got into multiple Ivies. I had a 3.35 first semester, but I got a mid-year report showing I was on my way to about a 3.9. I also was incredibly active at Columbia, which I think strengthened my case. Finally, I was Ivy bound out of high school anyway with good stats and ECs. Also this was 1999 which was much less competitive for Harvard etc than it is now.</p>
<p>I noticed many inter-ivy transfers in my Dartmouth class (about 40 people), maybe around 25%. We had two Brown, two Cornell, one Yale, Columbia (me), one Penn, etc. I think I was a unique case due to the strength of my recs and ECs, which significantly helped me.<br>
My best advice is to stay active in clubs and try to get above a 3.7.</p>