<p>Hi everyone,
I am facing one of the biggest dilemmas I have ever faced.
I am freshman at Carnegie Mellon University majoring in Economics. I had a GPA of 4.0 last semester and I am considering transferring to Harvard, Yale, Northwestern, Chicago, UPenn and McGill.
In High school I played for the volleyball team, I was a member of the MUN team , the Athletic Association and I was class treasurer. My senior year GPA was 96 compared to my junior year's 88(intense course load 14 courses). In college I only continued playing volleyball and I was a member of my dorm Council.
I believe that my junior year GPA and SAT scores were my disadvantages when I applied last year.
The main reasons for transferring are that I want to be close to my relatives since I am an international student and I have no family nearby and financial aid.(Carnegie Mellon does not offer financial aid for International students.)
My best SAT scores are SATI CR:630 M:730 W:610 and SATII MathI:750 MathII:760 Physics:750 French:780.
I am thinking that if I want to be admitted by any of those schools I have to take the SATI again in January. Is it worth spending my xmas break trying to get better at the CR and W sections or don't I stand a chance no matter how much better my SATs get?
Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>if you think it'll be worth it, i say go for it. Make sure your reasons of wanting to transfer are clear to colleges, but more importantly to YOU. If there are things you can definitely improve at CMU, do that, and if you still want to transfer, its worth giving up your break for. I basically gave up my winter break to make the perfect transfer app essays, because I think that's all I have to stand out from the rest of the applicants. I haven't started regretting it yet, and I don't think I will because my reasons for wanting to transfer make sense to me.</p>
<p>Of all the schools on your list, I think only Yale is realistic in giving internationals aid. (Maybe Harvard too? I'm not sure). FA as an international at all of the other schools you mentioned is almost impossible.</p>
<p>Yes only Harvard and Yale do not judge you differently if you ask for financial aid. Northwestern doesn't even give fin aid for international students. Do you think I can get into any of those schools?</p>
<p>You should give it a try and do well on your essays! It matters a lot!</p>
<p>Are SATs important for transfers? Some people don't even mention their scores when they are asking to be chanced.</p>
<p>since you are transferring in as a sophomore, yes</p>
<p>Those colleges also require you to submit your final HS transcript as well.</p>
<p>Your SATs are well below the average for top schools.</p>
<p>I think you should definitely go for the SAT, it does not take that long time to prepare it...Spend 2 weeks on it</p>
<p>So they give emphasis on the senior year? The HS GPA everyone is reporting is the average of each year's GPA?</p>
<p>sorry, I was unclear. they require your HS to submit a copy of your final transcript for all 4 years. In addition your HS counselor has to fill out the counselor recommendation form again, the same one that is required for freshman applicants.</p>
<p>How much weight do the put on the SAT? I re-took it and got 2020. Do I still stand a chance?</p>
<p>I think you would have a chance at Chicago, but you aren't going to get financial aid there, as they don't offer it to internationals. Applying to H or Y would be a waste of time IMO. But give it a try if you want. Just don't count on getting in.</p>
<p>What do you think about UPenn?</p>
<p>Penn has a very different "feel" than Chicago. It's an IVY so lots of students try to get in there just for the "status". I don't know their transfer acceptance rate ove the last 2-3 years, so you need to do some research about the colleges to get a better idea of your "chances" and whether or not it is a good "fit" for you.
In general however, it is MUCH harder to transfer into top tier U's than to be admitted as a freshman. Transfering in is subject to the # students deciding to leave,[ which doesn't happen too often at the Ivy's], AND the size of the incoming Freshman class. Chicago is the only top tier U that specifically makes room for 40-50 transfer students each year, regardless of overenrollment of the newly admitted Freshman class. That is NOT the case with U's such as Harvard,and Stanford which LY accepted far fewer transfer students than they have historically, because the incoming freshman class was very overenrolled. That may continue to happen in the next few years because of the "baby boomlet". It's all a function of the # of heads and beds.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The main reasons for transferring are that I want to be close to my relatives since I am an international student and I have no family nearby and financial aid.
[/quote]
I get the financial aid reason, but the closer to family reason? Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense given the list of schools you've provided.</p>