<p>I know that a lower percentage of transfers get in than high school students applying for freshman year. However, there aren't really any transfer applications who are astounding. There is a certain percentage of high school applicants who won national awards and are all but certain to get into HYPS (schools I am looking at transferring into...I know the deal with Princeton too). So while it is harder statistically to get into Yale as a transfer, the applicants, I think, are of a lesser quality. What do you all think?</p>
<p>You're wrong and it's just fact, it's harder to get in as a transfer. In addition to still needing high scores, you need a stellar college record and outstanding prof recs.</p>
<p>"So while it is harder statistically to get into Yale as a transfer, the applicants, I think, are of a lesser quality."</p>
<p>wrong. most of the transfer students work to make their own app fees. so they don't blow it on unrealistic reaches. only the ones with super leet stats apply.</p>
<p>I agree there are less applicants that just apply for the heck of it, but there are less stellar applicants.</p>
<p>I think it depends on the Ivy. Harvard and Yale probably have no problem attracting quality applicants. And by accepting only a small number, they don't wind up admitting people merely for the sake of filling up spots, irrespective of how qualified they may be. </p>
<p>According to the College Board, last year, Harvard accepted 85/964, or 8.8%; Yale, 30/681, or 4.4%. These are pretty low numbers.</p>
<p>I think with some of the less selective/prestigious Ivies, e.g., Brown, Penn, and Cornell, they may have a problem with attracting the higher quality applicants, who even if they applied and were admitted, might elect to go to Harvard or Yale instead--the same as happens with the majority of shared freshman admits.</p>
<p>not true. for penn in particular, thier business program is considered much much more desireable for business majors then harvard or yale. therefore there are a great deal of applicants specifically from business majors, (which arguably represent a large share of the application pool), actually making wharton more difficult to get into as a transfer then as a freshman.</p>
<p>We're not just talking about Wharton, though. We are talking about transferring into a university generally--in this specific case, Penn. Wharton may have a low admit rate because it's applicants are self-selecting. Whether this situation also applies to Penn's 3 other undergrad schools--and the University overall--is debatable.</p>
<p>All the Ivies are very competitve for transfers. Most have acceptance rates a little more than 10%. The schools that are easier to transfer into are: Northwestern, Emory, Michigan, UNC-CH, UCLA, Cal.</p>
<p>^^ northwestern is not in the same category as emory, michigan, unc-ch, ucla or cal for transfer competitiveness.</p>
<p>Easier than most ivy-league schools though, yes. NU had about a 17% acceptance rate for transfers this year, i heard, most ivies are, like you said, around 8-12% or so.</p>
<p>which sux since NU had around a 30% transfer rate until last year....bleh.</p>
<p>it's getting a little more selective, but remember, the transfer applicant pool is generally weaker than the freshman applicant pool, so you have to look at the acceptance rates in relative terms</p>
<p>Sorry els, I agree NU is more selective than those schools. I meant easier than the Ivies, I didn't mean to group them together.</p>
<p>elsijfdl, I agree completely. The transfer pool is smaller and generally a bit weaker than the freshman one at Ivies and highly selective schools.</p>
<p>You'll be surprised about the quality of transfer students. I'm one myself (at an) and I'm not referring to myself when I say this. In fact, there are many students transfer students who were in fact accepted the first time around but chose not to attend.</p>
<p>No one doubts that transfer students are "quality" at top schools. The pool generally, however, seems less competitive than the freshman pool.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, WindCloud, what are some of the reasons you've been given for why people turned down Harvard in the first place? And where were these people transferring from?</p>
<p>I'm not gonna rehash where people transferred from...I must have posted those 2 or 3 times. Please use the search tool.</p>
<p>As for why people turned down Harvard in the first place: Several were offered full rides at other (good) schools or went to specialized programs like Wharton. Others wanted to leave and go somewhere far but ended up (for personal reasons) wanting to be closer to home. All legitimate reasons in my opinion.</p>
<p>Now, obviously not everyone in the new transfer class was accepted the first time around. A few (like myself) were waitlisted in freshman admissions. I'd like to think I was pretty darn closer that time. </p>
<p>There are several students who have gone through exciting, interesting and uncommon experiences that are rare at any school- including Harvard and the likes- who would bring a certain perspective that few people (let alone most freshman) can. </p>
<p>P.S. Please don't ask me what 'those' experiences are; I don't want to divulge other people's information.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. I didn't ask, however, where people were transferring from generally. I asked specifically where people who got in the first time and turned Harvard down were transferring from.</p>
<p>Again, that info I know...but I really don't feel comfortable posting. My apologies. Frankly, I don't think it matters. If I gave you a list of schools of transfer students who got in during their freshman year vs. those who either didn't get in or didn't apply their freshman year, I don't think you can make out any noticeable differences (in terms of qualities of the institutions).</p>
<p>It's all good. I understand completely.</p>