Ivy League transfers, HELP?!

Transfer Students
1

<p>Okay so I am quite aware that everyone on this seems to be posting their generic "what are my chances of getting into... etc" but as annoying as it is, I too would love some insight into my chances of transferring to an Ivy League school (specifically Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Dartmouth, and Princeton).</p>

<p>So here are my credentials:</p>

<p>College-</p>

<p>1) College forensics participant and Phi Ro Pi (Nationals) qualifier
2) 4.0 GPA as a Communications major (on a 4.0 scale)
3) 2300 on my SATs
4) Independent volunteer group founder (We call it Team Volunteer)
5) News Editor at my college paper
6) Glowing reviews from my professors/ dean (my dad was a professor at my school for over 30 years)
7) Low/ Middle Income
8) Wyoming Resident
9) Overcame challenge (My aforementioned dad died in front of me and I had to stay close to home for college to take care of my mom)
10) Planned International volunteer project to help administer tetanus shots to moms and newborns in third world nations this summer</p>

<p>High School-</p>

<p>1) Editor of my school newspaper
2) Helped reduce the debt of my school newspaper by a huge amount
3) Student Council Member
4) Volunteer group founder
5) Division Champion in Speech and Debate
6) Second place at state Speech and Debate
7) High School Summer Institute participant (It's this elite program in WY where kids take classes at the University of Wyoming during the summer)
8) Wyoming Leadership Seminar
9) Girl's State (I was the Federalist Party Leader and a nomination for consideration for Girl's Nation)
10)Track and Field
11) Changed handbook policy by advocating for my fellow students regarding the eligibility policy
12) 3.58 GPA (My GPA took a dive since my dad died over Christmas break my sophomore year)
13) 32 class rank (of approx. 100)
14) National Forensic League Tournament runner-up</p>

<p>Personal-</p>

<p>1) Youngest of 4 (My brothers' occupations are as follows: pharmacist, Top 10 electrical engineer, and Major in the USAF)
2) Deceased father
3) I love being outside and know how to run a chainsaw, change a tire, repair a chain on a 4-wheeler, and how to raft.</p>

2

<p>P = 0% chance (before planning to apply to a school, read their website).</p>

3

<p>I knew that sorry. I meant Cornell* I must have been thinking one thing and type another.</p>

4

<p>If you transfer as a junior, you will have a much better chance (assuming you can keep your college grades where they are or thereabouts). Though your high school GPA is perfectly justifiable in context, it will be easier to talk around it with another year of distance, especially if you can keep your GPA where it is.</p>

<p>I’m generally an advocate of junior transfers unless you’re truly miserable where you are. I say this because another year not only gives you another shot at adjusting to your school, but also it gives you a whole other year of getting to know new profs and subjects, allows you to network, and helps you cement relationships with old profs who can go to bat for you come time to get letters of rec. </p>

<p>Anything above a 3.75 combined with a 2300 is highly competitive for the Ivy League. Likewise, it seems that you have no shortage of material for your personal statements. All anyone can really say is that you’re in the ballpark and generally very competitive - beyond that it’s just too subjective.</p>

<p>Advice: Really research each Ivy and articulate in as precise terms you can why it is that each of them (in separate, discrete ways - not an easy task given how different they are) is in a position to fulfill your academic objectives in a way that your current school cannot. It’s fine to mention other factoids about the schools and their quirks, but I highly recommend spending the bulk of your “why transfer” essay on academics, as that’s what universities are in the business of selling - not Anime clubs or why the Button at Penn is so expressive.</p>