Looking For Insight Into Transfer Process

<p>Hello All,</p>

<p>I was hoping to get a general feel for how difficult it is to transfer into UPenn for junior year (specifically the College of Arts and Sciences). Additionally, does anyone have any tips, comments, or pointers on how to navigate the transfer process.</p>

<p>As for my personal stats, here they are:</p>

<p>COLLEGE: Boston University, History and Political Science major
COLLEGE GPA: 3.91
COLLEGE COURSES: I have fulfilled most of the core requirements, and I have taken a few courses in Poli Sci and History. I've also tried to take courses that tend to be more difficult.
SAT: 2060
SAT II: History 790; English 690
HS GPA: 3.70 at a public high school
HS COURSES: 4 AP courses, and all others were honors-level courses </p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>I just transferred here as a sophomore. Just make sure to keep your gpa high, get great recommendations, and write excellent essays. The transfer process is extremely competitive, but do those things and you will have as good a chance as anyone else. Good luck!</p>

<p>I transferred as a junior, but have little else to say that hasn’t been said in Andale’s Transfer Admissions 101 thread. Your scores/GPA put you in the ballpark, but you’re going to need stellar recommendations and great essays to be competitive. Feel free to email me your essays and I’d be happy to give you some pointers.</p>

<p><a href=“mailto:jrapp@sas.upenn.edu”>jrapp@sas.upenn.edu</a></p>

<p>hey i’m applying as a junior transfer to penn with a GPA slightly below yours. as an aspiring junior transfer, do you think it’s important to have core courses (distribution requirements) done before transferring? do adcoms look into that?</p>

<p>Penn is really strange about transfer credit. Once you get in you only get credit for courses that are identical to ones at Penn. I have friends who took classes at their old schools which were virtually the same as the ones here, but because there was a slight difference in the syllabi they didn’t get credit. So, I don’t know if adcoms care what classes you’ve taken, but it will make your life a lot easier once you get here if you’ve taken core classes that are offered at Penn. One of my friends is a math major and most of her classes for her major aren’t transferring correctly. I took all core classes at my old school and they have all transferred over fine.</p>

<p>I had great luck with transfer credit, but it’s true that it can be a daunting (and seemingly vengeful) system to navigate. I might even recommend “editing” your syllabus a little bit, to make sure that it matches with Penn’s analogue.</p>

<p>As for basic transferring advice: it’s getting more and more competitive. Last year, they only accepted 162 out of more than 2000 applicants, for around a 7.7% acceptance rate. The year before was 200, or about 9.8%. (see the recent DP article).</p>

<p>It fluctuates, but there’s been a downward trend recently, especially as retention rates increase, leaving fewer spaces for transfers. Good luck.</p>