MIT/Stanford Transfer

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hey everyone!</p>

<p>I'm currently a first year and prospective physics major at the University of Chicago, and I just wanted to gauge my odds at being accepted into MIT or Stanford as a transfer applicant. To me, these schools represent academic excellence in every sense, and not getting in the first time around has been a severe blow to my self-esteem. Even since my matriculation to UChicago, they've been on my mind constantly, haunting me even in sleep. And so, I'm posting mainly to rid myself of this sense of uncertainty I've been feeling, to remove the veil of haze that seems to be encapsulating my future. (I know, unnecessarily dark... :P) Here are my figures. Please let me know what you think!</p>

<p>SAT MATH II: 800
SAT BIO [M]: 780
SAT CHEM: 780
SAT I: 2200</p>

<p>College GPA (first quarter) 4.0
Currently enrolled in honors physics and honors calculus sequences. I'm also auditing a fifth class this quarter, where the maximum limit is 4. </p>

<p>High school curriculum:
AP Physics C - A
AP Biology - A
AP Chemistry - A
AP US Government - B
AP Calculus BC - A
AP Economics - A
Topics in Advanced Mathematics (Intro to linear algebra, group theory, set theory, number theory, etc..) - A
Multivariable Calculus - A</p>

<p>Cofounder and vice president of the NEURO (Neuroscience Education, Undergraduate Research, & Outreach) RSO on campus. </p>

<p>Currently in the lab of a PhD who's working on neuroprosthetics and somatosensory categorization. (Expecting to start my own project and possibly publish a paper soon, though I obviously wouldn't have started by the time I'd be applying).</p>

<p>I'm a competitive classical pianist, and have participated in several recitals and competitions, even a couple in college. I also produce and DJ, and used to play guitar in a metal band during high school, though I don't know how I'd include that in the application.</p>

<p>I was the senior class president in high school, and I also did a LOT of peer tutoring. In fact, during my first quarter, I also tutored for an organization called strive, and even used it as a source of income over the summer... that and investing in the stock market. </p>

<p>In the summer before college, I overhauled a BMW, turning a junk car into a professional track racing vehicle. I know they had a portion of the application where they asked us to upload pictures of projects we'd worked on, so I thought this would be something cool to include. I also built a lot of computers, and even sold several to clients and offices that needed cheap hardware. I also took a class in biomedical engineering at UCI, where I received an A+ (the highest grade in the class). </p>

<p>In high school, I did research with my biology teacher, and worked on describing a potentially new species of crustacean, though I didn't get as far with the project as I would have liked. </p>

<p>I also job shadowed several physicians, getting the chance to observe tens of surgeries. This afforded me perspective in the clinical aspects of medicine as well.</p>

<p>There are tons of more projects and hobbies and passions that I have, but they simply don't look as impressive on an application. Any suggestions? And thanks for reading this far! As you can tell, getting into these institutions is incredibly important to me.</p>

2

<p>Look at the common data sets for Stanford and MIT.</p>

<p>[Stanford</a> University: Common Data Set 2011-2012](<a href=“http://ucomm.stanford.edu/cds/2011.html#transfer]Stanford”>http://ucomm.stanford.edu/cds/2011.html#transfer)</p>

<p>Last year, Stanford admitted 58/1413 transfer applicants–barely over 4%.</p>

<p>[MIT</a> Office of the Provost, Institutional Research](<a href=“MIT Institutional Research”>MIT Institutional Research)</p>

<p>The numbers at MIT are comparable: they admitted 18/459 transfer applicants–just under 4%.</p>

<p>Clearly, you’re doing what you can to make yourself a viable transfer applicant by earning top grades at a highly respected university. Clearly, nobody will say you have no business applying to transfer. But be realistic: gaining admission to Stanford or MIT as a transfer is harder than gaining admission as a freshman.</p>

<p>As I read your post, I think you haven’t given Chicago a fair shot. I suspect you didn’t really want to go there–you wanted to go to MIT or Stanford–and when you got there, you made developing your exit strategy Job 1.</p>

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</p>

<p>Reading this, I think you’ve romanticized MIT and Stanford. You’ve imagined them to be more than any university can be. And because you’ve made idols, so to speak, out of something you didn’t actually attain, you haven’t really made a sincere attempt to mine UChicago, a world-class university in its own right, for all its worth. It’s like courtly love in medieval literature: you’ve taken something unattainable, and through your own imagination imbued it with impossible perfection, so that you can live tortured by your unrequited (and unrequitable) love. Doesn’t seem like a plan for happiness, if you ask me.</p>

3

<p>OK, I’ve just read your only other post on CC: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/1116746-need-advice-best-preparation-engineering-grad-school.html#post12318951[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/1116746-need-advice-best-preparation-engineering-grad-school.html#post12318951&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If you want to study engineering and Chicago doesn’t offer a program in engineering, I can understand why it might not be the right fit for you. And I can see how you can make a plausible case for transferring in your transfer applications. I wish you luck with them.</p>

<p>But I still have to wonder, why did you go to Chicago in the first place if you knew it didn’t offer what you wanted to study?</p>

4

<p>See if their admission offices publish stats on transfers (# applicants, # admits, GPA & scores). Since these schools have regular admission rates in the low teen% at best, I’d say chances of a transfer are in the same general range.</p>

5

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<p>You can start by looking at Section D Stanford’s and MIT’s common data sets, in the links that I put in post #2, above.</p>

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<p>No. Admit rates for transfer applicants are even lower.</p>