<p>Guys, new here...some information about me. I'm 27 years old with a 3.4 GPA and a couple of Fs (cleared) and Ws on my transcript. I'm still enrolled in an undergraduate CS program, but I've been out of school for several years.</p>
<p>However, I've successfully launched a tech company with projected revenue over $1-2million this year & introduced several innovative technologies. I'm also close to filing 3 patents on my company related computer devices - the reason I can't be specific about my company/product.</p>
<p>I will also start another tech company by mid-july along with another patent filing. I can't get into the specifics, but these are genuine computer/electronic inventions - not a patent for comfy broom etc.</p>
<p>So basically, I've been out of school for a while and have an average gpa. But I do believe that I have strong practical experience/knowledge. Does a person like me have any chance of transferring or highly likely to be accepted into CS program at Stanford, UCB or UCLA?</p>
<p>If admission counselors from any of the above universities are reading this, what do think of an applicant like me?</p>
<p>anyone??</p>
<p>PS. I’m new to this forum, so if I’ve posted in the wrong section do let me know!</p>
<p>Well I am not a professional in these, but as far as Stanford goes I would say you have slim to none chance. Because Stanford might have the lowest Transfer acceptance rate, so unless they really like you for something unique, I would say its almost impossible, but I would never say anything is impossible.
Also with UC’s if your not from Cali I think it is very hard and Berkeley I know has good Computer Science, and Engineering so UCB would be difficult too.
Good luck.</p>
<p>Stanford actually loooooves transfers who have been out of school a while.</p>
<p>@collegematter: so me starting a tech company from zero and my patent filing would have little to no effect?</p>
<p>@anonymousfriends: are u being sarcastic or are u serious? with my low gpa but other accomplishments, what do think of my chances at transferring to stanford?</p>
<p>I hate sarcasm on the net. I’m being dead serious.</p>
<p>They accepted about 20 transfers last year, and they like to give the chances to those who’ve been out of school a while. I wish you the best of luck!</p>
<p>thanks! your post is very encouraging. Btw, are u basing your opinion just because I’ve been out of school for a while…or because I have accomplished a lot when I was out of school. I’m just concerned that they won’t like my low gpa.</p>
<p>Aren’t there any admission counselors here who can offer any advice?</p>
<p>You seem like an ideal candidate, and yes, Stanford is famous for accepting non-traditional transfers. That said, they accept only a handful of transfers each year.</p>
<p>You won’t hear anything from adcoms. Admissions personnel aren’t going to be making many public statements about internal admissions policies or specific candidates.</p>
<p>You seem like an ideal candidate, and yes, Stanford is famous for accepting non-traditional transfers. Think of your accomplishments as extracurriculars–they’re a million times better than what other applicants have on their resumes, and you’ve established a track record of sticking with carrying a major objective to completion–something few recent high school grads could say. I recall a controversy from 10 or 15 years back when Harvard accepted someone who was otherwise underqualified, but had a unique extracurricular (he’d just gotten out of prison for leading a terrorist movement and pipe-bombing police cars). Don’t assume that being atypical disqualifies you.</p>
<p>That said, they accept only a handful of transfers each year.</p>
<p>And you won’t hear anything from adcoms. Admissions personnel aren’t going to be making many public statements about internal admissions policies or specific candidates.</p>
<p>thanks basementcat! - that was really helpful & knowledgable. I guess I’ll try calling them and see if I can talk to an admission counselor about my particular case. </p>
<p>Anyone else know/heard of similar cases like mine where people with very low gpa got into stanford/ucla become of their field/career related accomplishments?</p>
<p>Hi tunafish,</p>
<p>I spent some time reading into Stanford transfer success stories and you seem to have a more decent chance, as far as 2% admissions rates go. Basementcat’s said it all about how your achievements are extraordinary. If it were my decision, I would admit you right away. Unfortunately, Stan only admits about 20 students so even the inhumanly perfect applicants don’t have a solid chance. </p>
<p>As for UCB or UCLA, I’m not sure about their CS program (I’m L&S) but I think generally they both evaluate candidates holistically so your ECs can make up for deficits. I can’t really give you a solid answer. You can ask on the UC Transfer sub-board for more specific advice if you have more questions about this if no one knows the answers here. </p>
<p>An applicant with an unusual extracurricular always has a good chance if he or she markets them well. Your GPA is definitely not low enough for you to be out of consideration. I would encourage you to definitely apply to all three universities. </p>
<p>Best of luck! I really hope you get in (you deserve it!). </p>
<p>P.S. This link may be a useful read for you: <a href=“http://www.foothill.edu/transfer/articulation/Stanford_Guide_2002.pdf[/url]”>http://www.foothill.edu/transfer/articulation/Stanford_Guide_2002.pdf</a>. It’s a bit dated and it’s written for a CC student, but it contains statistics about ages of past transfers that are interesting.</p>
<p>Additional Stan links: <a href=“http://stanfordreview.org/article/stanford-in-the-eyes-of-transfer-students[/url]”>http://stanfordreview.org/article/stanford-in-the-eyes-of-transfer-students</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://news.stanford.edu/pr/95/950613Arc5176.html[/url]”>http://news.stanford.edu/pr/95/950613Arc5176.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2005/marapr/features/transfers.html[/url]”>http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2005/marapr/features/transfers.html</a></p>
<p>thanks lenoradusk, your post was really encouraging…especially that age data. I’ll probably give stanford a shot this year.</p>