<p>Hello Everyone,</p>
<p>I'm terribly sorry my first post here is of this nature, but I really couldn't find any threads I could add to before unloading my own questions :-/.</p>
<p>Basically, like almost everyone else here, I'm in need of some help regarding a college transfer. I am currently a Sophomore at the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras. I'm seeking a transfer for several reasons, the top one being research opportunities, but also the fact that almost everyone in the Natural Sciences dept. is a premed student, and it can get very "cutthroatish" sometimes. That environment makes me feel very uneasy and unhappy.</p>
<p>First of all let me list my grades in college so far:</p>
<p>First Semester:
Spanish I(3 cred):A
Puertorrican History II(3 cred):A
Humanities I(3 cred):A
Honors English I(3 cred):B
Biological Sciences I(3 cred):B
15 Credit Hours total</p>
<p>Second Semester:
Spanish II(3 cred):A
Humanities II(3 cred):A
Biological Sciences II(3 cred):A
Honors English II(3 cred):B
12 Credit Hours total</p>
<p>Summer:
Basic Math(3 cred):A
Social Sciences I(3 cred):A
6 Credit Hours total</p>
<p>Third Semester:
General Biology I(3 cred):A
Humanities III(3 cred):A
Judo(2 cred):A
Spanish Literature I(3 cred):B
Precalculus I(2 cred):B
13 Credit Hours total</p>
<p>Fourth Semester:
Genetics(3 cred):_
Humanities IV(3 cred):_
Spanish Literature II(3 cred):_
Social Sciences II(3 cred):_
Precalculus II(2 cred):_
14 Credit Hours total</p>
<p>Total Completed:46 Credit Hours
GPA:3.695(if I'm not mistaken)</p>
<p>I will have a total of 60 credit hours when I finish this semester. I can explain 2 of the Bs, but I'm not going to get into that now.</p>
<p>Background:</p>
<p>I come from a low income Hispanic background. I am well aware of the fact that many people here probably despise anything related to affirmative action, but I really have to note it mainly because it will affect my application whether I want it to or not. My mother started working, and dropped out of school when she was in 8th grade. My father has a technical degree in electronics. </p>
<p>Basically I would probably make some diversity recruiters drool, mainly because I come from a "disadvantaged" background yet have shown to perform well within a college environment.</p>
<p>HS, ECs, and Tests:</p>
<p>This is my major pitfall. I graduated High School when I was 16. I was very immature back then(3 years ago), and decided I was tired of it. I finished 11th and 12th grade in one year, and my grades suffered severely. I graduated with a 2.8 GPA. Basically I went to school every other day and on test days. I'd pass most tests with As, but the teachers didn't really approve of my lack of responsibility, and subsequently my grades suffered.</p>
<p>My ECs are pretty much nonexistent. Aside from practicing Judo about 6 hours a week there's nothing else I spend my time on. That's the main reason why I want to switch college. I don't feel like I'm part of the college community here, and it really sucks because its something I really wanna be part of... My main goal is research experience.</p>
<h2>I've never taken the SAT, the standardized test used here is different. I had to perform within the 99th percentile in most of the tests to get into college. I'm really not sure how I pulled that off.(didn't study for it). I think it'd be pointless for me to take the SAT at this point because those tests are designed for high school students, not college students with 60 credit hours under their belt. It would delay me a whole semester because the scores won't come back before the transfer deadlines. Same goes for the TOEFL, I don't think I need to take that, my education was mostly in english(except for the spanish class). I went to high school in the states for 3 months and was ranked #1 the time I spent there. I came back before the first semester was over so its not on my transcripts.</h2>
<p>Alright, that's most of my app stuff. If you want to know anything else just let me know...</p>
<p>The colleges I'm looking at right now are Univ of Rochester, Univ of Miami, Univ of Michigan, and Colgate Univ. I'm really not sure how competitive I'd be for these schools, and that's what I was hoping you guys could help me assess. I would also love other suggestions, I'm looking for colleges where I'd have lots of opportunities to participate in research, preferably in close proximity to a major city(within 2 hours), not in the south(except for Florida.. anything South of DC, and west of NM is south for me), and a good premed program. Please no Ivies, for one I don't have a chance, and even if I did, I really don't want to go to one. I'm applying to 3 schools, 4 tops.. I don't think I can't get my profs to write so many recs, and on top of that, I really have limited resources. I can't commit a lot of money towards app fees.</p>
<p>I guess that would be all..</p>
<p>Thanks for the help! :)</p>
<p>btw, my apologies if there's any typos... its 7am...</p>