Newbie's Post! Any suggestions?

<p>Hello everyone! I'm a new comer to this forum and thanks in advance for your help! =)</p>

<p>I graduated early from high school and entered a private catholic university(tier 3) in spring 2008, but soon i found it was so boring to stay in such a conservative school. I'm a sophomore with 31 credits right now and i'm thinking about transfer to a private university or lac ranking between 30- 50 according to usnews. </p>

<p>my infos:
1. International background, not native english speaker and i took TOEFL iBT in my junior year in high school, got a very low score: 84 =(
2. HS GPA: 3.5, I've learned 4 years of physics and chemistry during my high school
3. College GPA: 3.4, first semester 3.23, second semester 3.6, but I'm sure I can bump the cumulative up to 3.7 at the end of this semester
4. I'm business major, pretty sure can get 3 great recommendations from my current profs, i ranked constant #1 in my physics class
4. ECs: American cancer society volunteer, venture crew member, student government treasurer, business fra member, pollster for ESPN, summer job at Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical Department</p>

<p>Right now I applied 6 schools: Boston College (dream school), Emerson college, Hamilton College, Syracuse University, University of Rochester, University of Wisconsin Madison</p>

<p>Do I have any chance to get into these schools above?</p>

<p>PS: I don't have SAT/ACT scores, I will take toefl again in this February and could possibly get over 110</p>

<p>Much Obliged</p>

<p>I will probably change my major to science major like physics. I'm not applying for financial aid.</p>

<p>Your ECs are not too strong (aside from maybe the summer job) and your GPA is alright. Are you applying as a soph or junior transfer? I'm wondering because maybe your HS stats will come into play more.
I don't think you have a great shot at BC, Hamilton and Rochester. I am not familiar with the others, so I can't say too much about them. ( Though just from stats, I think you have a good shot at Wisconsin Madison)
If you're a girl, that could give you an extra push for those schools because of your indicated major ( it was a good idea, on your part, to change it). But I would not say that they are reasonables. Maybe semi-reaches at the most.</p>

<p>Transfer10: </p>

<p>Thank you for your response. I'm going to apply as a sophomore transfer and hopefully I could make it in fall 09 or spring 10.
I may get an intern in a hedge fund company in wall street this summer because of my prof's recommendation, also hopefully I could bump my total gpa up to 3.7-3.8. Is it possible for me to get into BC then? Or should I wait until at the end of sophomore year and apply as a junior transfer if I could get a higher gpa?</p>

<p>P.S. BC is my dream school because my best friend and gf are in BC</p>

<p>Yea if you get a 3.8 and your essay is really good, I think you have a fighting chance at BC if you apply for the spring because your HS record is not as strong and the farther you are from HS the better because they should look at HS less and less.</p>

<p>Because your HS stats are a bit weak for the schools you are looking at, I would say wait till junior year--but you should talk directly to an admissions officer ( not an undergrad intern) about this because it really differs from school to school, and they may tell you to go ahead and apply.</p>

<p>Also, for the ECs, that summer internship looks good, but are you still planning to major in physics? Why not do something physics based? It will look a bit odd ( unless you're applying as a business/management minor or if you want to double major) that your ECs seem to be focusing on business more.</p>

<p>ps. when you right your essays for BC make sure you let them know that you like their specific programs and what they offer, as opposed to saying what you just said ;-)</p>

<p>best of luck!</p>

<p>I wouldn't recommend aggressively pursuing any Wall Street internships this summer. Let's just say you may want to keep your options open.</p>

<p>Another concern is that I don't have SAT/ACT scores, I'm worrying that that's gonna be a big disadvantage of me =(</p>

<p>It won't. Most schools ( double check to make sure though) say that IF you took standardized tests they want to see them. They do not want you to take them if you never took them to begin with.</p>

<p>woah woah woah woah</p>

<p>if youre applying next semester (for fall '09) for sophmore standing, the gpa that you have now is the gpa that they will see...if you are applying for spring '10 (make sure they allow for mid-year xfers, many schools don't), then they will see next semesters grades and nothing after this (unless they request mid-year transcripts, although this is pretty rare)</p>

<p>in addition, raising your gpa up to a 3.7-3.8 from a 3.4 would require you to get a 4.0 for about two full semesters (and they wouldnt see either if your applying for fall '09)...i dont see any precedent for this in your track record...not to see that it cant be done, but its important to be realistic with yourself...everybody who has a gpa that they believe to be too low for a certain school says that they will get a 4.0 the next semester, but past performance is usually the best indicator of future performance....</p>

<p>coming from a tier 3 school, a 3.4 is going to be on the low side, especially for the more competitive schools like bc and hamilton...check to see which schools accept mid-year transfers...if you could raise your gpa up next semester, you would have a much better shot applying for the spring '10 term</p>

<p>gl</p>

<p>I think Rochester would be your best match. I researched their website back when I was venturing a transfer, they seem to fit your science type -- they also seem transfer friendly.</p>