I know it’s very very early, but I already can’t wait to apply to Northwestern to transfer. Here are some of my stats:
College: Stanford
Finished 2/3 quarters of sophomore year (took a gap quarter)
Major: Economics & Public Policy
GPA: 3.3
ECs: Stanford Daily, Stanford Marketing, Stanford Pre-Business association, Stanford Inspire, Basketball IM, a couple of other things as well, Research at Economics dept., analytics internship at one of the top 100 biggest companies.
ACT: 29
Units completed: 73/180
HS: 4.37
Originally accepted to Northwestern, but made a bad call by choosing the wrong school for stupid reasons. What are my odds? We can have the discussion of Stanford and such bc I’m sure it’ll come up separately. Would also love some more info on financial aid in the first year!!
Transferring from Stanford to NU is a rather uncommon situation. What makes you want to transfer out of Stanford, and why into NU specifically?
GPA is low-ish, esp. given Stanfords rumored grade inflation, but you are a highly uncommon case so not sure normal standards would apply. On the one hand, NU would love to poach a kid from Stanford I am sure. On the other hand they might think they should give a chance to someone that actually wouldn’t have access to similar/better resources at their original school.
OPINION - I will say this: yes, the Stanford name might draw eyes in the admissions office, but it will not give you any significant advantage over transfer applicants from top 20~30 USNR schools. In addition, for a transfer applicant your GPA is quite low in addition to your ACT in relative comparison to your typical competitiors. Given this, I would say that it would be quite difficult for you to regain admission to Northwestern unless they believe you really do fit at Northwestern and that you really do love Northwestern. Though I wouldn’t count on it you really aren’t out of the picture so I would say give it a shot if you really want to be at NU. Stanford will also grant you great opportunities even if you are not accepted. Can you share why you want to transfer from Stanford to Northwestern?
@northwestern777@Penn95 Thanks for responding. I don’t like the culture at Stanford and feel much more at place at Northwestern. GPA is low due to personal conflicts during my time at Stanford with medical documentation. It might not help, but it’s worth a shot. Also, NU is much closer to home, and I need to be closer regardless of the school that I am at. Should I retake the ACT?
I’m planning on taking a gap year this upcoming fall and teaching in inner cities through a program and applying during my time off. I could also get recommendations from well-renowned professors due to the research that I have conducted.
Are there any other suggestions? Of course, the final decision is not as simple as GPA, ACT, etc., but I’d like to give it my best shot. Otherwise, I’ll end up at UIUC or UIC. Thanks!!
College: California Community College
Major: Economics
GPA: 4.0 (on-track)
ECs: President of Business Club, member of Honors Club, member of Phi Theta Kappa, member of Terra club (pro-environment), internship at data logistics company, began a poker coaching business; where I coach people 1-on-1
SAT: 1440 (retaking - shooting for 1500+)
Public High school: 3.5 unweighted
Dropped out due to health reasons first semester junior year. Finished high school doing online/community college classes.
Attended a small vocational college in Oklahoma for a year after high school, where I fell in love with poker, and considered continuing to play it professionally after school.
But finally made the decision to try to transfer to a 4-year instead, which I am doing now.
Extras:
Struggled with clinical depression and chronic migraines junior-senior year, which was likely due to my parents divorce too.
Struggled with coming to terms with how my public high school peers moved on to amazing universities and I did not.
I’ve lived in Europe (the Netherlands) and traveled to 30+ countries. Proficient in Dutch and French.
My father went to MIT, my mother is a Wellesley graduate.
I am applying for Sophomore transfer, and will likely apply again for junior transfer if I don’t get into any of the schools I am applying for.
Also applying to: UPenn, UChicago, MIT, Tufts, Columbia for sophomore transfer
If I get rejected from all of them I’ll just do another year at Community college and apply to target and safety schools too.
I am also looking to transfer to NU next Fall.
College: Sophomore-Junior college
Major: Economics
GPA: 3.73
SAT: 1490-Just retook on October 7th
EC: Captain of my junior college baseball team, Phi Theta Kappa member, head resident assistant of student housing, involved in community service at a local retirement home, working a part-time job.
I also have an uncle that works as an adjunct professor of chemistry research at Northwestern writing me a letter of recommendation. I also have several of my current professors writing me recommendations as well.
I did not apply to Northwestern out of high school, so hopefully, my academics and strong recommendations will be good enough. I will be applying as a junior. If accepted I would like to walk-on to the baseball team as well. Any insights or advice as to what else I can do would be appreciated!
Stats time, applying as a rising junior
College: Merrimack College
Major: Economics; Minor: Mathematics, English, Corporate Finance and Investments
GPA: 4.0 (may fall this after this semester, but no lower than a 3.95)
EC’s
Financial Analyst in the Merrimack Investment Fund
a student run fund managing $100,000 allocated to us by the school
1 of 8 students selected and the only sophomore
Supplemental Instruction Leader in Economics
sort of like a TA but I don’t grade papers or test, I run out of the class sessions rehashing and reteaching the material to a group of 71 students taking an intro to Econ course
Treasurer for American Marketing Association
Student Ambassador
giving tours, sitting at the welcome center desk
Staff writer for the odyssey online at Merrimack College
also working with the athletic communications office to provide coverage for our D1 hockey team
Member of the Merrimack Financial Group
Senator on Student Government Association
member of the academic affairs committee
Residential Advisor
as of next semester
Letters of Rec should be very strong, one of them coming from someone who used to worked in admissions at Wharton, not sure what that is worth though.
High School stats
GPA: 3.2 UW, 3.6 W
SAT: 1820
EC’s
Lacrosse
2 years junior varsity, 2 years varsity
Golf
3 years varsity, captain junior and senior year, all state honorable mention senior year
High school GPA and SAT score are quite a bit lower than what Northwestern would be looking for, however I had extenuating circumstances in high school (financial insecurity, living in poverty, off of food stamps, etc) that to some extent explain the grades and score. I’ve done everything in my power to distance myself from that and show that those stat are in no way a representation of myself as a student.
I also applied out of high school and was rejected, if that is worth noting.
Applying as an upcoming sophomore
College: UF
Major: Chemistry and Math
HS GPA: 3.5 something UW with a top 18% rank
ACT: 35 with an 8/12 on writing
HS Info: I have dealt with family issues that were intense and a big priority for me from seventh grade to eleventh grade. I was also diagnosed with IBS and acid reflux; as minor as it may sound, the daily prescription that I take has helped me tremendously. I took the most rigorous course-load in my school, and I have gotten an A- in Physical Chem 1, A in Orgo 1, A in ODE, B+ in UNIX, B in a grad level materials course, and a B in genetics during my senior year of high school (some of these courses have different grading scales than the rest) at a top 100 university if it makes a difference. Overall, I learned how to really mature in high school from eleventh grade and beyond with balancing school with everything else; I had a 3.75+ UW GPA for the last two years of my high school. I understand that there will be other people with similar scenarios who have been stellar from the start. Nonetheless, I just hope my record doesn’t hurt me that much.
College Stuff:
-First semester GPA: 3.77 with an A in Analytical Chem, A- in honors physics 2, A in honors calc 3, A in Bio 1 with an A in the lab, B in Moral Philosophy (third year philosophy course here; it’s recognized as a tough class even for philosophy majors)
-Second semester: Physical Chemistry 2, Logic and Proof-writing, Bio 2 with lab, Physics 2 lab, Good Life (a mandatory course that freshmen at UF have to take), History of Jazz
After getting the feel of transitioning into college, I think I can get all A’s or close to it for my midterm report. Would this help?
Extracurriculars
Car design
Research in photovoltaics
Chem and Calc tutor
Intramural Soccer
Bowling
Learning how to make synthetic pop music (more like a hobby that I love)
Volunteering at a soup kitchen and hospital next semester
I was rejected out of high school, but I felt that I could have definitely made my Northwestern supplement more unique.
I am also applying to UNC and Cornell Arts and Sciences.
@Alpinyo I think on their transfer admissions page it says they usually accept people with a B average. If you are able to demonstrate that your 3.25 is the result of taking especially rigorous courses or that some other reason has contributed to your having this GPA, then I think that the admissions counselors would take that it account in evaluating your application. If you do not apply though, you’ll never know if your GPA was too low for consideration. If $75 is something that you can afford, then I don’t see why you shouldn’t give it a shot.
I took at summer classes at another institution to get credits for Boston University. However, after the classes started I got an amazing fulltime internship opportunity so I stopped going to classes and it was too late the withdraw. One of the classes was attendance mandatory so I got an F, and in the other one attendance covered a great deal but not mandatory so I managed to get a B- by doing good on the exams hence got the credits. Now, I am freaking out that they will look down on those grades. What should I do? I forgot to mention this in my common application.
I’m applying to CAS as an incoming junior!!
College: Illinois community college
Major: Psychology. Minor: English
GPA: 4.0
HS GPA: 3.9
ACT: 27 (y i k e s)
EC: Lots of volunteering, community service, some leadership positions, constant paid work, classical piano, etc.
Essays: Extremely proud of them!