I’m a 16 year old transfer student, and my dream school is Cornell. My mom isn’t allowing me to apply there, as she thinks that I don’t have any chances of getting in, and wants me to concentrate on applying to USC and the UC’s (I live in California.) I was wondering whether I have any chances of getting in. If the answer is “probably not,” then I will probably not bother applying, as I don’t want to enrage my mother further. Please be as honest as possible, guys.
These are my stats:
Biochem Major:
3.75 GPA with 50 units
50 hours worth of volunteering with American Cancer Society; my essay is going to be about how overcoming cancer has enabled me to discover what I want to do in life: be a cancer researcher.
80 hours volunteering with a Food bank
150-hour internship with a private company
50-hour internship with the government
40-hour internship with a lab
Model United Nations delegate
Swimming team captain (not good enough to be recruited, though)
2 semesters of tutoring my peers
Since you’re 16, are you a junior or sophomore? If a sophomore there is still time to raise your GPA a bit. Your GPA is on the lower end, but it really depends on your standing in your graduating class. Also, the test scores you have could help negate your GPA. You mentioned that you overcame cancer, which if you do write an amazing essay will again add to your application. You could also mention how overcoming cancer affected your academic performance. Your EC’s look very good, so that’s not an issue. Most important predictor will be the test scores and essay to overcome your GPA.
Wow, you are awesome! Congratulations on kicking cancer’s a$$!!! You are off to a great start and with you working hard on your coursework this year, I’m sure you can bring up your gpa. Remember that showing an upward trend with your grades shows committment, focus and character. Also, make sure you carve out time for studying for the SAT/ACT. Doing well will definitely help your chances.
Coming from a mom who has a child with a life threatening disability…please consider that the idea of sending our children off to college, let alone to attend out of state, is terrrifying for us. Try sitting down with your mom and seeing if this is the underlying issue, then go from there. Good luck!
Have you had an honest talk with her? I’m guessing she probably doesn’t want you to be that far away from home at your age.
Congrats on beating cancer as well as your academic accomplishments. Wherever you end up, make the most of it.
congrats!
colleges love those who are cured of cancer because those people are unique. Go have at it! You may make it
Can I ask when you had cancer? If you had it during your freshman year, and that brought your gpa down…or maybe you had it in middle school and were still recovering, that could help to explain your slightly lower grades. I think you have a chance. I don’t see the harm in applying (unless you truly think your mother will give you too much grief over it).
Honestly, I think you have at least a 50/50 shot, depending on your scores, course rigor and essays, as well as remaining grades.
Thanks a lot for the support, guys. Sorry for the mix-up; I’m actually in Community College, and am planning to transfer soon. I’m probably not going to take the SAT/ACT, as most schools don’t require it to transfer. I had cancer when I was 14 and am thankfully completely healed.
Again, thanks a lot, guys! This has been really helpful.
Cornell’s most recent transfer student profile is here:
http://irp.dpb.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Profile2016-Fall-Transfers.pdf
Unfortunately, Cornell does not seem to be very transparent about the academic qualifications of admitted transfer students, unlike the UCs, which provide much more useful information:
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major
Unlike the UCs which admit most transfers from community colleges, Cornell admits most transfers from four year schools. Cornell also requires more application items, such as recommendations from college instructors, high school and college transcripts, SAT or ACT scores if taken previously, report from your current college, and progress reports from instructors of your current courses.
https://admissions.cornell.edu/apply/transfer-applicants/admission-requirements
But it is possible that your mother is not telling you the real reason she does not want you to go to Cornell, since she cannot be any more certain than anyone here that it would be a completely futile application.
You can’t get into Cornell as a transfer student without taking the SAT/ACT, so if you won’t take it, your decision is made.
I agree that your mom may want you close to home due to your age, and possibly also due to your past illness. I’m a mom - I wouldn’t be interested in having my 16 year old go to college halfway across the country, so I get it. If that’s one of the real reasons behind her decision, if you want to honor that, perhaps consider trying for some elite level schools in CA, such as Stanford. But again, you’d need the SAT.
https://admissions.cornell.edu/apply/transfer-applicants/admission-requirements says for transfer applicants:
What is it about Cornell that makes it your dream school? And why is it better than USC or the UC’s? If you cannot answer those questions then forget Cornell. And don’t say “because it is an Ivy”.
Oh, cool. I didn’t see that re: Cornell. Excellent.
re #7:
The linked profile does show matriculating students by college, but it does not show # applicants or # admitted. The university used to publish breakouts of transfer applicant applied/accepted/attending numbers by college (no score stats though),buried in their institutional research website. But I don’t know if these are available anymore.
The numbers are somewhat confounded by the fact that the contract colleges issue “guaranteed transfers”, which are conditional deferred acceptance offers, to some proportion of unsuccessful applicants for freshman admission. And they also have articulation agreements with a number of community colleges to accept their graduates, subject to meeting various conditions. Some proportion of the transfer applicants who are admitted have guaranteed transfers or are applying per these articulation agreements.
Nor does it show anything about the academic qualifications (primarily prior college GPA) of transfer applicants and admits for each division. That is what I meant by not being very transparent about transfer admissions.
Take the SAT and then apply to Cornell.
If you do well on the standardized test, and if you continue to perform well in CC, then I would say that your cancer backstory would give you at least a fighting chance at Cornell, which is by far the transfer-friendliest of the Ivy League schools.
My wife teaches at a CC in SoCal, and she has seen a surprisingly large number of her former students end up being accepted as transfers in the Ivy League. Let your mom know that it is a feasible scheme.
“Enraged” is a pretty strong word. If things really are that bad, you may want to proceed carefully.
I’m no medical expert, but I’m a survivor too. I had a mastectomy and radiation in 2008. And I’ve never heard of anyone being declared “completely cured” at the 2 year mark. My guess is that mom want you on the same coast as your docotor until you hit the 5 year mark. Ithaca is an awful long way from California.
And honestly, as a mom and a fellow survivor, I can see her point.
Are you dual enrolled? In that case you’d apply as a freshman (better for financial aid) but would receive advanced standing.