Title says it all.
Less than applying as a HS senior
I know its much harder to get in as a transfer, but is it even more so if you’ve been rejected before?
@mdorbust depends on the quality of the university you end up attending as a freshman, how well you end up doing there and most importantly if you have a valid reason for wanting to transfer, or you are just chasing prestige. adcom is very good at sniffing the latter people out.
@Penn95 I’ll be attending SDSU in the fall. I expect to do reasonably well and would want to transfer for increasing opportunities, not prestige.
Reapplying to the same schools that rejected you won’t do a whole lot of good. If nothing has changed, their decision won’t change.
SDSU is a great school with a huge alumni network.
There are connections all over the state and country.
Name and prestige only go so far.
@“aunt bea” I am 90% sure that I was rejected because of a low GPA. I went to a high school that was notorious for being difficult and got my *** handed to me. I barely made it out alive with a 3.1 W GPA. I ended up learning study skills and whatnot before junior year, earning great grades. My counselor and I made sure to speak eloquently about the learning experiences I gained, but the competition is just so brutal that I never stood a shot amongst all the 4.0 students. Now that I’ve learned to overcome setbacks, I’m confident that I’ll do much better in college. I’m pretty confident that my ECs, essays, etc. would have been very powerful paired with a higher GPA, but that’s all behind me now. That’s why I wish to transfer, and why I think those schools may want to reconsider me once I’ll have a year or two of doing well in college in addition to doing well in my upperclassmen years in high school.
It’s not that you’re terrible – it’s just that the applicant pool is so extraordinary. You weren’t even offered a WL spot – that should tell you relatively how “close” you were. Typical successful transfers are those who rec’d admits to super selective schools such as Yale. Your HS record will be examined and again, you’ll have wasted energy and emotion. Please look at #5 and dive in fully! You’ll have a wonderful time.
@T26E4 Yeah, I know what you mean. Why should they accept someone with a lower GPA but better qualitative aspects when there’s thousands who have great ECs, essays, etc. AND a high GPA? My logic here is just that I’d have a better chance at transferring when I fall into the latter category. Maybe not at Yale per se, but at other top schools. There’s always grad school for HYS anyways 
maturing while you were in HS and seeing success already will put you in good standing come Sept. Wherever you attend, you’ll likely see others w/o those essentials and they may struggle mightily. Best of luck to you!
Yale has this notice on their transfer applicant website
So a transfer applicant needs to have a top GPA at their current college (3.8+), stellar recommendations from their college professors, series involvement with co-curricualr activities at the college level AND have a compelling reason why they cannot achieve their academic goals at their current university.
It’s impossible to achieve the first three items on that list without fully embracing the college you are matriculating to. My advice: Fall in love with the college that feel in love with you! By doing so, you will ensure that you are in the best, most positive place should you decide to transfer to Yale or somewhere else in the future. Best of luck to you!
Would wanting to participate in specific extracurriculars at Yale be a good reason (one of the reasons)? I go to a commuter school so there aren’t many clubs on campus.
@mvb0806: No. Please reread Yale’s statement in Post #10, which is on the transfer applications website.
While extracurriculars (and the residential college system) are certainly enjoyable aspects of a Yale student’s on-campus life, Admissions asks transfer applicants to write about their academic reasons for wanting to attend Yale – educational aspects that cannot be found at their current university or at another university (could be experienced nowhere else). Some examples of this:
- A transfer applicant's current college doesn't have the major the student wants to study, but Yale is noted for that major.
- A transfer applicant has maxed-out all the courses in their field of interest at their current university and wants the depth and breadth of what Yale offers in that field.
- A transfer applicant's academic research parallel's nicely with a noted Yale professor's interests. The applicant has possibly communicated with that professor and wants to study with them at Yale.
Also, look at the Common Data Set (Yale’s most recent is from 2014-15). Just under 1100 students applied to transfer to Yale – they admitted 36 and enrolled 29. That’s a 3.3% acceptance rate. Note that they still require that you submit your high school transcript and test scores, so they will still see those high school grades.
SDSU = San Diego State?
0%.
@8bagels Lol, how so
The odds for anyone from any school are almost 0%.
But from sdsu it’s insurmountable. The best you could do is a 4.0 and Yale isn’t going to be overly impressed with an sdsu 4.0.
It’s kind of like trying to win a gold medal in Olympic diving. You have to have degree of difficulty. Can’t win with a straight swan dive no matter how good it is.
And as a freshman transfer app your HS record is still s big factor.
generally transfer acceptances are more difficult than freshman admittance since there are more limited spots, especially for an Ivy.
@8bagels That’s a ridiculous statement to make, and I’d like to see you back it up with some hard evidence. I highly doubt that Yale adcoms are that elitist.