On the right track?

Transfer Students
1

<p>For those who don't know my situation, I'm an incoming freshman looking to transfer.</p>

<p>Before anyone criticizes me about thinking of transferring, here are my reasons:
1. The college I will be matriculating at won't have the major I want (nor will it have any minor, concentration, or resources for it). </p>

<ol>
<li><p>It struck me as too impersonal and large, as it has more than 20,000 students enrolled and I could feel the "lost in the crowd" feeling when I visited for an event for freshmen. The campus itself even looks like it's half community college and half industrial office company.</p></li>
<li><p>The courses and its academics aren't very well-rounded, as it's heavily geared towards the sciences, CS, and business with few literature, writing, and humanities courses available to undergrads in comparison -- and a lot of their natural science course offerings can be found even at LAC's, so that department is nothing special. </p></li>
<li><p>Most students commute, and I will be among the minority to live in the dorms.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Despite all these negatives, however, the students and faculty seem very nice, for the most part (I guess it's because they have to for orientation). Also, even though I'm keeping the idea of transferring in my mind, I'm still giving this place a chance. I won't purposefully hibernate in my dorm, hell-bent on getting out; I'm asserting myself, joining clubs, getting as involved as I can, and making the most of my time here. If anyone wonders why I didn't just take a gap year, my parents didn't support the idea; though I explained how the gap year programs I applied to are beneficial and enriching, worthwhile experiences, they just couldn't accept the "non-traditional" path and thought that I'd be wasting a year. They did, however, give me their blessing for transferring.</p>

<h1>Nevertheless, I want to know if I stand a chance as a transfer. I understand if there can't be a fair assessment of my chances because I haven't started college yet, but seeing as though I plan on transferring either mid-year or as a sophomore next fall, my high school record will have an impact (even more so as a mid-year), so I want to know if my high school record is good enough at least to put me on the right track.</h1>

<p>HS GPA: 3.91 (UW), 4.18 (W); Most rigorous schedule all 4 years</p>

<p>School doesn't rank</p>

<p>ACT: 33 (36E/34M/30R/32S)</p>

<p>ECs: Latin tutor for all four years, Varsity Swimming & Water Polo (state champs Jr. Year), worked for cultural groups at local church, 500+ hours service (300 of which come from being a counselor at a camp for children with muscular dystrophy), choir member all 4 years</p>

<h1>Awards: Summa Cum Laude at graduation, National Latin Exam (gold medalist 9th, 10th grade; silver medalist 12th grade; "Cum Laude" 11th grade), Top student (9th & 10th grade Latin, AP Biology, and AP Latin), most accomplished senior in Latin</h1>

<p>Schools (grouped according to acceptance rates):</p>

<p>Amherst
Swarthmore
Bowdoin
Haverford
Carleton</p>

<p>Vassar
Pomona
Davidson
Macalester
Rice</p>

<p>Richmond
Vanderbilt
Emory</p>

<h1>Notre Dame</h1>

<p>LACs give me what I want: an experience tailored to undergrads, great community and solidarity among students, emphasis on critical thinking skills, and intimacy. It took me until AFTER the freshman college admissions cycle to realize what I truly want in a college as I didn't apply to any as a senior, hence the emphasis on LACs and a desire for redemption. Of course, I would still be ecstatic if I got into ANY one of those schools, including the universities.</p>

<p>One school that caught my attention was Vassar, which is the only one on the list that allows and accepts mid-year freshman transfers. I called admissions and they said they don't discriminate frosh from other upperclassmen transfers, nor do they see it as a disadvantage. They also said that they accept fresh. transfers almost every year (how many it's hard to say, according to them. They said they accept on avg. 10% of spring applicants, and probably a bit less than half of those are freshmen).</p>

<p>I want to know if I'm not only on the right track for all those schools for soph. year, but also if I'm on the right track for Vassar's spring application should I decide to apply as a mid-year. If not, then I might as well not waste an application because if (when) I get rejected as a mid-year I can't reapply during the same year.</p>

<p>Sorry for the long post. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Hello! No one will know until your first semester grades come back how good of a chance you will have at transferring. You did very well in high school so I assume you will have a decent GPA in college. What it will come down to will be the essay you write and how strong that is. They will want to see how you came to this realization and the things that you now understand you want from your undergraduate education that you cannot get at your current institution for your common application essay. For your school-by-school essays you will need to get really specific about why these schools are better for you and what you believe you can add to that specific campus community.</p>

<p>What will you give to Vassar? What new prospective will you provide the school? Will you start a new club? Will you research? Will you be involved on-campus in a specific area? What makes you so different and special that they should take you? I know these are some very difficult questions to answer; however, you will need to answer them in order to gain admission to one of these schools (a very competitive list of schools you have going by the way).</p>

<p>I recently transferred to Wesleyan University (which you should take a look at because it is similar to Vassar). My best advice about applying as a transfer would be to really look at what you want. On paper you seem to have it down: LAC, strong community, emphasis on critical thinking, and intimate atmosphere. You generally cannot get too intimate in an atmosphere with more than 7000 or 8000 undergraduate students and most of the colleges you are looking at are VERY VERY liberal with a student body of about 2000 or 3000. Other things to consider are the local environments (you seem to be all over the map with campus surroundings and geographic region), campus culture (if you want an activist, conservative, party, or any other type of atmosphere), and the offerings the school has academically. Talk to students and find out what they love and hate about the school! If they hate that they have too many classes they want to take and too many clubs they want to be involved in, but need time to sleep and eat the amazing food (so amazing they gained 10 pounds), that is a school to look at. If they hate that there is nothing to do on weekends and it reminds them of high school, maybe ask for a few more opinions, but be wary.</p>

<p>Good luck next year with everything!</p>

3

<p>Thanks a lot for your awesome advice! I will keep your guidance at heart. Before posting this thread I did a bit of research, so my list isn’t on a whim. For example, Vassar has an open curriculum and is the only one I know so far that incorporates field work in every department, including my intended major. Vassar also has its own mock version of a “green party” and other political parties on campus. Haverford not only has its Bi/Tri-Co with BMC, but that cooperation enhances its Classics department (my intended major). Haverford is also the only one I know that holds Greek and Latin plays for fun, making it the only school I know so far on my list to incorporate what we study into forms of entertainment and as extracurriculars.</p>

<p>As to the geographic locations of these schools, as long as I’m out of my state I’m good (Rice is the exception. Its happy students, excellent organization, and Classics department with its independent program that is incredibly flexible caught my eye). I would like all 4 seasons and cooler climates for a change, and seeing as I’m lodged pretty deep in the south, there’s nowhere else to go but up north.</p>

<p>I consider myself fairly liberal, and considering that I’m in Texas who’s constantly surrounded by conservatives in my neighborhood and high school, those schools are like a breath of fresh air.</p>

<p>I guess it’s a little too early to ask for chances now, especially for those schools where I’ll be entering as a sophomore.</p>

<p>I just need to know whether my HS record is good enough to keep the idea of mid-year or bad enough to ditch it. Vassar is a pretty valuable school on my list and I don’t want to waste my chance because I chose the wrong time to apply or because my HS record wasn’t competitive enough to cut it for mid-year.</p>

4

<p>Your scores seem to be in line with Vassar, so I would encourage you to apply early if that is what you want!</p>

<p>A word of caution: Vassar does not have an open curriculum. The only colleges with a fully open curriculum are Brown, Amherst, Grinnell, Smith, and Eugene Lang College. While Vassar has a relatively hands off policy they do have a language requirement and some distribution requirements.</p>

<p>For the liberal out-of-Texas vibe I would look at Wesleyan (I do believe we offer spring transfers although you would have to look at if you could do that as a Freshman or not), Haverford, Swarthmore, Oberlin, Mac, Amherst, Carleton, Brown, and Hampshire. They all have very similar student bodies and similar if not more open curricula. </p>

<p>You may also want to look at colleges that offer co-op programs. I know that Northeastern requires you to get an internship and work for (I believe) one semester, which is pretty similar to the field work at Vassar.</p>

5

<p>Thanks again for your help! Yeah I guess “open curriculum” was too liberal, but Vassar’s curriculum is much more lax than most other places.</p>

<p>I sure hope my scores are in line. It would be nice to apply mid-year but I’m not so sure about asking for LOR’s after only a month or two has gone by.</p>

<p>I would have to cross off Brown because FA is a factor for me, and judging by all the previous Brown Transfer threads, FA is a big detriment to the application and I heard that the FA isn’t very good.</p>

6

<p>bump for one more quick question: When should I start working on my essays if I go for mid-year? Thanks!</p>