Penn transfer? bad HS, good college.

Transfer Students
1

<p>I'm looking to transfer into the University of Pennsylvania for a place in the sophomore class.</p>

<p>To give you a quick background, I'm a college freshman whose high school record was marred by a combination of apathy and sickness. Now, I've changed, yada yada ...</p>

<p>Is it worth applying?</p>

<p>High School Stats:</p>

<p>SATs-</p>

<p>CR- 740
Math- 620
Writing- 710</p>

<p>2070/1360</p>

<p>I know the math score sucks. In HS, I had a serious aversion to math, had terrible attendance, etc, and that definitely affected my score. Additionally, I got really nervous during the actual test and froze up pretty bad. This semester, I got an "A" in a math class in which the class GPA was a 2.2 (1 of 5 people in a class of 70 to get an "A" or higher)... do you think this will mitigate my math SAT at all?</p>

<p>GPA- ~3.4</p>

<p>More suckage.</p>

<p>APs-</p>

<p>US History- 4
European History- 3
Environmental Science- 5
Spanish Language- 5</p>

<p>College Stats:</p>

<p>School- Indiana University at Bloomington</p>

<p>Major- Linguistics (Penn has a great linguistics department, esp. sociolinguistics, and this is one of my reasons for transferring)</p>

<p>Fall '08 classes/grades/GPA-</p>

<p><a href="http://localhostr.com/files/122d88/grades.png%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://localhostr.com/files/122d88/grades.png&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Schedule for spring '09-</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>Microeconomics 201
Italian 250
Linguistics Independent Study (Acquisition of Spanish Syntax) 408
Linguistic Analysis 303
Psychology 101</p>

<p>Electives:</p>

<p>Cello
Judo</p>

<p>total: 18 credit hours</p>

<p>Aiming for straight A's on the midterm report.</p>

<p>Do these stats bode well for a shot at admission? Does the fact that I won't need financial aid in the current economic climate make it any more propitious? Any advice would be greatly appreciated apropos of bettering my chances, like is it necessary to interview, etc...</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>wow, your last semester was impressive…your school doesnt give a 4.3 for A+'s?..you really gotta have strong ec’s that demonstrate leadership or a passion…i would say its worth transferring if your ec’s are strong…i think if you applied next year however for junior standing with those kinds of grades you would be a very strong applicant</p>

3

<p>

</p>

<p>This is what I feared :(</p>

<p>In HS, my indifference extended beyond the classroom… not too many extracurriculars.</p>

<p>Let’s see…</p>

<p>-Played cello in a competitive youth orchestra
-Organized/played gigs with my band
-… Probably a few more “laundry list” type ECs</p>

<p>In college I tried to get involved, but leadership/administrative positions were pretty limited for freshmen.</p>

<p>I ended up volunteering with Habitat for Humanity a bunch of times and I tried a few different clubs… Judo was the most interesting and I’m taking a Judo class this semester.</p>

<p>It’s pretty embarrassing to have been such a moron in high school; I don’t know if I should tip-toe around the subject in my app or be painfully honest. I figure it’s not a good idea to bring up the negatives… what do you think?</p>

4

<p>well applying next year might be your best bet, i really think you would have a really good shot if you can keep up (or near it) your gpa…everything you did in hs will mean far less if you apply next year…what are your intellectual interests? Try and find a group on campus that does something you find interesting…getting an internship is always a good thing to put on your app…</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>Yep. More college grades=less HS emphasis. The thing is, I can’t stand my current uni and I’m inclined to apply this year. If I apply and get rejected, is that going to hurt my chances next year assuming the grades stay the same?</p>

6

<p>I was wondering what are my chances are to transfer. I am considering applying ot Wharton but I also may just apply to the College.</p>

<p>College: Northwestern University
HS GPA: 93.35/100 (Private Jesuit High School)
College GPA: 4.0 (so far)
Credits: 4 classes this trimester, 5 for next 2 trimesters
Major: Economics, Math
Clubs: HS - Model UN Secretary General of 2 conferences, Mock Trial Team Captain, All School Vice President, Masterminds Captain, Member of Varsity Tennis
College: Community Service, Model UN, Working on creating new volunteer tutor organization
SAT Reasoning: 1520/2320
AP: World 5, US 5, Bio 5, AB 4, Lit 5, Macro 4, Micro 5, French 2, Physics 3, Stats 4
Job: Private Tutor, Work Study Job as Attendant in on campus business
Awards: National Merit Winner, National AP Scholar
Familial ties: None
Ethnicity: Indian
Dark side: Low High School GPA
Bright side: Completely focused now that I’m at college and realized that I needed to work harder.</p>

<p>What do you guys think?</p>

7

<p>Feel free to post in my official Penn CAS applicants thread</p>

8

<p>

</p>

<p>Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t your HS GPA be considered an “A”, i.e., a 4.0?
That’s real low :rolleyes:</p>

9

<p>93.35 is a strong A-…so perhaps it would be equivalent to a bit over an A-/3.5 and in the 3.6ish range? i dont think that thats a dark side…granted, most people accepted to wharton out of hs have a little bit higher gpa, its not going to hold you back all too much…the rest of your app. is pretty intimidating, to say the least…you’ll have a good shot, make sure that your recs/essay are really on point…</p>

10

<p>if u guys are plannnin to transfer to WHARTON, make sure to checklist u have completed/will complete the required courses !!!</p>

11

<p>What ECs do you have in college and not hs ( maybe I read your post wrong but I assumed the activities you mentioned were all from HS)? They don’t care if you’re the president of 019382103 clubs, but you need to show that you can contribute a good amount out of class as well.</p>