post-COVID: Is a culminative 3.78 + Extracurriculars enough to transfer to Brown?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
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Hi! I am a current first-semester sophomore who is looking to Transfer to Brown University. I have been in love with the school since my junior year, did pretty well in high school GPA and extracurricular wise but my SAT scores and mental health were not there so I ended up going to a liberal arts school.

GPA -
When I am applying to Brown in the Spring, I will have either 3.79 or a 3.80. The first semester I was at my current school I was suffering from unmanaged anxiety and depression disorder on top of the normal first semester of freshman year blues. Because of this during the first semester of my freshman year, I withdrew from a math class and in the remaining three classes got a calmative of 3.22. Pretty shabby.

I was determined to turn it around in my hopes of transferring and I did. In the spring – while taking one 300 level courses, and three 200 hundred level courses I attained a perfect 4.0, in addition to passing an additional major-related .25 credit course (pass/fail).

Now, this semester I am taking five full credit 300 level courses – I figured the extra academic load would make up for some of my miss social opportunities due to Covid. It’s looking probable that I will get either 4 A’s and a pass or 5 A’s. Either would bring my culminating GPA between 3.78 and 3.8 at the time of applying.

Extracurriculars.

Podcast - I am studying philosophy and Politics and Gov. I also have a passion for the field of Global Catastrophic Risk // existential psychology. Over the summer I started a podcast on the topic of philosophy and global risk and have been steadily growing an audience. Every week I talk with a researcher (usually a professor or researcher from a high ranked school – so far I have had a professor from Brown, a prof. from Columbia University, and 2 researchers from Cambridge in addition to some non-academic guests like artists, non-academic experts, etc…). My podcast has also been reposted to a world top-10 University official website after I conducted an interview with a researcher from there.

Probable Research Opportunities: Currently I am working on a research project through my current university on Philosophy and global risk. My podcast has also allowed me to gain connections at a handful of prestigious research institutions/schools at a couple of different top universities. Through this, it’s looking like I will have a paid research position next semester/next summer at one of these prestigious school’s research institutes.

Volunteering - I have also logged well over 1,000 hours of time in volunteer organizations through high school and college, in addition to being a rower/sailor (unfortunately not a world-class one! Haha)

RA - I am also an RA for my current University and am highly involved in our Residental Life Department.

I am a highly motivated student in and out of the classroom. I am academically diligent and curious and I am always working on some sort of project. I am taking the necessary steps to make sure I can write a thoughtful, effective personal essay, and have found professors who can write me great letters of recommendation.

Given my cumulative GPA of 3.79-3.80, my mental health-related mess up my first semester, and my extracurriculars/research: Do I have a fighting chance of getting into Brown University as a transfer student? Or perhaps Cornell?

Especially considering the slight national bump in accepting transfer applications (although this may not continue).

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Cornell’s transfer acceptance rates are inflated by the Transfer Option program, which guarantees admission to select rejected high school seniors meeting certain requirements.

Brown’s transfer rate was unusually low this year (3.4% vs. 9.4% and 7.4% the 2 previous application cycles,) though this may be due to Admissions purposefully over-enrolling the freshman class ('24) by 100 students. Your high school grades and test scores will still be considered, but a high college GPA may partially offset them.

Do you require financial aid? Brown is need-aware for transfer students (excepting US military service members or veterans,) but does meet your full demonstrated need (as the FA Office calculates it) if admitted.

If 110% interested in transferring out of your current school, it’s important to apply widely (safeties, matches, and reaches,) just as with freshmen college admissions. If not, it’s fine to only apply to reaches----as long as you’d be happy with remaining at your current university if not admitted to any.

Admissions provides some helpful information on the transfer admissions process and the criteria utilized to evaluate applicants: https://admission.brown.edu/transfer/candidates

The Open Curriculum is key to the academic experience at Brown----just as Columbia is set apart from other schools by its Core. Admissions is looking for students with genuine interests in multiple fields who will take advantage of the opportunities at Brown, just as they have at their home university or high school. Departmental websites are a good starting points, as well as any experiences you’ve had with Brown from talking to a current Professor.