<p>Okay, like it is implied in my user name, I recently graduated from high school (Yay!!!). I am really excited about college and will be attending Emory University in the fall. Already, I am considering to transfer to Duke, which I know is a difficult, almost impossible task. I applied to Duke ED this past fall and unfortunately was rejected. Though Emory is a top school, I am still in love with Duke because it has the healthy combination of school spirit and strong academics. I know I'm wrong for not even giving Emory a chance, but my heart is still set on Duke since I dreamed of going there since I was like nine. Considering that my college GPA is competitive, should I even consider transferring even if Duke admits like 5% of it transfers and also since I was previously rejected? </p>
<p>Btw (if this helps): I am an African American female
Final High School GPA: 3.5ish UW/ 4.4 W
Average Test Scores/ I plan to retake them though
HS ECs: National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Wind Ensemble (Band; I played Percussion) Ebony Society (a service club), Peer Mediation, Part time job since sophomore year.</p>
<p>Thank you all in advance for advice/comments. I'm sorry for the long post.</p>
<p>Since you were rejected as a freshman and the admission rate is even lower for transferrs, the chance that you will be admitted to Duke as a soph is extremely low. When you apply as a soph transfer, you will only have completed 1 sem/qt of college work, so you will be mainly evaluated on what you did in HS. Applying as a jr transfer you will be assesed more heavily on your college accomplishments, however at a school the level of Duke, everything you have done will count to some extent.</p>
<p>My advice is to go to Emory (a great school) with an open mind and enjoy your freshman year, you’ll never get it to do over again!</p>
<p>I hate to burst entomom’s bubble, but I was accepted to Duke as a sophomore transfer student just this past year, which is proof that anything is possible. Come back after first semester, and we’ll see.</p>
<p>I kind of think entomom is mistaken, one of the points of being a transfer student is reapplying to your dream school after you’ve attended one year in college. especially after applying ED, it shows your ultimate dedication and if your GPA is good, it will reflect that you’re working hard because you want to go to Duke more than anything!</p>
<p>I was rejected by one of my top choice schools as a senior and I reapplied this year (and they are much more competitive with transfers than regular decision) and only presented 3 grades (one semester) and was accepted!</p>
<p>Thank you all for the advice! And btw, entomom, thank you for giving me a more “realistic” view of my situation; I rather expect the worst rather than have high hopes so I can better cope with rejection. John Dorian and Sofy, thank you both for the motivation and also for your own stories of success with transferring. I have a few questions: Like I stated earlier in the thread, my SAT/ACT scores were mediocre and that I plan to retake them; Does Duke even consider scores after I retake them in college? Or is it just scores from high school? (I checked Duke’s website, but it didn’t say.) Also my GPA did decrease my senior year (3.8 to 3.6) since I took 5 AP courses while holding a part time job during the school year (bad combination.) I had to have a job to aid my family financially. Should I bother to state this in a letter? And lastly, how do adcom generally view students who previously applied/ were rejected to their college. Is their response like “Oh s@#%, not this kid again!!” or “Wow, this kid really wants to go here!”? Or does it depend? Thank you all again in advance for your comments and once again I apologize for the long post.</p>
<p>Reading comprehension please, I said “extremely low”, and I’ll stand by that.</p>
<p>I think it’s great that you got into your “dream” schools as soph transfers! Now, go read the transfer results threads for selective colleges and do the numbers.</p>
<p>entomom is still dead-on right. The odds are against you, and it will take stellar grades to be accepted. I think what worked best for me were my letters of recommendations from professors in large lecture lasses and my personal essays, specifically my “Why Duke?” essay. As for the SAT, I would not retake it. The SAT is a “predictor” of how well college-bound high school students will do their freshmen years as undergraduates. Obviously if you end up with a 4.0 first semester, and you’ll get the same for second semester most likely, then you just might pull through for transfer admissions. Still, the competition is stiff.</p>
<p>Pretty much everything has to work out almost “perfectly” first semester and your essays really need to shine.</p>
<p>I recently got into Duke as a transfer student, and I’m from a community college…keep the hopes alive, and good luck! Based on the few people I talked from the Duke University office, they are really amazing people Can’t wait to start in fall.</p>
<p>Yes, I would say the same about the ACT. I know this sounds rough, but barring unusual circumstances, odds will be severely against you if your GPA isn’t at or above a 3.70 after first semester considering only 50 applicants are accepted out of 700+.</p>
<p><em>sigh</em> so basically I would increase my chances by transferring as a junior. While I don’t mind any process to improve my chances at Duke, I still worry that I won’t fit in socially as a junior since many of the other students know each other from freshman/sophomore year.</p>
<p>my advice is that for now, focus on your experience at Emory! I know Duke is your dream but Emory is a phenomenal school, work hard but go out and have a good time too!</p>
<p>If you focus too much on transferring, you might not be able to take full advantage of your freshmen year experience. I definitely missed out on some (although not all) fun experiences by being fixated on transferring.</p>
<p>I second sofy. For some people (like community college students), transfer is the only option for a BA-generating college experience. But Emory? Wow! You should be proud of yourself. :)</p>
Can’t wait to start in fall.</p>