Prospective Transfer, particularly Wesleyan

Transfer Students
1

I am currently a freshmen attending a top 100 LAC near home, but I have grown unsatisfied with the experience here. I want to be surrounded by peers who have a high desire for learning, and push me to think differently and think more. The classes here are intellectually stimulating, but the student body is severely lacking in rigor. I also am not a fan of the fact that the overwhelming majority of the students come from my state; I would like some diversity in that regard.

I came to school here because of the attractive financial package and the ability to my sport at the college level. However, college sports was not as crucial to my college experience as I thought it would be, and fortunately I am in a position in which my parents can pay full price for most schools (they also support my decision to transfer if that is what I choose to do).

Stats:
SAT: 2080 (700 M, 660 CR, 720 W)
ACT: 30 (33E, 33M, 30R, 27S)
SAT II, Math II: 770
SAT II, Chemistry: 770

One of my regrets in the application process coming out of high school was that I only took each test once in the spring of my junior year (2015). I will be taking the ACT again and am aiming for 32-33 at the very least; I believe I have come a long way academically in the last two years and will study over winter break as well.

High school unweighted GPA: 4.0
High school weighted GPA: 7.2/6.0 (we had a weird scale)
Class rank: 4/500
AP Scores:
Psych, Human, Calc BC, AB Subscore - 5
Chem, Lit, Lang, Physics 1, Macro - 4

Major: Computer Science
College Grades at the moment (18 credits):
Freshmen Seminar: A+
Bio I: A
CS I: A+
Electronics: A
Misc. class called Effective Thinking: A

I will be taking 18 credits in the spring as well.

Other activities:

  • 1 of the credits I am taking next semester is an independent study/ research in theoretical computer science that I am doing with a professor.
  • Varsity Sport: 15+ hours/week in most months of the year
  • Volunteer tutoring: 3 hours/week, middle schoolers are bussed to our school and we mentor them, helping them with homework and doing enrichment activities together. I really enjoy this as we are assigned to a kid so that we are able to build a relationship with them over the course of the semester, and my kid is very outgoing.
  • ACM club: 2 hours/week
  • I worked over the summer and had high school EC’s but do not think they are necessary to mention for this post

What might be my chances at the following schools, and do you have any suggestions for other schools I should look into?:

  • Wesleyan (testing optional, I will only send SATII’s if I do not improve my scores), my top choice
  • Amherst (testing optional, but recommended)
  • Vanderbilt (test scores required)
  • Pomona (test scores required, application deadline before I get scores back from new ACT test, so admission would be based on my current test scores)

Thank you for reading and any feedback is much appreciated!

2

Since you’ll be entering as a sophomore, your high school grades will be taken into consideration but fortunately your hard work paid off- in that respect you’re golden.
Your test scores, as you’re aware, are but decent fall below the average for Vandy and Pomona(the former being quite score-oriented).

If I were you, I’d add a few more matches to your list. Wesleyan is a great match I believe! Have you thought about UVa or Chapel Hill?
Perhaps switch out Pomona(transfer acceptance rate extremely low, check out the 2016 transfer rates thread) for Rice? It’s still a reach, but an amazing university for your area.

3

@AGoodFloridian
You are probably right, Vanderbilt and Pomona aren’t very realistic even if I improved my scores. As for Amherst, I definitely think I can get a 32, which is their average. Question: Amherst is test optional, but recommended, would it hurt my chances to not submit my scores? I think my application would look better without them assuming I don’t get at least a 32.

I am not particularly interested in large public schools like UNC and UVA, I could have gone to UT Austin for their reputable computer science program, but decided against it since it doesn’t really align with what I’m looking for in a school. You also mentioned that I should add a few more matches, but I don’t think it would worth it to completely uproot my current life to attend a marginally better school. Perhaps my mind will change with time. I hope Wesleyan is good match as well!

I was rejected from Rice last year, and my scores are not really near their standards (as you said, reach).

4

Vanderbilt can still be in arm’s reach if you improve the score by a point or two and I think it’s a valid choice. It’s been one of my top choices as a transfer student since I started this whole process! They don’t have a specific supplement so applying would only “hurt” financially speaking (app fee). As for Pomona, it was one of my choices as well but…eh… Too reach-y for my taste.

5

Umm… Amherst is not test optional.

Notable test optional LACs include Middlebury, Bowdoin, and Wesleyan, but not Amherst.

6

Ooops strike that. You are a transfer applicant. My mistake.

7

For CS, I’d suggest that LACs discussed here be among those you consider (Hamilton, Grinnell, Vassar, Denison et al):

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19416515#Comment_19416515