<p>Hello. I have a horrible GPA of 3.0 (freshman - junior) and an atrocious ACT score of 29. Senior year first semester GPA is ~3.7. It is highly unlikely my top schools of choice will accept me. Considering I get a 3.8+ in college, will I have the slightest chance at a competitive school? (the schools I am referring to are in the top 20 in the U.S. News Rankings and no, I am NOT applying solely for the prestige of the school) Or is your high school transcript still the most important factor as a sophomore transfer?</p>
<p>I know it may seem silly to think about transferring NOW, but honestly, I am not getting in as freshman.</p>
<p>Where are you going next year? But yes, if you do very well wherever you go (3.8+) it is very feasible to transfer into schools in the 20-30 range.</p>
<p>This. When you apply for a soph transfer, you will have completed only 1 sem of college, and the colleges will see at most a mid-year grade report from sp sem. Therefore, your HS record and test scores will be weighted more. So, since a 3.0 is well below the range of a top 20 school for fr admissions, it is highly unlikely that you would have a chance as a soph transfer.</p>
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<p>Again, this. Please believe me when I say that going into your fr year of college with an attitude of not only transferring, but moving ‘up’ to a top school, is likely to lead to a lot of heartache. I’m not saying not to work hard and strive for better things. But enjoy your first year of college, you’ll never be there again. And be realistic, there are so many fine schools out there, if yo really are not solely out for prestige, then you know that.</p>
<p>Honestly, this is my question too. I didn’t do well in high school. I had an upward trend, but my cumulative was around 3.57, with SATs 1570/2260, with the most rigorous curriculum. I have no doubt this grade kept me from many schools, but right now I have a 3.89 in my college. I don’t know how that will be viewed.</p>
<p>I did very poorly in HS too, and also had an upward trend which continued into my Freshman year (now). I’m applying to schools to transfer this month for Fall '12. So as someone who was approximately where you are, but a year ago, I will let you know that I feel like I have a much better chance of getting into better schools as a transfer now and I’m glad that I spent this semester raising my GPA. Also, I’ve heard that schools accept transfers much more easily than incoming freshman. I think what you plan to do is a good idea.</p>
<p>It all depends on which school, you can’t make general statements like these to cover everything from HYS to your IS public. The OP is asking about top 20 schools, most top 20 schools have significantly lower admissions rates for transfers than they do for fr applicants due to high retention rates.</p>
<p>Well it depends where you’re applying. I was in the same boat as you, moved around a lot, loads of family crap and even though I was in AP classes I didn’t do all that well. I’m in my CC now as a Freshman and I have a 3.8 GPA, 3 summer classes, 6 in the fall and now I’m taking 2 winter classes and at the start of Spring I’ll have 30 credits. So when I apply, I won’t have to send in SATs and HS transcript. There are a lot of schools that don’t look at HS transcript and SATs after a certain number of credits or years in college. NYU doesn’t require those after a year in college, neither does William & Mary. George Washington and Fordham don’t require those after 30 credits and American doesn’t require those after 24 credits. </p>