<p>Hey all,</p>
<p>I'm currently an undergrad freshman going to a small liberal arts college. I applied to GT last year as a high-school senior, was wait-listed, was wait-listed again from that list, and then received a rejection letter encouraging me to transfer in the future. </p>
<p>I'm thinking of doing exactly that, but are the chances of previously wait-listed transfer applicants truly much better than a regular transfer? (Assuming I don't do phenomenally bad this frosh year.)</p>
<p>If anyone's had experience with this, it would be very helpful.</p>
<p>(FYI. I'm applying to the regular College.)</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I transferred to Georgetown from Duke, and I can attest to the fact that Georgetown is a welcoming place for transfers. A large number of people apply to transfer to Georgetown each year, the sophomore and junior class sizes are increased (there is very low attrition at Georgetown, with approximately 94% of freshmen remaining to graduate, so the freshman class starts at about 1450 but about 1600 students graduate via the addition of transfers to the class) through transfers as the school feels that transfers provide a unique and valuable perspective, and there is an active orientation for transfers. The admissions committees look VERY favorably on students who were waitlisted and extended waitlisted for freshman admission. Where are you attending college now?</p>
<p>Hoyasaxa, I’m applying to both Duke and Georgetown… If you can share, why’d you transfer?</p>
<p>HoyaSaxa1, you’ve given me a phenomenal amount of hope! I’m at Willamette University in Oregon. The financial aid was fantastic and I couldn’t say no last May, but GT hasn’t left my thoughts ever since. I’m definitely giving it another try. :)</p>
<p>Initially, I chose Duke because of the strong academics, beautiful campus, school spirit, but mostly because I won a merit scholarship there. Duke is a great school, but it became clear to me that I wanted a different undergraduate experience that provided more social, cultural, and real-world opportunities. Georgetown provided the best of all worlds–a beautiful, self-contained campus located in the heart of a quintessential college town neighborhood of Georgetown with all of the social, cultural, and academic resources of Washington, DC. I worked at the Spanish Embassy and at National Institutes of Health during the academic year–experiences you can’t get elsewhere–while having a very traditional college experience with tremendous school pride and history. The student bodies at Georgetown and Duke are similar demographically, but at Georgetown there is MUCH more cohesiveness and interaction–Duke still has a segregated feel (probably due to the strong Greek system which “separates out” students). Lastly, Georgetown is less “ivory-tower” than Duke–the experience is less separated out between academics and social pursuits (one day you may be at the National Gallery with your art history class, the next you might go there with friends, etc.), there are “real world” faculty (Madeline Albright, etc.) providing tremendous insights and experiences as part of your educational experience, and there is a commitment to service and using your education to influence the community in a way that was absent at Duke (and most other places). Transferring was the best decision I made in my life.</p>