Prospects of transferring, questionable High School record

Transfer Students
1

I’m looking for a little bit of guidance and insight from you guys as I’m in the midst of my transfer process.

Right now, I’m a Freshmen at Plymouth State University- a small regional comprehensive university in NH. I’m a Finance major with a double minor in Economics and Political science, the academics are average, and this past semester I ended with a 3.3 (which I don’t think is too bad).

My concern is in the fact that I was not too great of a high school student- I ended with an unweighted GPA of 2.7. My SAT’s were not too great either- I scored 1490.

When it comes to my EC’s I feel that they could give me a little bit of a boost.

High School
-Junior and Senior year I was Secretary of my class
-Junior and Senior year I was Vice-President and President of my school’s equivalent of FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America)
-Two-year varsity athlete

College
-President of a club
-Play on a sports team

Additionally, I’ve built good relationships with two of my professors this semester and am confident that I will get good letters of recommendation from them.

At last, what I’m looking for is a more competitive school in a better setting and with a better finance program. The list of schools I’m applying to as a transfer student is:
University of Maryland
Howard University (siblings went here) (got in when applied during senior year)
Suffolk University
George Washington University (siblings went here)
American University
Boston College(?)

Given my record, I’d like to hear what you think my transfer prospects are, and, also any advice you might have, considering this process as a whole.

Ask me for any additional info you might need!

Thanks!

2

It is hard to say specifically but your first semester grades show that you can do college level work better than you did in high school. This is certainly a plus. My guess is that if Howard accepted you initially with only your HS stats, then you have a pretty good chance with your good first semester grades. The others are unclear and depend partially on how many transfer students they take in your major. I don’t think that your siblings attending will help too much.

3

BC would be pretty much out of reach with a 3.3

4

TomSrOfBoston, Do you think it’d be the same deal with BU?

5

xraymancs, thanks for that. Do you think applying as a less competitive major would help my chances?

6

You have a much better chance at BU.

7

You should apply to the major you intend on completing. If you choose to apply to a less competitive major there is no guarantee that you can do an internal transfer, particularly if that major is highly sought after. You can also look into Northeastern since you want to be in the NorthEast.

8

The more of a college record you have, the less your high school record will matter.

A student with a weak high school record but a strong college record may have a better chance at getting into more selective schools as a junior transfer than as a sophomore transfer.

9

Given your interest in Md schools, have you looked into UMBC? They were featured a few years ago on a 60 minute segment. I attended UMBC a world ago. It was a commuter school back then. It has changed quite a bit. I was very impressed with what UMBC is doing. They show a strong commitment to ensuring successful completion of the undergraduate degree. Take a look at it!