<p>I'm a current freshman at a pretty strong research university in the midwest and plan on transferring if possible. I got waitlisted last year at ND and I had a few quick questions about the transfer process.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if ND takes a school's reputation into consideration when looking at applicants? I did well my first semester (around a 3.8), but my classes have been more difficult this semester, and unfortunately the quality of my teachers has gone down too - so I'm thinking my cumulative might dip to a 3.4 or so if things don't go so well come May. I feel like had I chosen another university to attend for a year, it would've been easier to get whatever GPA standard they want for a transfer applicant (and would've been more fun). </p>
<p>But, I'm keeping busy and getting involved in my current university, which is more important to me than just reading in the library 24/7. If anyone has any insight on what the admissions policy is like for transfers or what helps during the process, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks so much. Go Irish!</p>
<p>edit: In case anyone was wondering (or if it matters) I'm a potential math major in the pre-med track, but if I transfer I'd consider trying to add an English or Philosophy/Religion (I think this is a joint major at ND) to that. Not really sure yet...since I'm also thinking about going into teaching.</p>
<p>They probably do a little? Thanks to human bias?</p>
<p>I mean, if you go to Stanford or Harvard or something, yeah, that probably turns heads in comparison to if you go to a random CC or Whatever State University. For the most part though, unless you’re at either extreme they likely treat everyone the same in the admissions pool. </p>
<p>Let me tell you what mattered for me when I transferred to ND. GPA, GPA, GPA. That’s it. That’s all they cared about, along with whether or not the courses I took would transfer over (I had to negotiate with my department chair for an hour to get everything worked out). They didn’t care about letters, or high school stuff (like HS GPA or SAT scores), or ECs, or any of that bull. I actually transferred randomly (literally, it was “hey, I wonder if I could get into ND” sort of day so I did). I wrote my essay in like a half hour and punched the whole thing out in about two days. I forgot about it after that (and I didn’t apply to any other schools), then a few months later I remembered so I called the admissions office up. They had me go in and chat with a dean, and he offered me an acceptance letter right there. It was the easiest thing in the world. I think I ate a hot dog after that. I dunno, it was eight years ago. I’m super white too, if that matters.</p>
<p>So yeah, if you want this to be painless, I HIGHLY recommend you keep your GPA as high as possible. Obvious advice, but a 3.4 isn’t going to move heads (it’s not bad either though, so you might still have a shot).</p>
<p>Why do you want to transfer? Are you just unhappy with your school (like I was), or is it more that you’ve always had a dream of going to ND?</p>