Realistic Yale Transfer Chances

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>Hey all. Please give me the cold truth about my chances for a Yale transfer. I know it is ridiculously impossible--Yale practically shouts this on their transfer page. But attending is my dream and I want to know if applying is worth investing in both time-wise and emotionally.</p>

<p>I am currently going to be a sophomore, so I will be applying for junior year. </p>

<p>Current College: Top 25 USNWR private school
Major: Biology/Global Health double
GPA: 4.0 (intense course load--notably with chemistry, biology, and Chinese), in an honors program for freshman science
High school GPA: 4.35/4.5 unweighted, 4.67 weighted, mix of honors and APs (not the absolute most challenging course load--in high school I was under the delusion you should only take APs of classes you were genuinely interested in, and therefore skipped out on econ/history/one year of english)
Test scores: Four 5's on AP tests (AP Scholar with Honors), 2230 SAT composite, 710 CR/720Math/800Writing
Awards: In high school I received a lot of year-end awards for my classes (i.e. "Excellence in __"), as well as 3 top-10 national placements in the National French Exam. Also a National Merit Commended Student. In college, I was invited to participate in an undergraduate writers conference. I have also entered an essay into another contest for which the results have not come out yet. </p>

<p>ECs:
High school: Horse back riding since age 6 (every day, competitively), 1 year of girls lacrosse, President of Chinese club, Youth Eucharist Minister at my church, Relay for Life, a few other volunteer experiences
** Note--this is where my application was lacking when applying to schools initially. I really spent all my free time doing horse-related things, and didn't develop the volunteer/ school involvement aspect of my application at all.
College so far: Member of the Polo team (1st semester, had to stop 2nd because of money), Public Relations Chair of Global Health Club, some volunteering</p>

<p>This summer/hook: Research intern/shadowing a doctor at the Yale School of Medicine, who will for sure write me a stellar recommendation. The research is related to Global Health, which is my passion. I hope to continue working with him even when I return to school. I may have the opportunity to get my name on one of his research publications. </p>

<p>Next year plans: Neurobiology research during the school year, volunteering at my school's hospital in an official pre-med volunteer program, continued leadership in the global health club, mentoring a freshman in the science honors program, and possibly joining the triathlon team. I also MAY be doing a research project abroad during winter break. </p>

<p>Future Letters of Rec: I have 3 professors who would all write me amazing letters. One is my international relations professor, who is somewhat well known and would write me a stellar letter, another is my Chinese instructor, and the last is the Dean of Students at my college (he taught a seminar I was in for 2 weeks but then had to drop because of time conflicts... but I kept up contact with him and he's now almost like a mentor). </p>

<p>Again, the focus of my application will be on my interests in global health. The reason I want to go to Yale is so that I can continue doing research in public health (possibly with the same professor) as an undergraduate (Yale has an AMAZING public health graduate school). My current college's medical school is accessible only by tram, since I don't have a car, and this makes it hard to do research with any of the professors there. I want to be able to have greater access to research in my main area of interest--public health, especially infectious disease. This is especially important to me because I want to pursue an MD/PhD, for which undergraduate research is critical. </p>

<p>** One more very weak possible hook--my mom is a graduate of the Yale School of Public Health (MPH).</p>

2

<p>Your profile (top grades from a top institution) matches the profile of people I know who have been accepted as transfers. I’m not sure if “I don’t have a car, so it’s hard to do research” and “Yale has an amazing public health GRAD school” will be as compelling as reasons other transfer applicants might state. </p>

<p>Bottom line: I think you are a very competitive transfer candidate, but I’m sure many applicants are as well. I think most transfer students come in a sophomores instead of juniors. I don’t know if this reflects the applicant pool, an institutional bias, or both.</p>

<p>Keep your grades a high as possible next year.</p>

3

<p>They look at high school GPA, SAT and AP scores in transfer apps?</p>

4

<p>@hsu0216, yes they do. Supposedly less for junior transfers than sophomores, but they are certainly still considered. </p>

<p>@AdmissionsAddict, thanks for the feedback. Would you say that junior transfers have a harder time adjusting/getting in? And I do have access to research at my current school, its more just the fact that the type of research is not what I’m truly interested in because the medical campus and undergraduate campuses are separate. I know that I don’t have a driving “This is why Yale is the only place for me” reason, which I think might seriously hurt my chances.</p>

5

<p>You’re a competitive candidate. With such low numbers admitted as transfers, all you can do is submit and hope for the best. Do work on your “Why Yale?” essay, it’s important. As a jr transfer, would you be able to be admitted to their 5 yr BA-BS/MPH program?</p>

6

<p>@entomom, I actually just called and asked about that. I would still be eligible to apply for the BS/MPH program, something that I hadn’t considered before but am now seriously looking into. I was intending to take a gap year between college and medical school anyway, so this would be a great opportunity for me. My current school has a similar program, but only for a specific major (which I am not) and our public health school is nowhere near as good. Plus the separate campus issue would be a biggy.</p>