Reasonable schools to transfer?

Transfer Students
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<p>hi, i have a list of schools i would like to transfer to, and im seeking advice on ways to improve my chances at these universities, and whether i should possibly add or remove universities that i would be unlikely to be admitted. i am double majoring in economics/mathematics at a state flagship university in the south, and i'm in the honors college. i have only just recently graduated from high school, but i am taking three summer courses at my university (the classes are almost over and i have A's in all them thus far) so i guess at the moment i would have a 4.0, and i think i will do well here in the upcoming fall semester.</p>

<p>list of school that i would like to transfer to:
caltech
brown university
MIT
georgetown
cornell
columbia
harvard
stanford
UC berkeley
university of chicago</p>

<p>here are my highschool stats:
SAT: 2230
ACT: 35
SAT II's: 800 math2, the other two are somewhere in the mid-high 700's
class rank: somewhere in the ~7-9th percentile
GPA: ~3.55 unweighted</p>

<p>my schedule for the upcoming fall semester:
honors principles of macroeconomics
honors calculus I
principles of biology/lab
honors physics I
composition I</p>

<p>in terms of extracurriculars, i will be hopefully doing research with a professor in work pertaining to economics, and i will be participating in a few clubs and sports just to get to know people.</p>

<p>assuming i do well in the fall semester and get a 4.0, how good of a chance do i have at some of these universities? i picked these specific ones because they are all strong in either one or both of the fields i am interested in (econ/math), and i will hopefully have a lot more opportunities at these places in terms of research and being challenged academically. also, would it be unnecessary to retake the SAT again? a lot of students at these ivy league schools have 2300+ on the SAT, and i would like to be competitive with them. i also left out something pretty important, the ACT that i took was without writing, and i am not sure if the universities will accept it, that's why im so concerned with my SAT score.
sorry for the long post and thanks!</p>

2

<p>Like I told the other person who has similar SATs…don’t take them again. Not everyone at these schools have a 2300+. Just focus on the now and why you want to transfer and you will do well. Your list looks very top heavy though…</p>

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<p>Also, Caltech requires that you take a standardized test that they give in order to transfer, I believe. So hopefully you will have time to take that :)</p>

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<p>I do believe that most schools now want the ACT with the writing component, so that may rule out your ACT score. For the record though, your SAT score is just fine. While there are a relatively large number of people in the Ivy League who have a 2300 or greater on their SAT I, I would still say that they’re a minority at each school. Most people I’ve known who have gone off to Ivy League schools tended to have scores between 2150 and 2300. I for instance had a 2240, which is basically the same as your score, and was able to get into both Brown and Penn. Given your stats, I would say that you have a good chance of getting into Chicago, Cornell, or Georgetown and a fair chance at Brown or UC Berkeley (a good chance if you happen to be a California state resident). The others are really toss ups. Harvard and Stanford in particular are very long shots (as they are for pretty much anyone), and Columbia, CalTech, and MIT also tend to be very tricky to get into. However I feel confident that you’ll get into at least a few of the schools on your list, so I wouldn’t stress out over those school’s admission hurdles.</p>

<p>Given your strengths, I have a few pieces of advice for you. First, if I were you, I would consider dropping Georgetown off your list. Georgetown is simply not as strong in either economics or math, particularly regarding research. Instead I would add the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). It’s better in those areas than Georgetown, and Penn in general has a much stronger emphasis on research than Georgetown. As a CAS student, you can also enroll for courses at Wharton, which is a huge positive if you’re interested in high level economics. Additionally, Penn tends to be easier to transfer into than the other Ivies, so you’re chances of gaining admission would be pretty good. </p>

<p>CalTech is excellent for math, but actually a little weak at economics (relative to the other schools on your list). CalTech’s institutional culture causes it to place a very high value on pure mathematics and science. While that means it excels in those areas, it also means that social sciences like economics get treated like sideshows. You can still get a first class education there, but you might find the imbalance between the strength of the math and economics programs unappealing. </p>

<p>Finally, I strongly suggest that in addition to the schools you’ve mentioned, that you should also take a look at Duke and the Tepper school at Carnegie Mellon. Duke is all around excellent, and has a strong research culture that I think you would like. Tepper meanwhile is very good at both math and economics, and tends to place a particular emphasis on mathematical economics and modeling, which I think you would like. I also have to say that in regards to Tepper, I think you have an extremely good chance of getting in. </p>

<p>The list you have now is perfectly fine, but, I think that it’s worth considering whether or not you would be interested in some of these schools, as they do seem to match your interests fairly well. Hope this helps, and I’m sure that you’ll find success somewhere</p>

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<p>wow thank you very much for your advice it was very helpful
i will definitely look into those schools, especially upenn because my dad went to wharton so that may help me a little</p>

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<p>This will give you an idea of the transfer acceptance rates for many of those schools. Note that the most recent data are from 2009, so things may fluctuate a bit.</p>

<p><a href=“http://thetransferbook.com/stats/[/url]”>http://thetransferbook.com/stats/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Don’t forget Northwestern for Economics, I believe they’re ranked 8th USNews for Econ, and NU’s B-school might be somewhat more accessible to those with an undergrad degree</p>

<p>also, if you definitely don’t want to stay where youre at, make sure to have a couple of schools that are easier to get into, you never know how your grades will be by the end of the year until you get them</p>