recommend me some schools in case I wanna transfer

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hi</p>

<p>I am a rising sophomore international student (CS/Maths double major) from Rose-Hulman who might want to transfer. I really love my school, but you see, the school is very much focused in engineering so most maths classes offered are really applied, discrete and computational in nature. Sure, we do have a few rigorous theoretical classes in analysis but we don't have any more advanced classes beyond that, at least offered regularly. Back then in high school, I didn't really know the difference between engineering and science and since I was the first one from my family to go to college, I had not much consultation to receive. After my freshmen year, I realize that I really enjoy theoretical mathematics and computer science really as a science more than engineering, and thus the idea of possibly transferring out comes to my mind. Of course, if I can arrange more advanced maths classes personally with my professors, then I won't transfer. However, I am asking now so I have a good idea where I stand and what possibly good things I can do my sophomore year to improve my chance of being accepted for the Fall of 2010, a good time for me to start taking much higher level classes at the new college as I would've taken mostly all the possible rigorous ones at Rose-Hulman such as Functions of a real/complex variable, topology, abstract algebra, graph theory, and maths logic.</p>

<p>Ok, enough background story. Now my stats:
college GPA: 3.9ish (I take the hardest CS/Maths classes I can take which are supposedly sophomore or junior level ones)</p>

<p>HS SAT: MA 790, CR 590, WR 630 (Do you think I should retake it to be more competitive? I know that by now, I should be able to increase my CR to above 600+, but is it worth it? How about taking the ACT? I heard that it places less emphasis on your vocabulary).</p>

<p>SAT-II: MA2 800, Chem 790, Phys 770
(dont know if they are still important but I am showing my scores any way).</p>

<p>Notable HS achievements: maybe irrelevant
ISMTF senior maths competition top 30 (this is some competition for the international students in Europe)
top 15 in the Dutch National Informatics Olympiad</p>

<p>Notable college stuff I did:
- Was awarded the only freshmen for excellence in mathematics (name engraved on the department plaque, got a certificate, book prize, and some freebies).
- Did an international software engineering project with university students from Turkey for the customer UNICEF
- Doing a paid research like summer internship at an EMC lab working with junior students from my school developing a software that models transmission lines, funded by the NSF.
- Pi Mu Epsilon (maths honorary federation) - early induction</p>

<p>As for recommendations, I think I can get fairly solid ones from the school's maths department since I am well regarded there.</p>

<p>Possible reach schools I am looking are: UChicago and NYU, because I heard they have really strong theoretical computer science / maths program.</p>

<p>Any way, can any one give me advice with regard to the above, and also recommend me as many possible potential schools as you can that match my goal and credential? I am looking at schools with good research opportunities and strong departments in maths/CS where I can take as many advanced, possibly graduate level classes as I like. Maths has a higher priority for me though, since I am thinking of going to an applied maths grad school. As for the school atmosphere, I prefer small classes where I am likely to get to know the professors easily.</p>

<p>Please help... thank you very much!</p>

2

<p>heh…well if you like theoretical classes there’s always caltech :slight_smile:
hell, people complain we’re too theoretical here</p>

3

<p>Hi</p>

<p>which school do you go to? fixzix2?</p>

<p>Any way, I am really asking for schools that match my preferences but at the same time, be seen as possible for me to get in. I don’t think my current SAT scores match Caltech’s. LOL Of course, I can take the ACT and see how much I improve, but as I said, is it worth it?</p>

<p>please help</p>

4

<p>NYU and UChicago seem to be very fine schools for theoretical math, and both are top 10. UChicago is a very highly regarded school for math.</p>

<p>Maybe you can also look at Rice, Cornell (very theoretical), Caltech (it is hard, but you seem like the type who can probably do well on their transfer entrance exam), or Carnegie Mellon University (excellent honors analysis program and top notch computer science program). </p>

<p>Don’t retake the SAT. Your scores are fine. You did well on math and average on CR and Writing and you are international (so they might be a bit forgiving). SAT scores are somewhat relevant in freshman admissions (because they are designed to measure freshman college performance, but do a poor job) and are almost irrelevant in transfer. You have a high GPA and a respectable SAT score (2000+).</p>

5

<p>oh, well i used to go to caltech,
and it seems like the kind of school you would like,
i hear harvey mudd is similar</p>

6

<p>alright guys… thanks for the info</p>

<p>how about any safety school?
I assume the ones you guys mentioned are either matches or reaches for me.</p>

7

<p>You don’t really need a safety unless you are such strongly determined to leave your school… the safety concept does not really apply to transfers either.</p>

<p>Maybe UT Austin or UMich would be a safety for you???</p>

8

<p>What do you mean I don’t need a safety and that doesn’t apply to transfer either?</p>

9

<p>What I mean is that unless you are sure you want to leave, your safety would be to stay where you are. The safety concept does not apply as much because transfer is so much more competitive than freshman admissions and is based on many factors such as how many spaces are available (retention rate). Unless it is to your home state university (even competitive ones like UCLA if you have a high enough GPA), transferring to top schools is never a guarantee. The only way to improve your chances is to apply to a lot of places that appeal to you.</p>

10

<p>I recommend Michigan and you seem to have a really good chance of getting in to it.
some other matches/slight reaches are northwestern and rice,
some reaches are…columbia, brown, cornell.</p>

<p>also if getting to know ur prof is really important to you, i would apply to some liberal arts colleges, but then again, international students don’t really seem to like them. (usually never heard of them or want to go to a school where ppl back home know about)
idk just smthg to consider.</p>

<p>I guess in that aspect u can rule out michigan and northwestern and nyu.
chicago is a reach b/c it’s such a eccentric school. a LOT of emphasis on ur essay. </p>

<p>For ur SATs, I would retake only if ur confident you will score 200 points higher.</p>