Rough first semester, concerned about transfer chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I had a rough first semester of this freshman year (last fall), ending up with a 3.01 gpa. I did fairly well in high school with pretty good SATs, I believe my high school GPA was something like a 3.56 and my SATs were 1920. I had a good amount of extracurriculars and all of that. I want to transfer for next fall, I have already sent in a number of applications. My reasoning for wanting to transfer is pretty simple, I strongly dislike being so far away from home, I learned that I don’t enjoy a rural environment, and I am simply unhappy at my current school. This post isn’t about my reasoning so I’m not going to get too much into that. Obviously, there is no excuse for my GPA, the classes are doable I just need to put in more effort. I got a few As, it was just a C- in calc that hurt me. I do have some personal problems with anxiety and stress, but that’s irrelevant to my performance. Now that its the second semester, I have things a bit more together, and I’m in more classes that I enjoy and will do better in. If it means anything, I’m Bio major but am transferring as an undeclared business major, as I have decided to switch to a pre law pathway. I got a B in my bio course this year.

I applied to transfer to a number of schools, such as Villanova, which is my first choice, Temple, American University, Loyola Maryland, university of Maryland, and a few reach options. The more I think about it, the more I get concerned that I will not get accepted to any of my options. Realistically, what are my chances of getting to any of those schools? It would kill me if I had to stay at the school for another year, thanks for reading, any input is appreciated.

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Hi! First off, I would say not to worry too much about your GPA – though it could be better, and I’m sure it will be once you have the incentive to do better, the average GPA for college students is around a 2.5, so you’re doing okay. I did some research and found some info that you might find helpful.

For Villanova: For consideration, a cumulative GPA of a 3.00/4.00 is recommended for students interested in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Villanova School of Business. **However, I also found this: Grades of “C” or better (not “C-”) are required to be considered for transfer credit.

*That means you won’t be able to transfer your calc grade for credit and will have to re-take it if it’s required for your new major. But, overall, your GPA fits in with their requirements according to what I found.

For Temple: Applicants who wish to be considered for transfer admission must have maintained at least a 2.50 grade point average in 15 or more transferable credits completed after high school at an accredited two- or four-year institution of higher education, although this is no guarantee of admission. The average GPA for entering transfer students is a 3.00+. Temple requires the same high school units of transfer students as of freshmen.

For American: Guaranteed admission transfer applicants have a GPA of at least 3.0/4.0 at their current institution.

Loyola’s Mid 50% Range for GPA: 3.1-3.7. A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.70 in previous college work is required, and the same deal with the C-.

University of Maryland: For the Fall 2016 transfer class, we received nearly 5,340 applications for a class of 1,777. Admitted transfer students earned an average weighted college GPA of 3.39. For students admitted to the Spring 2016 semester, the average weighted college GPA was 3.09. Our most successful students have completed an English composition course that satisfies the university’s fundamental studies academic writing requirement and a college-level math course that satisfies the university’s fundamental studies math requirement.

All in all, I’d say you have nothing to be worried about (except maybe with UMD a little, but that’s one school). You’re on track to get into all the ones listed. Just keep working hard and make sure to get your GPA up. :slight_smile: