So I’ve been formulating a list of business schools that I’m applying to for transfer, but as I do more and more research and think more and more about my career path I realize that perhaps I’ve been ignoring some schools because I was only looking for business schools. For me, Stern is definitely a reach school. Their admissions office told me their transfer admit rate is sub-10%, significantly lower than their freshman admit rate because lots of people from other colleges in NYU apply to stern for internal transfers as well. I also would prefer going to school in the Philadelphia area rather than NYC, and my interests don’t necessarily lie on wall street anyways. I could see myself working in finance, economics, the financial side of politics, or in non-profits.
Basically what I wanted to ask was whether Swarthmore would be a decent replacement as a reach school for NYU Stern? I’ve been taking courses that are generally skewed towards business: Fin & Mgmt Accounting, Micro/Macro Econ, Calculus, English 1/2, communications, a couple various humanities classes (including polysci 1), etc. Swarthmore won’t really tell me how selective it is to transfer there, but surely it can’t be any harder than NYU Stern? In any case, I was wondering what you guys thought about this.
If you wanted to know a little bit about me:
Graduated high school in 2011 with a 2.35 UW GPA, enrolled in community college immediately but was mentally unprepared for school and eventually dropped out with a 1.105 GPA in 2012. I took a hiatus until 2015, where I re-enrolled and have managed to bring my GPA up to a 3.706 in just a year. I’ve got 34 semester units completed, and will finish 7 more at the end of this semester. I also work full-time in accounting, and worked as a day-time warehouse supervisor before that. In high school I played varsity volleyball, tennis, and was in a grammy award-winning choir
Swarthmore is a small (1600 students total), very selective(12% admit rate for freshman) college and I think it will be difficult to transfer into due to a very small number of spots available.If you review section D Transfer admissions of Swarthmore’s latest Common Data Set here: http://www.swarthmore.edu/sites/default/files/assets/documents/institutional-research/CDS%202015-2016.pdf , you will see that your odds are not great. Swarthmore has a freshman to sophomore retention rate of 98% and a high graduation rate. The only business related major they have is Economics. You may also find that some of your courses may not transfer because they do not meet the major requirements, and they also list a cap of 16 courses from 2 year institutions.
Other good choices in the Philly area for business are Temple U, Drexel U, LaSalle U, but they are not as generous with need-based aid. Temple is a state U and you could get IS status/tuition as an independent student if you can work and establish residency prior to applying.
What type/amount of aid you are looking for? What is your college budget? That is a big factor.
With all due respect I’m only really wondering if I should replace NYU stern with swarthmore as a reach. I already have other philly schools on my list
I can rephrase the question:
Which do you think would be harder to get into for transfer, swarthmore or nyu stern
They are very different schools size, location. and otherwise, what do you like about each? Admit rates are equally low. Have you visited both? Rents in the Philly area are more reasonable, if that is a factor.
If you are satisfied with economics or other non-business majors at Swarthmore and prefer Philly to NYC, it seems like a good choice for a reach school to add to your list. Since your odds at both schools are slim, choose the one that you like better, that best meets your own goals for your college experience.
My youngest D attends Temple U’s Fox Schools of Business. She is only a freshman, but really loves it. There are a lot of good opportunities in the Fox Honors program.
I am going to apply to Temple as a back up and I know historically they give good aid to transfer students with high GPAs
I haven’t visited either but I’ve been in both areas and I know I like Philly metro more than NYC, and I’m living off campus either way so philly rents are definitely more reasonable.
It seems like Swarthmore is ranked a little better as well (?)
I guess I’m curious whether swarthmore will take kindly to my work experience as an EC situation and more business-focused classes.
Swarthmore has a very distinct feel- it is very much a ‘fit’ college (as in people tend to really fit- or really not fit: I strongly recommend that you visit before you apply. Try to sit in on a class. Our lot knew pretty quickly if it did - or did not!- suit them.
Swarthmore’s transfer rate is at least as low as Sterns, mostly as @mamag2855 says, b/c so few people transfer out- and the only places available are to replace people who have left. Stern is a bigger program and has a little more flexibility on size.
@collegemom3717 Makes a good point about visiting Swarthmore (and other schools on your list, if possible). It is a very small school and does have a reputation in my area (30 miles away) for being a bit of a quirky competetive environment. I visited Swarthmore with my older D a few years back and she chose not to apply.
I will keep that in mind!
The thing about Stern is that not only do very little people transfer out, but lots of people do internal transfers there because it’s easier to get into some of the other schools within Stern. And that’s probably why their transfer rate is so low
Swarthmore’s transfer admission rate for 2015-16 was ~8.5%
I don’t think you can count on one being significantly more selective than the other, so why not apply to both (plus back-up(s)) and see what happens? Meanwhile think more about what you really want because they represent 2 rather different college experiences.
If you want to go into finance, you will be shooting yourself in the foot by going to Swarthmore. Probably as hard as Stern, but I would never go to Swat if you want OCR and a relevant network. Idk if you’d be competitive for Michigan LSA. It’s easier than Ross and you can still get solid recruiting by majoring in econ.
What do you want to study? There is a big difference between being an economics major and a finance major. One is not better or worse than the other but they are different. Economics is a liberal arts course of study and it gets very theoretical at the higher levels. A business program would have you take a core of business courses such as (not limited to) finance, accounting, IT, management etc. and then you major in one of those disciplines. Look online at courses required at each school for each major and see if one path seems more in line with your interests and aptitudes.
Carefully check how many classes you will need to finish your degree and see how long it will take as an economics major an in a business school program so you are have a sense of this in advance of transferring (consider any business core classes, classes in your major, any liberal arts core classes you may still need etc.)
The two schools could not be more different (suburban Phila LAC, NYC urban university). What do you want?
As noted above, keep in mind the odds that you can transfer into either Swarthmore or Stern are small.
NYU is generally not good with merit aid and as a transfer the odds of getting merit aid are even slimmer.
Temple sounds like an strong choice especially given that you like Phila.and you say the school is good with merit aid (be sure that is the case for transfers).
Good luck and kudos on taking the time you needed and being able to refocus on your education.
@Flurite I’m not obsessed with going into finance, I’m interested in the possibility of working for a variety of different firms including non-profits or even some governmental agency. What most interests me is the financial side of politics both international and domestic and I could see finance or economics being effective for this kind of job as they generally ask for a business or economics degree. However, within the business admin/management degrees I think Finance is the most interesting option, and that’s why I picked it.
@happy1 I’ve stared obsessively at many business curriculums from the other schools I’m applying to and I’ve already taken some business classes and I enjoy (and am good at it).
I’ve emailed Swarthmore because I couldn’t seem to locate a sample 4 year plan for economics and if it seems like I’m going to have 3 full years there no matter what then I might pass on applying there!
What I’ve read about NYU financial aid is in line with what you’ve said, it seems like NYU is really incredibly stingy with offering aid, and with housing costs being higher I imagine that it will probably be more out of pocket than Swarthmore, and not necessarily a better school.
As for Temple’s merit aid, as far as I understand it they used to GUARANTEE different tiers of merit aid depending on your transfer GPA. I heard they’re getting a bit more stingy this year but nonetheless it seemed like a good safety to me. Drexel is also going to be a safety (albeit a more pricey one).
@tk21769 I understand what you’re saying about applying to both, but with Boston U, NEU, and NYU I figured I had enough reaches (I have really specific geographical requirements).
Alternatively, I know Haverford is also located near Philadelphia. Would that perhaps be a more attainable “reach” school than Swarthmore? And I’m curious how it compares to NYU as well.
On a sidenote, I will not be able to go and visit any schools before I apply unfortunately. I may, however, go visit schools after I get acceptances - but I know schools vary greatly with the way they respond to transfer applications so the timeline might be a bit awkward.
That would be true from the aspect of faculty publishing, though other factors that relate to department strength (particularly range of course availability) can of course be more or less relevant to individual students.
US News ranks Swat above Haverford though
College Niche ranks Haverford above Swat
Forbes ranks Swat above
Washington post ranks Swat above.
Kiplinger ranks Swat above Haverford as well
Man this stuff gets complicated when you consider all the different methodologies
Swat & Haverford are both extremely well regarded academically, with Swat generally being “ranked higher.” That said, they are close enough that fit is the real consideration. Haverford is really small, but gets “bigger” with all the bi-co classes and actives with Bryn Mawr.
Honor code is a big deal at Haverford. If that doesn’t appeal to you, then I’d look elsewhere.
Have you looked at St. Joes? Probably get some good merit $ from them.
I’m not really looking for any matches or safeties. My goal with this thread was to try to decide what my super-reach would be, and I’m open to schools in the following areas: NYC area, Philly metro, Providence area, and Boston.
I feel like I’d probably have the best chance at one that would appreciate my work experience, and would rely less on my HS GPA