I am a rising freshman right now and haven’t started college but I know for a fact I will apply for a transfer due to personal reasons. I am aiming for an ivy league, preferably Penn or Columbia. I have a 1450 on my SAT currently and did not take any subject tests. Do you recommend I take the ACT/SAT again and give 2 subject tests? Will it increase my chances of transferring?
You’ll have to break 1500 or 33 to have a chance at an ivy or T20.
@izrk02 I’m going to apply as a transfer, I heard standardized tests dont matter all that much for transfers? I’ve seen people in the early 1300s get into ivys as transfers
If transferring after freshman year, most schools will still heavily weight an applicant’s high school record and standardized test scores. When applying as a junior transfer, many schools do not consider HS record/test scores.
Bottom line, you do need to check each school’s website to see how they evaluate transfers based on the year they are applying and/or how many college credits the applicant has.
Note that many Ivies take few transfers…the acceptance rate can be less than the incoming frosh acceptance rate. Look at each school’s common data set for transfer information. Many Ivy transfers are recruited athletes or from two year schools with established relationships, such as Deep Springs, or NY community colleges in Cornell’s case.
The scores in the 1300s that you saw are likely the recruited athletes and community college transfers mentioned above. If you plan on transferring after freshman year, you’ll have to have qualifications meeting the standard (if not above) that of a freshman applicant.
If, as stated in your other thread, you still have a choice of colleges for this year, I’d recommend you do not choose one for which your SAT score would place you below the average of its profile. This could make earning the grades needed for transferring especially difficult.