Hey all. I am currently a freshman attending a “T-20 university” not very sure of what I am going to do yet. However, my university is very specialized in terms of academics and long story short, while I am somewhat enjoying my experience, I would love to get more opportunities to explore other fields and focus on some subjects that are weaker at my school, like creative writing and such. Socially, while I have made a lot of friends, I don’t feel like I have connected with others on a very deep level as well.
I am looking to transfer to possibly Brown and Columbia, because both of their curricula appeal to me but sadly I got rejected in high school. Yale is another one I might be looking at because of its strength in the humanities.
The problem is I screwed up in my Calculus class, and my overall GPA is 3.51 and I’m not sure if it is worth applying to transfer to these selective universities…maybe I should wait until sophomore year? Another factor is that I am a student athlete: maybe that could help?
Have you considered University of Rochester as an easier admit with similar qualities?
How about a public university in your state of residency, which may be more transfer-friendly and have a wide range of course offerings in various subjects?
I am concerned that you are too focused on prestige…what about Brown’s open curriculum and Columbia’s heavy, rigid core curriculum appeal equally to you?
Other questions:
Are you URM?
Need financial aid?
What major are you thinking?
Did you get a D or F in calculus? If so, are you retaking it spring semester?
Other qualities you want in a school…geography, setting, size, etc.
If you are currently at a DI institution (I’m assuming you are at another Ivy) research the athletic transfer rules and process here: http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/current/want-transfer Unless you are a star athlete, I don’t think transferring as an athlete will be helpful, or a hook.
Regarding the social scene, it typically does take more than one semester to connect with others ‘on a very deep level’, so please do give this more time.
If you ultimately make the decision to transfer, make sure to balance your list of schools (reach/target/safety), same as you did last year when applying as a high school senior.
Good luck.
If you were to have designed your ideal college on paper, you might have arrived at an academically balanced liberal arts college with a flexible curriculum, such as would define your experience at schools such as Hamilton and Amherst. I’ve certainly known of students transferring from universities such as Duke, Georgetown and Penn into colleges of this type.
As to whether you can transfer, a 3.5 represents Dean’s List at many schools, so your academic record would not seem to be prohibitive to you. Your higher obstacle may depend on whether a college appears to welcome transfer students (i.e., some colleges report much lower transfer acceptance rates than those for first-year applicants).
If you would like to emphasize your interest in creative writing as a criterion, these resources describe a range of programs:
https://contently.net/2014/11/06/resources/tools/training/10-best-colleges-creative-writers/
https://www.flavorwire.com/409437/the-25-most-literary-colleges-in-america
Brown analogues Wesleyan and Vassar may also be of interest you.
Is Penn still on your radar?
Btw, since few top-20 national universities are specialized institutions, do you mean instead perhaps that your school is undesirably compartmentalized?
That is one good way to put it @merc81
I am not URM, do not need financial aid, grade in Calc II was a B, not a star athlete. I think prestige does play a factor though, I don’t necessarily believe in making
a likelihood ranking list because I not unhappy enough that I’d want to transfer to a school with lower “prestige,” so to speak @Mwfan1921
I’m unsure. Why? @circuitrider
Since your original question pertains to whether you could transfer into a few specific schools, then you could consider the statistics for Brown. Its acceptance rate for transfer applicants recently registered a relatively friendly 7.5% (slightly higher than Amherst’s, for example). An applicant with a 3.5 GPA from, say, Rice would seem to have an above average chance of admission there. I’d say it’s less clear, however, whether Brown would view your application differently from the way it did a year ago without further enhancing aspects. (Btw, among all schools on this level, Wesleyan appears to offer the highest acceptance rate for transfers at 27%.)
I should give you your hundredth back: 3.5 → 3.51.
I’m not seeing a compelling reason to transfer. I know it sounds like a cliche, but tens of thousands of students around the country would go friendless for a year, figure out a way to cobble together a creative writing project or learn a sport, if it meant they could attend a T20 university. The arguments for waiting a year make even less sense: So, you’re going to helicopter into a brand new situation as a junior and expect all of these paths to suddenly open up? C’mon.
@Mwfan1921 you’re telling me being an NCAA D1 Athlete doesn’t help?
@merc81 what would be a “further enhancing aspect” aside from a legacy or an URM?
@circuitrider I don’t really get what you’re saying. But I’m looking to transfer in sophomore fall not junior year.
Unless you would be transferring as an athletic recruit, it’s an EC. A good one, but not a hook.
Are you looking to transfer as an athlete? Have you received permission from your current school to contact coaches from other schools? You can not contact other coaches unless you have received permission from your current school. There is typically a process to ask for transfer contact permission from a school’s athletic department.
I linked above to the pertinent NCAA transfer page.
@charlipearl wrote:
My bad. Hey, go for it! You have nothing to lose.
I meant any achievements since last year that would appear favorable. This would begin with a basic, but thorough, evaluation of your academic performance and extracurricular pursuits as a first-semester college student — a context you couldn’t possibly have provided a year ago.