Should I wait to transfer?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hello,
I am an NYU hopeful who has been attending a CC and hoping to transfer.</p>

<p>In HS my grades were pretty terrible.
I ranked below average on my SATs, and my HS GPA--I dont even know what it was. Thats how much I cared about school but I can guarantee you it was probably a 2.0 or lower. The only thing I did right in HS was involve myself in many ECs.</p>

<p>I went off to a CC after graudation newly motivated obtaining the Deans Award two semesters in a row and obtaining about a 3.5 GPA. Not the best but muchh better than what I did in HS. In college although my grades were better I let the ECs slip and was only involved in I think 2 or 3.</p>

<p>I applied for NYU after my first semester of college and was rejected. I wanted to show them my second semester grades as well but they did not want to wait. It didnt suprise me that I was rejected with only one semester to show for myself but I wanted to give it a shot anyway. I was soon after accepted into Fordham LC in Manhattan. Unlike NYU they did agree to wait for my second semester transcript. I could not go due to financial circumstances. I decided to join AmeriCorps later that year instead of going back to my CC. I am almost done with my AmeriCorps term and will be earning an ed award at the end of my time here. I was going to go back to a CC but decided I will probably do another year of AmeriCorps instead. When I am done I will earn yet another ed award. Then, I will finally go back to school. I hope they like seeing AmeriCorps on my resume seeing as how I will be serving 2 full terms.</p>

<p>I plan on going back in the summer of 2012 if I can get housing over the summer. If not I will go in the Fall 2012. I plan on applying for Fall of 2013 once my Fall 2012 grades are in asap in January or so. If I do not get in I will apply again for Spring of 2014 once my Spring 2013 grades are in. Hopefully this will be enough. I will have hopefully Summer 2012 and Fall 2012 to show them and if they do not accept me I will apply again and have Summer 2012-Spring 2013 to show them. 3 solid semesters plus 2 AmeriCorps terms AND the two semesters of my freshman year of college before I joined AmeriCorps. I hope this is enough and to me I feel it would be but I cant help but wonder if it would be a waste to apply after 5 semesters and if I should wait longer? Im not a typical transfer student where my HS grades were stellar...or even average. They were far below average and I am wondering after 4-5 semesters of school it would be worth applying to NYU. I was already rejected once...and even though I saw it coming it was a blow to my self esteem...I'd hate to be rejected again after all this time. I am hoping my HS GPA wont matter much because it will by then be like 4 yrs since I have been in HS. But no matter how old you are they ask for your HS transcripts anyway so I cant help but wonder.</p>

<p>Thanks to anyone who answers my quiery!!!</p>

2

<p>anyone??
:)</p>

3

<p>You still have only one year of college grades. Most colleges and universities will still take your high school grades into account when you apply to transfer. Check NYU’s website to find out what their policy is. You may need another year of good grades from your CC before you can apply there.</p>

<p>NYU does not give good financial aid. If you will need aid in order to finish your education, be sure to have more options than just NYU.</p>

4

<p>Happymom:</p>

<p>Please review my question.
I asked if after another year of college on top of the one I already have plus the two americorps years would be too soon to think about transferring. I could apply as a transfer there its not that I can’t. I am asking due to the circumstances if I should at that time or wait longer due to the bad HS grades. Also like I have said by then I would’ve been out of HS for like 4 years.</p>

5

<p>Sorry! I got confused by the summer and fall terms that you discussed in the fourth paragraph. Here is what I understand now:</p>

<p>You have two good semesters from your community college, and you have a college GPA of 3.5. That is Excellent!</p>

<p>You are completing your first year with AmeriCorps, and you have signed on for another year. Also excellent!</p>

<p>When you finish your next AmeriCorps year, you intend to return to your CC. If possible, you would like to enroll for the summer term in 2012. If not, you will enroll in the fall of 2012.</p>

<p>In either case, you will file transfer applications in the Winter/Spring of 2012/2013 with the plan of enrolling in a 4-year institution in fall 2013.</p>

<p>If I understood this correctly, this is a solid plan. You should have two full years of college credits done by the end of spring semester 2013 if not sooner. Most people do not take a full semester’s worth of credits in a summer term. If you can do that, you could conceivably complete the equivalent of a full year of coursework in the summer and fall. While you might feel more confident waiting to apply after you have two full years worth of credits, that certainly isn’t necessary. Usually students who are applying for Junior year admission apply when they have completed three semesters of coursework, and they finish their fourth semester around about the time that their transfer admissions offers arrive. </p>

<p>The only reason why I can think for you to deliberately plan to spend three regular semesters at your CC before applying would be if for some reason you aren’t able to carry a normal load of classes each term. The colleges you are applying to won’t give you “bonus points” for completing more than the equivalent of two full years of courses. </p>

<p>I would suggest that you aim to complete your Associates degree at your community college. If there is no AA or AS program that is interesting to you, sit down with the transfer counselors and work out a plan of study that will prepare you for the colleges and universities on your list. Right now NYU is your favorite. That is fine. But please be certain to include some others on your list in case NYU doesn’t work out.</p>

<p>It is perfectly fine for you to contact the transfer admissions officers at NYU, and make an appointment to discuss your plan. NYU may even have formal articulation agreements that would make the transfer process much easier if you attend a cooperating CC.</p>

<p>Wishing you much success!</p>

6

<p>Happymom:</p>

<p>Thanks for taking the time to answer my question again lol</p>

<p>I want to get to NYU assp. I will apply for Fall 2013 after my Fall 2012 grades come in. Id apply for the Spring but after the Fall 2012 semester ends itd obviously be too late to apply for Spring. If I dont get in for Fall 2013 I will apply again for Fall 2014. People dont understand why I want to go to NYU so bad. However, my parents worked there most of my life and its literally always been my dream school. I know people use that term–dream school loosely. But it really is my dream school. I practically grew up in NYU during the 90s. Its been a goal of mine for almost my entire life. And I try not to be stubborn I have looked at other schools and will consider them if NYU is absolutely just NOT an option but Im going to do everything I can to make sure it is an option. To dismiss it just because its too expensive, or too hard to get into I feel is failure. You have to work for everything you want. If its expensive Ill find a way to make it affordable. If its too hard and they dont accept me when I apply, Ill apply again. Im not going to give up a goal that ive set for myself 15 years ago easilly. Im obviously not going to get into hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt to go but I’ll take on some if I have to. Im also considered an independent student so hopefully that will help a lot in making the school affordable as well as maintaining good academic records so that I am competitve making the school want me.</p>

<p>Its good to know most apply after 3 semesters of coursework. I really dont want to be forever in the CC. I never thought Id spend that long in a CC. However, after how bad my HS grades were…I thought I might have to spend more time in a CC than most. Even with realllllllyyy reallllyyy bad HS grades you still think id be good after 3 semesters?</p>

<p>Most people I see transfer into NYU have atleast a 3.8 although I see some with like 3.2-3.4s and I dont know how they do it. I dont want to take a chance with a GPA that low. I had a 3.5 cumulative for the whole year last time I was in college and while thats OK Im afraid with bad HS grades when i go back to the CC just one really good college semester of like a 3.8 or 3.9 wont be enough. I know Ill also have the 3.5 from before but im worried after HS grades like mine it wont be enough. Which is why unfortunately I was pondering having to spend more time than 3 semesters like some to then transfer.</p>

<p>The articulation agreement is a good idea though…Ill look into it! I am also planning on calling the school as soon as I can. Its just that Im on the west coast and by the time I get out of work the offices are closed =/</p>

7

<p>Can you try calling them first thing in the morning? Their offices should be open around 9 am which would be 6 am where you are. Or, you could carve out half an hour in the middle of the day. If that won’t work, send an email.</p>

<p>It looks like NYU has articulation agreements with some community colleges. I could find a link to the participating CCs for NYU Steinhart [CCTOP</a> Partnership Schools - CCTOP for Faculty and Advisors - NYU Steinhardt](<a href=“http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/cctop/faculty/schools]CCTOP”>NYU CCTOP) by googling “NYU articulation agreement” There may be more.</p>

8

<p>So, I tried talking to NYU and asked to speak to a counselor. I hope she wasnt one because she was slightly unhelpful. More like the help I get from angry secretaries who resent their job not a counselor. Well anyways, she told me the more work I have the better. But she also said most people dont wait that long to apply…just their 3rd semester. So I asked her if I should wait longer than others to make up for my bad high school grades and she was kinda vague and kept saying the more work the better but was also saying it it might not be necessary to wait that long. I was trying not to be a pain but I felt we were going in circles. I tried giving her an exact explanation of my grades/life since HS. Bad HS grades, decent college grades, americorps year, possibly another, then striving for atleast a 3.8 in the future. I asked her so when I go back to college after all this…if I get a 3.8 gpa in future semesters how long should I wait to apply? And again, vague answer.</p>

<p>Also I spoke to the admission directors about what I should improve on in the future because I have been denied from NYU in the past and I see kids with 3.1s getting in pretty constantly actually, and kids with 4.0s rejected! It makes it hard to see what it is that NYU values or what it is I can work on to be most competitive. With NYUs standards I dont see what a kids with a 3.1 can have that NYU wants. Unless they had like perfect SATs and everything else perfect which doesnt seem to be the case. He just said they value everything. Another vague answer.</p>

9

<p>i assume your talking about the kid who had a 3.1 from mcgill. Mcgill is an extremely extremely extremely competitive school. Like its crazy competitive. And its in fact way better than NYU in terms of rank. Its like the Harvard of Canada and is like 15th overall all around the world. I know rank doesnt matter all that much but to a certain extent it plays a role. A friend of a friend attends Mcgill, and in our hs which was pretty hard had a 4.6 gpa wtd. And i believe he was doing some type of engineering at MCgill so the majority of their classes consist of engineering and math. If your at a cc like myself, just get a 4.0 for nyu, continue with your extras, and write a compelling story/statements. Just focus, and you’ll be fine.</p>

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<p>and when i talk about in terms of comparison to nyu, im only talking about cas, so i am wrong in terms of gallatin, tisch, and stern, i believe lol.</p>

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<p>And to answer your actual question, do what you think is best in all honesty. I think that taking of time will give you more experience and more things to discuss in your statements, so it will probably only help you, but i think taking of in the middle could be weird, id say take one or two classes each semester still, just to show your sitll involved in school, and then fully finish your third year i guess</p>

<p>also to finish my point about mcgill that i forgot, the friend of a friend i knew had a 2.5 at mcgill and he worked his ass off</p>

12

<p>Yea probably that kid, but just in general also I see people on the NYU constantly that have relatively low GPAs while kids who have 4.0s and killer ECs get waitlisted or…rejected!! If everything else is perfect then the only thing I can imagine to cause their downfall was maybe a bad essay or not vague reccomendations? If NYU will turn a kid down for a crappy reccomendation (which is not their fault) or a not so good essay when they qualify in all other aspects its like how do you know what they are really looking for? Because, they seem like a statistical school. They want to see numbers. High GPAs and high test scores. They even list that as most important criteria. And although I will do my very best to seem well rounded and try to excel in all aspects of my application lets be honest everyone has a few things that they can really perfect and focus hard on. Its very difficult to perfect ALL aspects of your application so you focus on what the school thinks is most important…but NYU doesnt make it clear what is most important. I mean I thought I did but now I see all these excellent candidates getting rejected and it makes me nervous!!</p>

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<p>Your right on about the numbers game, in general most schools care a lot about the numbers. But it should make some sense. However I think personal statement and essays are a huge thing with NYU. I think that theres probably some or a few who may get who have low gpas, but i did notice that some who did not get into nyu with high gpas or waitlisted had a requirement missing. I think its simply a matter of spending time on your essays. A lot of kids procrastinate crazy on their essays and write kinda crappy or mediocre ones, so just spend a lot of time with that because those play huge factors. I’ve seen kids get into stern who had 3.7’s on collegeconf., but spent immense time on their personal statements. Don’t worry too much on the things whihc aren’t in your control becaue getting into a school involves simply some luck. Just work hard, start now in terms ofpersonal statements and as soon as the supplements are release and pull a 4.0. I think that a 3.5 wont cut it to be honest, if you can get a 4.0 for a while i think itll benefit and increase your chances immensely. You need to stack every odd in your favor, and then its simply up to NYU whether to accept you or not. Don’t be nervous, be confident and work through it. I guess its the best advice i can give you.</p>

14

<p>“If its expensive I’ll find a way to make it affordable.”</p>

<p>This is not a good attitude at all, because you cannot magically “make it affordable.” There are no leprechauns with pots of gold, nor deciduous trees that use $100 bills for leaves.</p>

<p>Even two years at NYU could easily cost $100,000. NYU is infamous for its terrible financial aid policies and as a transfer student, you’ll be even lower on the totem pole.</p>

<p>As for your phone conversations, all you are going to get are vague answers. Admissions counselors cannot tell you exactly whether or not you will be accepted, nor can they give you specifics as to what might get you accepted. Your application is going to be reviewed by a committee composed of many more people than just that counselor and they can’t guarantee anything about how that committee will react to your application.</p>

15

<p>What?! No magical leprechauns??..or the money trees I was counting on??? Thanks goodness you told me that…</p>

<p>@illwill: I find it kinda funny you mention that because besides schools like Tisch…or maybe Gallatin I always considered NYU to be a school more worried about numbers rather than creativity and thought essays wouldnt matter much. BTW I wasn’t planning on staying at a 3.5…I am shooting for a 3.8. I can probably get a 4.0 during the semesters I DON’T take math lol. </p>

<p>Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using CC App</p>

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<p>How, then, do you propose to “make it affordable?”</p>

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<p>By working hard, saving, cutting back, using my ed awards wisely, etc. The way everyone else works to afford something.</p>

<p>Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using CC App</p>

18

<p>So by “working hard, saving, cutting back,” you can afford two years at a $50,000-per-year college? Please explain to me how that’s going to work. Do you make $40,000 per year in salary or have $75,000 socked away in a savings account? What’s your bank balance right now?</p>

<p>An Americorps award is $5,000. So if you used them both in one year, you’d still be $40,000 short of that one year’s costs. Max Pell and Stafford (assuming you qualify) still leaves you $30,000 short. Where does that money come from?</p>

<p>Seriously, unless you’re independently wealthy, you are not going to be able to do what you’re talking about doing. We can’t all afford what we want. Doesn’t matter how much I save and work, I can’t afford a new BMW on my GS-5 park ranger salary.</p>

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<p>@polarscribe</p>

<p>I know i can afford it. LMAO</p>

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<p>Good for you.</p>

<p>My office looks out on a glacier. That’s worth ten BMWs to me.</p>