Sophomore transfer

Transfer Students
1

<p>I am a female chinese freshman at Northwestern, and I would like some advice about what to do and not to do to give myself the best shot at transferring this year. The school is nice and has a strong econ department, but now I realize im really much more interested in pure math. Also, what other schools would you recommend (strong in math and in the Northeast)</p>

<p>Schools:
Harvard
MIT
Cornell CAS
UChicago</p>

<p>First quarter gpa: 3.93
Classes:
Accel Linear algebra
Accel Microecon
Intro to macro
Accel chinese</p>

<p>Classes next quarter, with project gpa >3.9
Game theory
Multiv Calc
Intro to topology
Intro to optimization (math)
Accel Chinese 2
Design and Analysis of algorithms (cs)</p>

<p>HS stuff, not so great
gpa around 3.2, 1 AP, no APs offered after sophomore year, though spent senior year at a local private ranked college (this was part of the hs curriculum, gpa senior year was ~3.7)
SAT1: 780M, 760V, 640W
SAT2: 780M1, 770M2, 740Phy
other stuff: Music (many years with violin), competitive math(mostly senior year, AMC, AIME) Habitat for humanity, robotics team, 2 summers at math camp</p>

<p>I also took this years Putnam exam, and I think I did well enough to make the top 500, tho results wont be out until april...</p>

<p>questions:
1. Are college ECs important?
2. Should I retake sat1 and get better writing score or take ACTs and not send SAT scores?
3. Hs recs or college recs? i am going to be in smaller classes next quarter so i hope I can get to know my profs better, but as of right now, I don't really have a rec writer in mind. I know my HS recs were very good.
4. Will I have better shot as applying for junior standing instead? Will getting rejected now hurt my chances next year?
5. What else can I do?</p>

2

<p>Also, if I take the SATs again, it'll be my third time (first score was 710/660 M/V)</p>

3

<p>In at UChicago, and you have as good a shot as anyone at the other schools. Your SATs are fine.</p>

<p>Good luck:)</p>

4

<p>wow that's a great courseload. You're definitely in the running for those schools - weakest aspect is high school GPA as you've stated, but I think you've made up for it. In answer to your questions:</p>

<p>1) yes
2) no, I don't think so you should retake at all since writing doesn't hold much weight yet. if you're going to retake, choosing the ACT over SAT won't really matter as far as sending grades since you'll need to send your subject test scores, which will in turn send all college board scores.
3) college recs will be required, but some schools will also want a high school counselor rec.
4) Yes you will as you'll have more college grades, but I'd still try now. being rejected now and reapplying can only be seen in a positive light since it will show your continued interest in the school.
5) Cross your fingers and keep your GPA up.</p>

5

<p>Wait a minute... since she attends Northwestern, I assumed her HS GPA was good enough...</p>

<p>how the hell did you get into Northwestern with a 3.2?</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
I assumed her HS GPA was good enough

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Tisk, tisk, never assume. ;)</p>

<p>But yeah, I'm wondering the same thing. A 3.2 (no offense) Asian being accepted to Northwestern doesn't really seem practical.</p>

7

<p>bambi.. just out of curiosity, do you wear glasses?</p>

8

<p>HS gpa- I got in off the waitlist. Other than that, I dont really know either.</p>

9

<p>well that's cool. I say give it a shot and hope everything else you have going for you will cover the high school grades. if it doesn't work this year, try again for junior.</p>

10

<p>Weird...</p>

<p>I was the same kind of applicant (lower GPA/higher test scores).</p>

<p>Only thing is that she's applying from an uber school where she owned math =)</p>

11

<p>wow....</p>

<p>i met like 3 transfers from U of Chicago at Northwestern, and u want to transfer to U of Chicago</p>

<p>good luck, i dont think anyone from Northwestern has ever transferred to u of chicago, but hey, good luck w. that</p>

<p>i also want to transfer from Northwestern, but not to chicago (i got in last yr as well as cornell), i want to go to columbia or stanford</p>

12

<p>Its pretty obvious the adcon's saw something that all of you "gpa concious" people didn't see.</p>

13

<p>
[quote]
Its pretty obvious the adcon's saw something that all of you "gpa concious" people didn't see.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Care to tell us what exactly?</p>

<p>I know someone who got into Northwestern with a 3.1. Her parents also donated more than a million dollars to the school. In that sense, the adcoms definitely looked beyond the GPA.</p>

<p>I guess the moral of the story is: in our predictions of the chances of various applicants, we fail to take into account that the applicants and their parents may be generous philanthropists [rolleyes].</p>

14

<p>Nspeds you should do the : rolleyes : so the little face pops up. It's far more effective.</p>

<p>:rolleyes:</p>

15

<p>I think you have a good chance everywhere except Harvard.</p>

<p>"... Students are eligible to transfer only from a liberal arts curriculum that is similar to Harvard's. Candidates whose education have been in vocational, professional, technical or performance programs will not ordinarily qualify..."</p>

16

<p>My parents didnt donate anything to the school, and I'm on much financial aid. I don't think I had a "hook", except that when I applied, it was to the Applied Math program in their Engineering school, and I'd guess not many girls apply to the Engineering school.</p>

<p>I doubt that will help me here, I just hope that the improvement from highschool will factor in a lot more than the bad hs record..
Also, is it bad if I'm just continuing my interests in math and music in terms of ECs? Do the adcoms want to see a lot of exploring new opportunities or am i ok focusing on major related ECs</p>

<p>Thanks for all the replies</p>

17

<p>so does that mean people from public universities can't transfer to harvard?</p>

18

<p>no it means students that are maybe at a CC taking vocational classes, students in professional programs (business comes to mind), and students in performance programs (music, theatre majors) will not usually be able to transfer because Harvard requires students take the general "core" classes like English, History, Sciences, Math etc. and if your schedule isn't similar to what a first or second year Harvard student usually takes, you won't be able to graduate in time and they don't want to admit you. The only exceptions I've really seen are students at the top pre-professional programs like Wharton.</p>

19

<p>One more question, what can I expect in terms if Finaid from chicago or MIT?</p>

20

<p>Um...decent amounts, no merit.</p>

<p>It all depends on your FAFSA.</p>