I am looking for a school to transfer to as I currently attend community college. I have a bit of an unconventional story as a transfer student.
The thing with my GPA is that I had one bad semester in my second semester of college (3.0) which really brought my GPA down. My community college does the grading system differently than most, where an 89 would equal a 3.5 at most schools- it is a 3.0 at the mine since my community college only does whole points. It is currently a 3.55 but according to my math, it should be a 3.7 if recalculated.
Race: Hispanic and Asian + LBGT and female
GPA: 3.6?? w/ a 3.4UW in hs
Intended Major: Biological Anthropology ( or bio and anthropology)
ECF: 0
Types of schools interested in: Preferably near a big city, but ok with suburban schools too. I especially love liberal arts colleges since they are quite small like community colleges where everyone knows each other. Preferably a school with a biological anthropology program like Pitzer or medical anthro like Swarthmore. Those two are my dream schools!!
Despite the issues with my GPA, I think I can write out an awesome essay.
I grew up in a Christian fundamentalist cult. Not only that, but my family had a brief stint with homelessness and we were taken in by an African American family. No, I donât think their race has any bearing on anything, but I do consider them members of my family even after I was shunned for leaving the religion. My perception of culture and life was largely shaped by growing up in the south as not only a mixed-race ( Chinese and south American) person but by the values and cultures of our adoptive family. As a young adult, itâs really been tough to find my own identity and values; much less question my entire belief system and then have my entire family and support system disappear overnight because of it. It sucks. Even little things on the outside of take for granted, from ridiculous beliefs from the religion as âdinosaurs didnât existâ and âthe earth is only 1000 years oldâ to suddenly having no money or housing. Itâs like I woke up and I had to assimilate into a new universe. It would make for a good essay though.
I am also fairly active outside of class such as starting my own mental health club thatâs partnered with the schoolâs mental health department, working full-time as an EMT and I am currently working part-time in the research lab as a recipient of the NASA space grant. I hope I can get a first authorship, but it doesnât look like its happening for now.
Please suggest some schools for me to apply to! Especially LACs that cover full needs and have a great biology and anthro department. I am located in NC and will 100% apply to UNC.
I really do love Pitzer though, please tell me if I am aiming too high. I just feel disappointed in myself for my GPA.
Nontraditional refers to those who are outside of the usual college age range or have a number of years of independent adult living, such as veterans. You have an interesting background, but you dont mention anything which would make you Nontraditional. Grades are the most important factor in transfers, and the reasons why yours are lower than expected are not really relevant. Perhaps your school has an agreement with a public university to which you can transfer.
Transfer admissions, especially at small schools, can be tricky to predict because they may be filling very specific slots. Pitzer only accepted 22 students last year. This is down from the 68 in the previous two years. However, their yield went way up. I donât know if this was by design or not.
You certainly have a complex background. I am sorry for your trauma and hope that you can find a good fit.
A note about grades: please donât try to excuse or explain your GPA because of your schoolâs grading system. First, I donât think a 3.5 for a B+ is typical. My kids go to two different big name state schools and a B+ is a 3.25 at both. Second, schools without +/- arenât unusual at all. Third, and most importantly, the schoolâs system is the system. It will be on your transcript and potential transfer schools will be aware.
Iâm going to think more about schools for you, but you are so very lucky to be an in-state student for North Carolina as there are some great options there besides Chapel Hill:
East Carolina (NC) - again, not small, but in-state, highly likely admittance, and strength in your areas of interest
UNC-Asheville: Your public liberal arts college
UNC-Greensboro
UNC-Wilmington
College of Charleston â not small, but itâs South Carolinaâs liberal arts college and @tsbna44 has indicated that his daughter was able to receive more scholarships than tuition. There might be possibilities for a highly-motivated student.
These are two smaller colleges that are less rejective in their admissions and tend to be generous in defining need.
Beloit (WI)
Drew (NJ)
Smaller schools that will have tougher admissions, but are usually fairly generous with need.
Bryn Mawr (PA )
Davidson (NC)
Franklin & Marshall (PA )
Are you classified as an independent student? It is hard to become so under the age of 25, though it is possible.
Beloit is on there, as is one of the schools I really like, Clark. We also liked Goucher. In fact all of the schools on this list are pluses. But yes you will need aid, financial aid for sure, but look into merit aid as well.
I would not get too fixed on Pitzer since there are other schools that can offer similar academics and âvibe.â Of course Swarthmore is veerrry selective.
The OP wrote this. Apparently needs schools that cover full need. The OP is a transfer student. Definitely need to see which schools actually meet full need for transfer students, or give significant merit aid to transfer students. Many of the above suggested colleges give great merit for freshmenâŠbut not transfers. And there are colleges that meet full need for all incoming freshmen but not all transfers.
Does your community college have an automatic transfer relationship with any of the schools in your state? If so, I would start with those schools and see if they have the kinds of programs youâre interested in. Often, community colleges are designed to feed seamlessly into those other state programs, so gen ed credits will be easily accepted. I would recommend meeting with a professional advisor at your college to see what they suggest. They should be familiar with scholarships and aid programs that meet your needs. I would definitely look seriously at in-state colleges first to keep the expense down and build your list up from there. Having said that, applying to a handful of reach schools elsewhere is never a bad idea. You never know what you might be offered. Using your story in the application essay might work well if you emphasize your positive development and resourcefulness in response to the situation. I wouldnât worry too much about a temporary dip in the GPA as long as your cumulative is still above 3.0. There are some great schools that are well within reach.
Iâm not aware of resources that delineate what percentage of need is met for transfers as compared to other students. If you do, it would be great if you would share it so that we can have an additional resource to rely upon.
Beloit, however, meets 95% of need for its undergraduates (source) and historically has been among the more generous colleges that is not highly-rejective.
Drew has a low net price for people with an income of $0-30k or $30-48k, ranging from $8900-$9700. Between Pell grants and federal loans, that would be doable (source).
Using the same source as for Beloit, Bryn Mawr, Davidson, and Franklin & Marshall all meet 100% of need, though based on net price, both Beloit and Drew would likely run less than Franklin & Marshall, even if theyâre not 100% meet-need schools, as they are more generous in defining need.
With respect to the North Carolina publics, their tuition is about $7300/year. There may also be programs for North Carolina residents who receive Pell grants (assuming OP receives one) that will top-off for tuition, or maybe even beyond. To completely ignore her in-state publics I think would be a mistake. Then she could use a loan for part of her room & board and then work for the remainder of her living expenses, if there arenât additional scholarships forthcoming. Western Carolina should be added to the list, however, as its tuition is about $3k/year less.
Yes, Harvard, Amherst, and Swarthmore would all be more generous for OP financially. But the chances of a student with a 3.6 college GPA and a 3.4 high school GPA being accepted to the most financially generous (and highly rejective) schools is slim.
I was actually waitlisted at Swarthmore and Haverford when I applied to transfer as a a freshman. Same high school GPA of course, but I had a 3.75 during my first semester of college. I was actually very surprised. I donât think it was impossible for me, I guess they really valued my story.
The student would need to search for âtransfer financial aidâ on each college website. I donât know a clearinghouse of this info.
But some of the colleges recommended here donât guarantee to fully fund a $0 EFC studentâŠso I do think this needs to be considered.
The student can try the Net Price Calculator, but unless it specifically asks if the student is a transfer student, results might best be considered an estimate only.
Congratulations on having had the strength to come so far. Your story will inspire sympathy, but I donât think it will be enough to overcome the GPA. In order to get financial aid, your parents will have to be willing to fill out the FAFSA and possibly CSS. Are they willing to do this for you? Being estranged from them wouldnât make you an independent student - you would have had to have been in the foster care system or to have been legally emancipated by a court.
I agree with other posters, that your best bet would be the in-state 4 yr schools with whom your community college has a transfer agreement.
â Beloit College values a vibrant international community and does award generous merit-based scholarships to its international applicants. Yet, when reviewing for need-based aid we cannot guarantee that we can meet the full demonstrated financial need of every applicant.â
@AustenNut where do you see that they meet the full need if all students?
AgainâŠI suggest the OP look at these colleges if a womens college is OK with them. IIRC, both meet full need for transfer students, and also might fit their educational and social goals.
@Mwfan1921 do you know if these meet full need for all transfers?
Beloit was my first thought. Their anthro department is particularly well-regarded. and even has its own museum⊠and vibe-wise, I think a student who loves Pitzer would tend to like Beloit too.
Thumper mentions womenâs colleges; I would add Scripps to those suggestions, as itâs very closely intertwined with Pitzer and the other Claremont Colleges. Scripps has its own Anthro major, but students cross-register freely. Biology-wise, the Keck Science department is joint between Pitzer and Scripps Scripps and Pitzer Colleges Break Ground on New Science Center
You definitely should have good options in the NC public system as well. Good luck!