taking classes in the summer

Transfer Students
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<p>I’ve done nothing…they are more innate than practical. Hence I applied to a CUNY…which does not even consider extracurriculars in admissions. So, just to be pessimistic, I am in a severely unfortunate position.</p>

<p>What do you mean about leadership positions? They are certainly very important…especially if you didn’t have a good GPA in high school (3.3). What school are you going to?</p>

<p>EDIT: my GPA will not be an issue. I guarantee that I will get a 4.0 or so. My issue is course rigor (hence I made this thread, which concerns taking classes to satisfy pre-reqs and taking more challenging courses before i apply as a transfer) and ECs, which are hard to find to a person clueless and inexperienced.</p>

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<p>He told us that participation in school clubs or outside organizations is competitively fine for well-rounded candidates.</p>

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<p>@crazybandit: What I meant about the leadership position is that admissions will be unlikely to accept you or reject you just based on whether you held a leadership position or not. The truth is that a lot of leadership positions in clubs at school are “fluff” titles. A 3.3 gpa in HS is acceptable, especially if you excel in college. You might want to work on turning your passions into actual achievements. Also I would consider going into tutoring (volunteering at a local elementary school will work), these positions could gain you lots of invaluable insight and require many of the same qualities needed in a leadership position such as patience, ability to lead/instruct others, and teamwork. Admissions care about these qualities rather than the “title” of a leadership position. </p>

<p>I attend Santa Monica College in Los Angeles. I have been accepted to UCLA as a junior transfer after a year at my CC and I’m waiting for a few more decisions.</p>

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<p>dfa4ever: What about someone with a 2.9 HS GPA who didn’t work at his best potential and then decide to turn everything around when applying as Junior?</p>

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<p>@Seachai: I think it’s totally possible but it must be a true turnaround. A lot of students at my CC are in this situation and they often transfer to places like UCLA after two years with a >3.7 GPA and some ECs. Just keep your expectations realistic and work hard. What schools do you want to transfer to? What do you want to study?</p>

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<p>I’m leaning towards Business, but I’m also undecided.</p>

<p>I’m attending St. John’s University next year, a college in New York City.</p>

<p>I have yet to make a list of the schools that I officially want to transfer into.</p>

<p>But I’ve been thinking about George Washington (If I’m interested in International Relations or Political Studies), Boston University (Liberal Arts or Business), Boston College (Idk my major yet), and etc… I can’t really tell until I start college.</p>

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<p>

That’s not true if one wants to shoot as high as possible in transfer admissions. Virtually ALL the “inspirational” stories of bad high school transcripts and transfer success stories I’ve seen on this site are backed up by some passion, or excuse for the low gpa. That being said, I understand what you are saying. But there will be thousands of kids with 4.0s in community colleges with “acceptable” gpas applying to the same colleges, so those in my situation need to set themselves apart via leadership positions, course rigor, and unique interests in studies and activities</p>

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<p>@Seachai: I love GW’s campus but its tuition is out of this world! </p>

<p>I would think carefully about your undergrad major, a business major is fine but often, to go into business, you will need a graduate level/professional degree. So for undergrad, you might consider picking something you are definitely interested in studying. By doing so, you will make it easier for yourself in classes since you’ll be taking courses you really enjoy–even as you take the GEs that are needed for transfer (and believe me, you want to balance GE courses out with classes you really love–it makes you a much happier student and helps you earn a high GPA). </p>

<p>Another approach would be for you to look for colleges you really want to transfer to and look into the majors they offer there. If you are at a college you really enjoy being at, an otherwise only so-so major can turn into the best experience of your life. And since you seem to be unsure about just what you want to study, figuring out where you want to be the most first may be more helpful.</p>

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<p>One of my peers in school told me that as an undecided major, I can search for something I really want to study in the 2nd semester of Freshmen year. Does the school give you a list of thousands of majors for students to browse at or do you have to find out what major(s) you are interested in by yourself?</p>

<p>Being that I chose undecided because I heard from alot of people that pathways can change once you’ve enrolled in college.</p>

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<p>I knew coming out of HS what major I wanted to pursue (English). I chose English because it is one of the most universally useful majors. With it, I can get into any professional/grad school program as long as I meet the specific prereqs of the schools. I want to eventually go to law school. But as far as majors, I’m sure you can find a list on the college’s website, all schools list somewhere the different majors, minors, and concentrations/special programs that they offer. And if you are also considering graduate school, pick out the top 3 and look at their requirements for admission to get a feel for what you need to accomplish in your undergrad years.</p>

<p>I would start looking to figure out your major right now, the earlier you get started, the more you can accomplish. Also, the earlier you can figure out you chose the wrong field, the more time you have to switch.</p>

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<p>Last question: Do you know what kind of ideas do kids convincingly present in their transfer essays? (Although I already have some of mine ahead)</p>

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<p>I found these posts in the Transfer 101 thread. They should help you out.</p>

<p>"I’ll go over a few things that worked for me with the essays.</p>

<p>The first is: try to be as specific as possible on the “why transfer” question. If you can, tailor each essay to the individual schools you are applying to. However, this is incredibly time-consuming (particularly so if you, like I did, are writing these essays during the school year and have to deal with actual coursework). So where I could I reused. My Harvard and Yale essays sounded very specific to each college, but in reality they were nearly identical with minor modifications (e.g. discussing briefly Yale’s residential college system).</p>

<p>My second tip would be: don’t be negative! When I first started writing my essays, I got caught up in the negativity I felt toward my old school. My “why transfer to Y” essay became “why I wanted to desperately get out of X”. I think students who do this shoot themselves in the foot. At the same time, if there is a serious issue with your current institution, don’t be afraid to mention it! The best way to reconcile this is to mention the problem, but instead of focusing on it, use it as a launch-pad to get into why school Y is great for you. For example, one of the biggest problems I had was with class size. Instead of harping on how crowded X was, I used it as a means to talk about school Y’s intimate size + res. college system.</p>

<p>My third piece of advice is to make it personal. While this sort of falls under my first suggestion… I don’t think specific automatically assumes personal. I could say college Y is great for a,b, and c without making any mention of how it is important to me. So what if Y has an intimate class size and an awesome college system? What does that do for you, your goals, and the growth you hope to achieve during your 4 year tenure?</p>

<p>This last one is pretty obvious, but… make sure it’s well-written. You can have all the great reasons in the world but if it’s not articulated well it doesn’t mean jack. Get help with your writing if you don’t think it’s up to par. Have peers and parents look over your essays… get their input. It’s often hard to objectively judge the quality of your own essay, and they can provide useful insight."</p>

<p>&</p>

<p>7) Write stellar “Why X school?” essays. This one seems obvious but there are tons of students who simply don’t put the time in, or worse yet, copy paste their “Why Cornell?” essay and use it for Brown by switching the name. Don’t do this! Research the school. Talk about specific programs. Admissions spends all day reading “Why X” essays. The last thing you want to do is give them another “Penn is an ivy-league school. I want to go to an ivy-league school” essay. Say they read that essay and then yours, where you list in great detail, just why you want to attend Penn. Something like:</p>

<p>-top notch research facilities (best in the ivies)
-competitive track team
-submatriculation program (can get b.a. and m.a. in four years)
-dual-degree program (can get b.a. from school of arts and sciences in addition to b.s. from wharton)
-philly=most livable city in america
etc…</p>

<p>You need concrete researched reasons for wanting to attend. After all, if you don’t have those, why are you applying? Frankly, that’s exactly what the admissions committee will think if you submit a generic essay. </p>

<p>8) Proofread! Not doing so, in addition to being unprofessional, shows a serious lack of interest in a school, like saying, “I don’t care enough about this school to properly edit my essay for them.” Penn’s website explicitly says “Proofread your essays. No really. Seriously.” That was their admissions tip of the week today and I’m sure that applies across the board for other competitive schools.</p>

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<p>I talked about my love for literature and karate. From what I gathered from admissions people, the trick for a good essay is to tell show your positive qualities through your essay without actually listing them. They recommend picking an event and show why it was important for you, how did it change you (if applicable), what was your role in the event, what positive attributes did this event showcase, etc. Also remember to triple check grammar and writing style. Admissions people are turned off by poorly composed essays–even if your GPA is strong.</p>

<p>The most important point is to emphasize the positives of the event/hardship. Focus on how it improved you/challenged you/inspired you to be better.</p>

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<p>@sea: do you mean compelling reasons for transfer? If yes, then there are several:</p>

<p>1) Your current school doesn’t have the major you want.
2) You don’t have access to X and Y because of Z reason at your current school.
3) The environment at your school (social, academic,personal quaffs,etc.) makes your incompatible with you.</p>

<p>Essentially, transferring is all about increasing your fit with a complementary collegiate environment.</p>