The Big Ones (Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Duke, etc...)

Transfer Students
1

<p>I am new to this transfer thread, but I am thinking about transferring to the following schools:</p>

<p>Harvard
Yale
Columbia
Duke
University of Pennsylvania
Stanford
MIT</p>

<p>Background information: When applying to college this year (I am a freshman in college), I was rejected from Harvard, Stanford and MIT, and was waitlisted at Penn and Yale (sent in my card, but ultimately rejected).</p>

<p>Current information:
Attending UCLA (OOS)</p>

<p>Let's put in two different GPA ranges:
Projected: 3.8 GPA
Projected: 3.7 GPA</p>

<p>(Taking Max. classes, 18 total units)</p>

<p>Extra Curriculurs in college: Student Accounting Society (hoping for leadership), Undergraduate Business Society, Student Stock Association, Some pre-law association.</p>

<p>Things since high school:
200 hours community service, summer 2007
Internship: Aramark Corporation, 32 hours/week (8 weeks)
Internship: National Basketball Association (25 hours/week) (2 weeks)
Principal's Award (High School)
NIAA Student Scholar (Top 1% of student athletes in Nevada)
Rotary Award (School)</p>

<p>High School Information: (Las Vegas, NV)
4.8 GPA
Class Rank 1/650
Valedictorian</p>

<p>ACT: 34</p>

<p>High School ECs:
Captain Varsity Basketball Team
2nd team all-state basketball
1st team all-regional basketball</p>

<p>Presdient National Honor Society
Tons community service
Outstanding Service Award (3 years)</p>

<p>President DECA
Winner State Competition (Ethics)
Runner-up Junior Year</p>

<p>Vice Presdient FBLA
Winner- State competition</p>

<p>Treasurer - Science Club</p>

<p>Umm, theres like 5 or 6 local/school awards that I cannot remember also</p>

<p>RECS:
HS - Will be Amazing
College - Accounting Teacher - probably really good (depends on grade)
Work, Labor, Social Justice Teacher - Good
History TA - Really Good</p>

2

<p>I’m surprised you were rejected after HS. Keep in mind that transferring is a lot more difficult esp in the ivy league. Harvard is making headlines with their low transfer numbers.</p>

<p>I’m assuming your weakness was in the q’s+essay/interview department. It also depends on the major of the schools within those universities. With the amount of competition, heavy factor on the aforementioned aspects of your application, no one can give you a reliable answer especially considering you were already denied.</p>

<p>Best of luck, though. You seemed to have worked really hard for your grades and I really hope you get in.</p>

3

<p>Transfer acceptance rates in 2006 according to this thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=326408[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=326408&lt;/a&gt; (stats via the collegeboard):</p>

<p>Harvard 8.1%
Yale 3.9%
Columbia College 6.3%
Columbia Fu (Engineering) 24.1%
Duke 7.9%
University of Pennsylvania 12.4%
Stanford 5.1%
MIT 6.3%</p>

<p>So, it’s obviously not easy, but possible. Good luck.</p>

4

<p>consider paying off the admissions officers at your top three choices, that will up your chances considerably. Don’t worry, they probly wont reject you on the spot for even offering it…</p>

5

<p>^^ Those were the rates for 2005, which were reported in 2006. Last year they were much lower. Stanford accepted only 20/1400= less than 2% .Harvard was just as low. It is far, far harder to transfer in than to be accepted as a freshman, simply because the # of transfer openings is determined by how many students transfer OUT and the yield for the incoming Freshman class. Last year, at many of the colleges on your list, the incoming Freshman classes were over-enrolled. Schools HAVE to make room for accepted Freshman who decide to attend. That is the reason transfer acceptances aren’t sent out until after the acceptance deadline for freshman on May 1.</p>

6

<p>you only have at chance with UPenn</p>

7

<p>Keep in mind that high schools recs aren’t counted in the transfer process. Another thing to remember is that for gen. ed. courses, it may be hard to get a good rec. simply because there are so many students in the class. You have to actively seek out your professors during office hours, etc.</p>

8

<p>^^Wrong! You have to submit a copy of your HS transcript AND a letter of recommendation from the HS counselor when applying to the schools listed.</p>

9

<p>Yea that guy is wrong, hs recs r counted…</p>

10

<p>He’s not wrong, as schools require a form, not letter from counselors and it’s not a very significant part of the application (unless it’s unusually bad.) Recommendations have to be from college professors, not high school teachers.</p>

11

<p>It’s not a good sign that your college recommendations will “probably be good,” as they really need to be outstanding for the schools you want.</p>

12

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<p>

</p>

<p>For future reference, this is directly from the Columbia website:</p>

<p>To apply for transfer admission, you must submit the following:</p>

<p>The completed online transfer application
The $70 application fee.
An official high school transcript (from all schools attended)
An official college transcript (from all schools attended)
SAT I or ACT scores (and TOEFL /IELTS scores if necessary; please refer English Language Proficiency Requirements below for further details)
A letter of recommendation from a college professor
A Statement of Good Academic Standing from the current institution</p>

<p>Source: <a href=“http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/applications/transfer.php[/url]”>http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/applications/transfer.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Just to check another school, I looked up Harvard, and they DO NOT require a high school rec either. I went through the process for one of these schools last year, and I don’t remember there being such a requirement.</p>

<p>The both of you are obviously confusing transfer admission with something else. Please don’t post if you have no idea what you’re talking about. If in fact, you still believe I’m mistaken, post some evidence and I might be convinced.</p>

13

<p>^^ OK
For Stanford
[Applying</a> to Stanford | Transfer Applicants | Transferring to Stanford | School Reports & Transcripts](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/applying/1_3f_transcript.html]Applying”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/applying/1_3f_transcript.html)
you have to submit the same secondary school report <a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/DownloadForms.aspx[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/DownloadForms.aspx&lt;/a&gt;
as is required for Freshman applications. If you read the form it requires a written evaluation by the HS counselor, as well as the same ranking questions. So I’m not confusing Freshman applications with Transfer applications for Stanford, which is one of the schools the OP listed.</p>

14

<p>I suggest that in the future before you post something like these sarcastic remarks "
The both of you are obviously confusing transfer admission with something else. Please don’t post if you have no idea what you’re talking about. If in fact, you still believe I’m mistaken, post some evidence and I might be convinced."
to someone who has been on these boards for 3 years and has over 1200 posts, you might consider that maybe they do know what they are talking about.</p>