Hello, I am currently a rising sophomore at Palm Beach Atlantic University with 69 credits and a 3.8 G.P.A. My major is History and I minor in English (I’m interested in pursuing a career as a History Museum Curator). Last year I applied to Georgetown University with a 28 ACT, 3.4 G.P.A, and a full IB schedule. I was just informed that my transfer application to Georgetown was denied for Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. I only ended up at PBA because my sister goes there but I hate the school and was really hoping that I’d be able to transfer. Could I please have some help on applying a third time? Is it worth it? How should I develop my application? What do I do to increase my chances (retake ACT, form relationship with GU transfer office, get better recommendation letter, do something extraordinary, etc.) I know I sound desperate, but I have kinda reached the point. Georgetown is the only school I’ve ever wanted to go to and the thought of graduating from PBA makes me crazy. I am somewhat grateful that I won’t have to be on campus due to the pandemic (which is nothing to be thankful for, me not being in Florida is really just a silver lining). I’ll take all the assistance I can get.
Time to pivot.
There are lots of fine colleges where you can study to become a curator. University of Delaware has one of the finest museum studies programs in the country, for example. I don’t know anything about transferring there, but that’s just one example of a college which might not be on your radar.
Why not devote a couple of weeks to researching some schools which are easier to get admitted to than Georgetown, rather than try a do-over? You will likely need a Master’s degree anyway; so focus on finishing out your undergrad at a school you don’t hate where you can continue to do well?
Third time is rarely a charm… time for Plan B.
If you have 69 credits you are trying to transfer as a junior. Usually the high school stuff doesn’t matter as much and they will look to your college gpa, awards, and activities.
My daughter earned a HIstory degree with a certificate in museum studies at Wyoming. There are other programs out there but you have to look and not just dream of Georgetown.
“Georgetown is the only school”
You have 69 credits after 1 year of college- are most of those DE? you will get more credits at UDe than Georgetown, which will only give you transfer credit for a max of 4 DE courses.
Aside from UDe and UWy (mentioned above) I believe that Juniata has a good program that includes a history track (some programs are largely art-focused). Sometimes you have to let go of an old dream and make a new one, and imo this is one of those times.
I was in a similar-ish situation this year. I’ve had my heart set on UNC since sophomore year of high school but was rejected my senior year. I chose a smaller state school and spent the year there making myself the best possible applicant I could. Spent hours on the application, had good recommendation letters, and still got denied. As much as I wanted to try again next year, all signs point to no.
UNC and GU are both ultra competitive, and hardly anyone gets in (especially as a transfer!), and it doesn’t say anything about you. But now is the time for you to adjust your expectations. You have a clear idea of what you want to do, so research good (less selective) schools, and cast a wider net, and you’ll end up where you’re supposed to be. If grad school is in your future, look at GU for that. But don’t pigeonhole yourself to this one school because you have an idea of how it was supposed to be. If you truly hate PBA, it sounds like really anywhere else will be an improvement.
Georgetown isn’t in the cards. The good news is that Georgetown, while obviously an excellent college, isn’t really extraordinarily unique. There are a lot of colleges very similar in vibe, opportunity, architecture, etc, but easier to get into. If you can share specifics regarding what you like about GU, posters here will have a number of suggestions.
You could major in history with a minor in museum studies at Earlham, where the museum studies minor is jointly run by the History, Biology, Geology and Art departments with the Joseph Moore Museum, the regional natural history museum on campus. There’s also a regional history museum where students often intern; and the school has a formal London program where students work with museums there. I believe they’re still taking applications for fall on a rolling basis, and the spring transfer deadline is November 1st. https://earlham.edu/academics/programs/museum-studies/
That’s just one proof-of-concept example.
There are museum studies minors with possible history focus at many schools. Lake Forest, DePaul, and Beloit would all give you access to the amazing museums of Chicago. (Beloit has its own museums on campus, although the greatest strength of that program is in anthropology.)
Gettysburg College’s Public History major might be a good fit too. https://www.gettysburg.edu/academic-programs/interdisciplinary-studies/programs/public-history/
I’m sure there are many other possibilities… the point is that by laser-focusing on one university that simply isn’t a fit for your stats, you’ve been missing the big picture that there are many, many great programs that would welcome you with open arms.