Hi,
I was wondering if you guys had any tips for someone trying to transfer to one of the Ivies (or similar caliber) as an incoming junior? Although my high school stats (attended a prep school) and activities were pretty good (most people thought I would get into multiple Ivies), I was rejected at every single one I applied to (not even waitlisted). Now I am attending a somewhat selective school (probably around the same prestige as Tufts), but am hoping to transfer into a university that better fits my needs.
Ivies are crazy selective for transfers. And I got rejected the first time around. I was wondering what I could do to improve my chances at getting in? What do the Ivies look for in transfer students?
Thanks!
EDIT: I am a CS major.
Also how would Ivies view a summer internship at a top silicon valley company? Ex: Google, Facebook, Twitter etc.
I mean some people say that these internships are even harder to get than getting into an Ivy but would the admissions committee even care?
That kind of internship would not matter at all.
You will need excellent grades, excellent leters of reference, and a very clear statement as to why their program is much better for your academic goals than the program at your current university. This means that you can’t apply just because it is an Ivy. It needs to be a good fit for you major.
dont bother to reapply to Ivys that rejected you.
It will be a waste of time.
Its better for you to bloom where you are planted and stop fixating on the past.
It sounds like Ivy prestige is the reason you want to transfer. Their adcoms can smell that a mile away. You would be an automatic reject. Only Cornell admits a significant number of transfers and most of those are from NY community colleges with articulation agreements.
@happymomof1 @menloparkmom @TomSrOfBoston
Thanks for all the responses!
For clarification, the reason I am looking to transfer is because my current school is a horrible fit for what I want to accomplish in life (due to switching majors upon entering the school), so much so that I am even debating applying to transfer to my local state school (much less prestigious) and giving up a full ride scholarship to do so. I would just ideally not go to a school with a worse reputation? But the acceptance rates for the schools I would LIKE to go to (not necessarily ivies, and not applying to all ivies) are so intimidating that I was just asking for what could improve my chances.
Excellent grades were implied. Excellent recs would probably be hard to come by due to only have taken classes with large numbers of students?
Probably badly phrased my question…not really looking for prestige, but looking for a school with a good fit for my major, and at least an equivalent reputation as my current school, with good financial aid. Obviously, saying the “Ivies” was obviously a generalization, but a number of them fit into exactly what I am looking for.
If you look at the lists of colleges with the top programs in CS, you will see a lot of schools that are not Ivies. Ivies are not known for CS, and in fact each of those schools is very different…
Great GPA, Leadership, leadership, leadership, excellent recs and great reasons why your school doesn’t work for you and the ivy has what you need. Good Luck! I transferred from a small elite LAC to an ivy back when. Got into 2.
before you try to transfer, figure out IF you can afford to do so. Dont take on tens of thousands of $$ worth of loans in order to justify moving to another college.
Its NOT worth it.
Giving up a FULL RIDE scholarship is a foolish, imo, especially since scholarship $$ for transfer students is as rare as the chances of anyone transferring into an Ivy.
so unless your parents have loads of $$ -stay put.
That said, there IS USC, which DOES accept LOTS of transfer students each year[ thousands] AND does have an excellent CS program. They also have a generous FA program, but you should run your ##'s through their, and ANY any NPC’s , before applying to transfer.
“transfer into a university that better fits my needs.” But they admit or not based on their needs. What makes them want you isn’t how much you want them. Certainly, that’s not telling them you went ahead with a college that’s a “horrible fit.” This isn’t about what you “want to accomplish in life.”
What do you really know about these new targets?
@cameo43 Agreed. I also forgot to mention that I am also very interested in investment banking, with a lot of other ECs in this area. Ideally I would be aiming for the wall street firms that are recruiting in CS (ex: Goldman). I figure the Ivies would fare better in this area than say, Georgia Tech.
@preppedparent Thank you! I’m most worried about recs, as two of the classes I’m currently in for my major are large and aren’t even taught by professors? Doubt I’ll be able to get strong recs.
@menloparkmom I completely agree. In fact, this was one of the main reasons I chose to attend my current school, but as I am quite unhappy here, even after a year and a half, I wonder whether it would be worth it to suck it up for two more years (life is short after all). In addition, my summer internships are paying around $8k/month which will cover a bit of the costs of attending too. USC is a pretty nice school, however, I applied in high school and turned down a full tuition scholarship there because I wasn’t terribly fond of it when I visited. Would also not qualify for FA there (upper-middle class) and doubt I would get another merit scholarship there for transferring.
@lookingforward I agree with everything you said. That’s what I’m trying to better understand - what these colleges “need”.