Hello! I am applying as a fall transfer at several universities, most/all of them are top-tier schools (full list: Harvard, Yale, Northwestern, Columbia, Stanford, Georgetown, USC, UF, and BU), and I am currently a freshman at FIU/The Honors College (Political Science). My highest test scores from when I took them in high school are a 31 ACT (34 English 24 Math 34 Reading 30 Science) and 1350 SAT (710 R+W 640 Math). I am fairly certain that I will be able to get and maintain a high college GPA, especially considering my transfer choices, however my high school GPA was nothing spectacular (3.44 UW). I am very unhappy at my current school for multiple reasons: I do not see it as a good fit for me, I would really like to leave Miami (I’ve lived here my whole life), and I am looking for a school that offers quality internships, extensive study abroad opportunities, and an extensive alumni network (I plan on going to law school). Would retaking these tests significantly improve my chances of successfully transferring, or should I just stick to that 31 ACT and work on other areas of my application? Any advice is greatly appreciated, thank you!
I’m not sure any school will accept an ACT/SAT (a test designed for HS students) taken in college.
Read each college’s testing requirements for transfers. Some schools will NOT want you to retake the tests if you are in College, especially if you will transfer as a junior with 55-60 units. Those schools will often say (If Taken) like Cornell. Others will straight up say not send your SAT. USC, for example, does not want your test score after X units taken.
Others like CMU, will require you to dig deep to find out if they will consider you without a score. And that’s when you need to search extra to find out. For those wondering if they do, it seems optional. They only do not consider it if you did not take the test/ come from a poor family that possibly could not have afforded you taking the test.
So look up each school’s requirement. Remember that testing scores assess your READINESS for college. If you have completed at least 45+ credits at a nice 4.00 GPA that should show them enough how ready you are for their school. Cheers and GL.
@Snekfest, OP is in their first few weeks of university.
OP, if you apply this year, your HS record will be considered, and you don’t have any convincing reasons to apply to those particular schools. Harvard, for example, specifies that:
You fall at the first hurdle.
The first 2 reasons you give for transferring (“I do not see it as a good fit for me / I would really like to leave Miami (I’ve lived here my whole life”) give the impression that you didn’t get into the schools that you really wanted, and are anxious to ‘trade up’ asap.
The other 3 the reasons that you list for transferring:
-I am looking for a school that offers quality internships
-Extensive study abroad opportunities
-Extensive alumni network (I plan on going to law school).
are so generic that they apply to hundreds of schools.
If you seriously want to transfer to a higher ranked school, you need 3 semesters of seriously top grades. Work on that, and on identifying other schools that will meet your financial need.
ps, FYI, no school “offers quality internships”: quality internships are competitive, and while schools with fancy names often have good connections, there is no guarantee that you will be able to turn that connection into a placement.
@collegemom3717 Looking back my reasons do sound very generic, and I definitely didn’t phrase the point about internships correctly, I was referring to the good connections that you mentioned that those schools have. Another, more academic, reason I have for transferring is that I am interested in politics, government, and international relations (hence my major) but am also interested in interdisciplinary undergraduate research. For example, I wrote an academic research paper my junior year about the American occupation of Japan and its effects on Japanese and American cinema (obviously this in and of itself won’t help me much, since it was done in high school). Could I continue to show this interest and “need to transfer” by possibly working on research with a professor at my current school? This would of course be coupled with very high grades, as you mentioned.
Hey, I am in the same problem too. I currently attend Community College I am also planning to transfer to schools like Northwestern, NYU, Rice, Vandy, Gatech, University of Chicago, UPenn, and the University of Virginia. The last ACT Exam I took in high school I got a score of 14- I know I didn’t study at all in high school. I am a freshman year currently and planning to transfer to this schools for the fall 2019 or spring 2020. I know for sure I will be getting a 3.95- 4.00 GPA in college. Does anyone recommend to take retake ACT Exam? I am planning to send both scores the 14 and my 34(goal score) which they will see the improvement. Anyone, please help. Thanks, Alex @Snekfest @collegemom3717
@Party101 honestly I can only speak for myself and the colleges I’m eyeing (USC, UMICH, Cornell) etc, there seems to be little to no interest in me personally retaking it. I attended info sessions at some of the ones mentioned and there was a HEAVY emphasis on the rigor of your schedule and GPA.
I actually did not take the ACT/ SAT in high school but did take the p-sat and remember it was horrible which made me think I’m just not cut out for education and maybe do military or something when I’m done and when time for the actual SAT came in, I did was at work instead of taking it.
That being said, if you look at some of the schools mentioned, some like USC will plain tell you to not send it if you have XX credits. Usually junior standing you have proved yourself worthy enough. If you’re under 60 credits then they might weight that against you.
Personally again, I chose to focus on my grade and taking a heavy course selection to impress the colleges this semester WHILE doing transfer apps at the same time as one of my dream schools suggested that route.
Your GPA is great, what they will look at though is courses + credits completed… your high school performance (GPA) will be taken into consideration but if you have around 60 units, you should be okay without the SAT.
In all honesty my “safety” if you can even call it that ranks pretty amazingly and they stated I don’t need to retake it so even if I get declined from my reaches, I’m happy 
GLHF!
Yeah sure. Thanks for your help. Also good luck on transfer. @Snekfest