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!
Yes, redo your list. Take off all those reaches. How did you end up at FIU? Why? The ACT is the least relevant issue here. What other Florida schools did you get admitted to? Money, you are full pay?
I was not accepted at any other Florida school. Like I said, my GPA wasn’t very good for most of high school, I averaged maybe a 3.25 UW, but this was with a lot of APs (13 in total) and honors courses. I realize that most of those schools have transfer acceptance rates in the single digits so I’m not banking on getting into those, but I still want to give it a shot anyways, call me crazy. I’m fully paid for at FIU, thanks to Pell Grant, Bright Futures, and a scholarship, and obviously I pay in state tuition. Money was a big problem at the time of me applying, and that affected the schools I applied to, and that’s how I ended up at FIU.
You didn't get into any Florida schools but FIU, why would you be a candidate for a top university? How will you afford the applications? You have NO college GPA, you have NO idea what your GPA will be if you are a freshman who has been at uni for 2 weeks. You might consider seeing a counsellor, making the most of what you have.