Hi all,
I will be entering college this Fall 2015, and well…let’s just say my university applications didn’t turn out as I had hoped. Currently, I am set to attend a top 10 LAC which is an extremely great place but what makes me apprehensive is that it is quite isolated, and am I already attending a boarding school of a similar environment which I have not enjoyed for the past few years. I know that it’s not good to have a mindset of already wanting to transfer but I would like to keep my options open.
I wanted to know whether it would be best to transfer as a Freshman or a Sophomore?
My stats are:
Full IB Diploma: 45/45 points predicted (hopefully I will achieve the same score, if not very close in the final exams)
BUT my SAT score is extremely low! - 1790 (only one sitting…my practice tests scored about 2000 so I have no clue what happened on the actual test day)
A lot of things went wrong at school, and I didn’t end up taking subject tests either so the universities I could apply to became very limited. Well, my dream is to apply to Yale, Columbia, Brown (possible Stanford and Harvard - if I decide to be super ambitious) as a transfer but I’m not sure when would be the best to do so… I will obviously take my SATs again, or perhaps try ACT instead.
I’m also an international applicant seeking financial aid, so my chances are already verrrry slim. IMO my high school ECs are also very strong… and I can write decent essays 
Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your advice!
bump
Thinking of taking a gap year also (learning a new language/cultural immersion, internship and then full-time paid work)… thoughts about what I should do?
THANKS VERY MUCH!
“I’m also an international applicant seeking financial aid, so my chances are already verrrry slim.”
That will make it hard at transfer time.
Either plan on spending all four years at the college where you have been admitted, or take a gap year and reapply to a new list. If you can raise your SAT score (or get a very good ACT score) during that gap year, you will have different options including places that guarantee merit-based aid even for international applicants. Read up on that topic in the threads pinned at the top of the Financial Aid Forum.
Thanks for the advice @happymomof1 I’ve been considering a gap year, but am really torn over whether to commit to college now (safer route) or to apply again next year where I hope to get into some other places but nothing is really guaranteed.
@disoriented - yes it’s middlebury!
Frankly, with your stats, you should be very thankful that you were admitted to Middlebury. To think about transferring before even arriving suggests a lack of maturity that doesn’t bode well for your ability to succeed in college. The worst thing you could do right now is to enroll in a college that you’re already down on. There are thousands of kids on Middlebury’s wait list who have dreamed of going to Midd, and you’re taking one of their spots. I definitely think you should take a gap year and play the admissions game again next year. Only apply to colleges that you actually want to attend. You should have done that in the first place. Sorry to be so harsh, but if you’re smart enough to get into Middlebury, I would have expected you to put a bit more thought into where you were applying in the first place.
@arcadia thanks for your thoughts! Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely grateful to be offered a place at Middlebury! With my SAT scores, getting into Midd is a hugely fortunate situation. However, I chose to still apply because I love the academics that Middlebury offers, many courses of which I’m interested in taking. But being an international student I’m not able to visit any of these schools beforehand, so I can only rely on what I have read and heard about the environment at Middlebury - and like I mentioned before, I don’t know whether I will love or hate the isolation. If I take a gap year, wouldn’t it possibly highlight to colleges that I did so merely to re-take standardised testing? Or course, if I took a year off, I would actually be involved in other activities…
Thanks all for your comments! I have decided to go to college, and transferring is something I will no longer think about. I’ll be making the most out of the incredible opportunity I already have Everything happens for a reason! Thanks again. I hope this discussion will die out…
Sorry for joining in late but this will be useful:
I’m an international student who also did the IB Diploma and I have also applied to Yale, Columbia, and Brown right now (as a transfer applicant). I got wait-listed last year.
3 things:
- Everything @arcadia said makes perfect sense. Re-take the SATs and take a gap year.
- Transfer acceptance rates are generally lower (Yale is around 2%). They're especially lower for those seeking aid, at least for Brown and Columbia. And for international transfers seeking aid... well, I think you get the picture.
- How in God's name were you PREDICTED 45! Kudos to you! I know the best IB schools won't predict that because statistically only like 1% of the IB students in the world get a 45, so it makes no sense to ever predict a 45. Good job, although its kind of strange that you managed this given your SAT score. I will try to not assume anything because I don't know you, but still.
I’ve learned a lot since high school and I can tell you for sure that you should give the college you’re attending another shot. If you really don’t want to go there then take a gap year!