*Transfer Brown 2017*

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

I know that it’s ridiculous to even think about Brown but I would like to know what you all think. Thanks!

Current College: State School
Current Major: War and Peace studies
Current Minor: Journalism
Entering As: Sophomore
HS GPA: 3.2
College GPA: 3.93
ACT: 33

I moved schools several times during high school due to a long stretch of homelessness.

Extracurriculars:
Reporter at college paper
Internship with state senator
American Association of University Women
AIESEC
International Student Union
Student Senate

Recommendations:
director of the undergraduate program for international studies/ advisor
political science professor

Reason for transferring:
My current institution does not have my desired major of international relations.

2

Hello! I’m going to be a sophomore at a top 10 LAC whose name I’m keeping private and am considering transferring to Brown as a junior majoring in international relations or public policy. Currently, I loathe my school’s location, extremely small student body which I do not get along with, relative lack of diversity, lack of academic challenge, and lack of career prospects. My parents also believe the listed schools are a better financial investment, which I completely agree with.

HS GPA UW/W: 3.89/4.51
HS Rank: top 5%
College GPA: 3.85 (two B+, rest A)
SAT: 2260 (M: 740, CR: 740, W: 780)
SAT II: 710 (US History), 700 (Literature)
AP: five 5s, three 4s
HS Courses: 8 AP year-long courses, 5 semesters of community college courses, rest honors, Korean, or PE
College Courses: 2 major-related, 4 GE courses, 2 intermediate (I’ll be taking almost exclusively intermediate-level courses my sophomore year)

Honors:
-National AP Scholar
-NMSQT Commended Student
-Dean’s List at college and at community college dual enrolled in during HS
-Recipient of a few local scholarships, one minor national scholarship
-Turned down 10 college-specific merit scholarships ranging from $5,000-$30,000 annually to attend my current college which does not offer merit awards
-Selected for global leadership program in East Asia

HS Extracurriculars:
-Interned for a university-affiliated NGO conducting research on global educational policy and transitional justice
-Interned for state senator conducting legislative research and working on constituency outreach programs
-Class senator
-Assistant Editor-in-Chief for school’s education journal
-Member of award-winning orchestra that toured internationally
-Volunteer at medical clinic
-Volunteer tutor assisting in SAT prep, English, Korean, and college applications

College Extracurriculars:
-President and founder of nonprofit specializing in diversity and policies relating to it, which has received awards for our advocacy and activities, has chapters in a few high schools nationwide, and works with a few universities
-Interned in Korea for an education nonprofit
-Employed as an overseas editor by a Korean university journal
-Employed by my college’s history department in their office
-Founder and main choreographer for my college’s intramural, multicultural dance team

Miscellaneous:
-Multiracial (Asian/White)
-LGBTQ-identified
-Upper-middle class
-Top public HS

Any help or suggestions regarding my chances, what I should/shouldn’t include, would be most beneficial!

3

@elizaaaaaa I think you need a stronger reason to transfer as War & Peace Studies seems awfully similar to IR. Do some more research about Brown and how it will clearly offer you a better experience over your current school. Your ACT is on par, and your unique living situation explains HS GPA and is very compelling and shows how much you’ve overcome.

4

This might be helpful: https://www.brown.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/transfer-applicants

Last year 8.92% of 1,834 transfer applicants were accepted. Their starts were…
SAT: 2090-2330 (CR: 720-780, M: 670-770, W: 700-780)
ACT: 31-34
GPA: 3.85

Of all the Ivies, Brown seems most transfer-friendly in that they do not discourage applicants planning on spending their junior and senior year at Brown.

5

Also, please chance me!

6

@elizaaaa any reasons why International Studies or Political Science would not suffice for you at your state school? It seems a bit like you’re trying to transfer up in prestige, which isn’t looked on too favorably by admissions.

7

Cornell is probably the most transfer-friendly, with Brown a distant second. Ivies like Yale and Columbia borderline discourage you from applying as a transfer.

8

@mjstewart1224 in terms of transfer-friendliness I agree because of Cornell’s agreements with community colleges, which I view commendable in knocking down the exclusivism associated with the Ivies. How is Cornell, though, with non-community college students so would enter as juniors from private schools?

9

Chansu chansu?

10

…are you highjacking someone else’s thread asking to be chanced?

11

…Let’s assume best intent! I’d like more users to chance both of us. Furthermore, the title of this thread is Transfer Brown 2017, not chance me and only me. Goodness!

12

Is applying as a transfer if I got wait listed for freshman year considered a waste?

13

@chimp07, I was rejected as a freshman applicant and later on accepted as a transfer. However, I will say that the strength of my application did change a lot in the time between my two applications.

14

@tobrown2016, completely agreed. I’ve looked at other threads and it seems many transfer applicants were waitlisted initially but somehow made a convincing argument that granted them transfer admission. @chimp07, if you’re applying to enter Brown as a sophomore, then the high school record that led to your being waitlisted will matter more. If you’re applying to enter as a junior, then it will matter significantly less and you have more time to demonstrate your potential at your current college.

15

@miyazak2 That makes sense, thanks.
Quick question though: When you mean high school record do you mean GPA and extracurriculars etc., or do they still look at standardized tests very significantly as well for sophomore applications?

16

The further away you get from your time in highschool, the less it reflects on the person you are at this very moment.

I applied after my second year of college, and in my application I had space for and thus provided information on my highschool ec’s, however I put them all at the bottom, and I would suggest you all to do the same. Highschool transcripts are mandatory, as well as test scores – which, for most, were taken in HS and likely not retaken afterwards.

Conversely, if you apply the year after you graduated highschool, your highschool career will be combed over very finely, as you will only have one extra semester on your record at the time applications are due. This could possibly work for or against you, depending on how well you did in HS and how “close” you think you were to getting accepted.

For example, say someone was wait listed and felt that their “high but not exceptional” GPA was what ultimately kept them from being accepted. If they were to go to another college for a year and receive exceptional marks (think: 4.0 or well near it), while keeping a somewhat similar level of EC involvement, and reapplied in the following spring, that semester-and-a-midterm of strong work ethic may be enough to convince the school to accept the applicant.

However, say you were a middling applicant and/or were rejected (and not wait listed) in HS; a semester alone of college work and EC’s – unless exceptionally strong and likely with some hooks – would likely not be enough for the admittance committee to change their original decision.

As a last bit of advice, I will say that transferring can be hard. The acceptance rates for transfers this past year was was about on par with the acceptance for rate highschool applicants. Accepted transfers had an average gpa of 3.85, and an average ACT score of 32-33. However, many of you (but not necessarily all!) may find that earning A’s in college can take significantly more effort and dedication than in HS.

None of this is to say that it is impossible, but definitely be prepared to put in the work.
For the person(s) above that were wait listed, you are already starting better than I did – the committees must already have seen something in you that they liked.

Best of luck to you all.

17

Cornell accepts students from colleges all over the country, and they put a great deal of effort into attracting transfer students. They definitely have the largest transfer community and tend to be very open to students with non-traditional backgrounds. That’s why I said they are the most transfer-friendly

18

@mjstewart1224, I see. It’s around 500 or so that enter as transfer students. That’s interesting. Also I just found out they have admission for either spring or fall terms.

Brown has around 100-200 transfer in per year, but then again it’s a smaller school by around 8,000 undergrads.

19

Hello All!

Can you please chance me?.

Transferring from a California Community College
Also applying to Cornell, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Yale, Penn(Arts & Sciences), University of Virginia, USC, Dartmouth, and Columbia.

Major: Economics
College GPA: 4.00
ECs: 2 finance internships, 1 supply-chain externship, investment club co-founder & president, tutor, and volunteer work. Also just submitted an application for a provisional patent.
Essays: 9/10
Pre-reqs: All done by end of Spring 2017
Total Transferrable Units: 65+ Semester Units

Other:

Ethnic Minority

GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!!

20

Hi,
Freshmen applying to Brown as a transfer.

First semester GPA: 3.74 (14 credits, 1 B+, 1 -A, 2 A’s)
English major (but took a wide array of courses my first semester)
Potential recommenders: I believe any of my teachers would write me a nice rec. esp my freshmen writing seminar teacher
H/S GPA: believe it was a 3.8 but not sure how my second semester senior year affected me lol. went from straight A’s to B’s. :–)
H/S Extracurriculars: very strong, won’t list for sake of identification
SAT: 2090
from N.J.

other: half hispanic, half european
have yet to write my essays, but writing is my strong suit so i’m expecting them to be a strong part of my application.

as a side note, i applied early decision to Brown last year, was deferred, then denied. looking to transfer for a non-greek-dominated social sphere, generally chiller kids who are focused more on learning rather than having a pre-professional bent on everything lol, a bit smaller of a student population, a more diverse atmosphere, and the nice addition of providence as a city to venture into.

pls chance me