Transfer Chances? From Dartmouth to other schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everybody,

I’m currently a freshman at Dartmouth, and will have around a 3.85-4.00 after this quarter. Am applying as a transfer to Harvard/Yale/MIT/Berkeley EECS/UChicago/Wharton/Stanford. Over this quarter, I’ve simply felt that Dartmouth was too insular: there are no startups here, the tech scene is non-existent, and the classes are heavily grounded in theory as opposed to application. The environment is also not a great fit for me - I came from urban, sunny, Silicon Valley California, and seriously cannot get used to the rural, freezing setting of Hanover. I know my reasons for transferring aren’t extremely articulate right now, I’ll refine them as I go.

I was named one of Dartmouth’s top mathematicians and received a $15k math research grant. In high school, I had:

  • 3.92/4.00 GPA, top math and science student in senior class
  • 36 ACT, 240 PSAT
  • International entrepreneurship experience with NASA/SpaceX/Google, have spoken at Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers
  • Won Pulitzer Prize for high school journalism
  • Interned for 7 months as a software engineer at a large Silicon Valley tech company, making 5 figure income
  • Some piano competitions and art exhibitions in museums

My professor recommendation letters will be good - one is from my research advisor, and one is from another professor. I was admitted to Cambridge Maths and UChicago last year when I applied as a first-year (not sure if this helps at all).

I would appreciate all opinions on my transfer chances - I am seriously hoping to be at another school by sophomore year.

2

I wish you the best. If you think that now is freezing, you are in for a huge surprise. You seem like a very competitive applicant for transfer but I’m sure you know the odds at those tops schools are lower than for normal admissions. Harvard only accepts 12-13 from about 1,00 applicants. I have to believe some of those kids are prized athletes.

3

Thanks - does it help at all that for some of the schools I want to transfer to, I was admitted previously as a freshman? And how are inter-Ivy/inter-top-school transfers viewed? Is there a benefit of transferring from Dartmouth, an Ivy known for its #1/#2 undergrad education?

4

Would appreciate more opinions on this topic!