<p>Alright, I am a freshman at the University of Missouri at Columbia and I'm majoring Journalism, and that's pretty much the only thing the school has it going. So far, I'm planning a transfer with double major (Political Science and Economics). These are the schools I'm looking at.</p>
<p>Cornell
Geogetown (SFS)
Harvard
UPenn
UMich- Ann Arbor
Northwestern (Received a letter asking to apply for transfer last week, have no clue why)</p>
<p>This was my first college semester and I just completed 16 hours of credit with 3.81 GPA. This is only because I got a B+ in Intro. to Geography which is apparently a +/- letter grade higher than the average grade of the honors section. Anyway, here are my stats:
Asian Female, Born in Australia
Graduated Top 5% of Very competitive public (sent mutiple kids to Harvard, Northwestern HPME, Stanford, UPenn, etc)
SAT I: 630V 780M 1410Composite
SAT II: 760, 730, 730
Sports: High School Ice Hockey, TaeKwonDo (3rd deg. black belt in Feb.) Assistant Instructor
Lots of clubs, including Debate(Nat'l and State Q Runner-Up, 1st and 2nd in Invitationals), Model UN (Chair), Peer Teaching, Junior Achievement (VP), Int'l Club (VP), Church Youth Group (Youth leader and praise team) + a lot more. I listed about 20 clubs plus 6 or 7 honors societies in my resume.
Lots of Community Service: About 500 hours at nurising homes, Deaf institute, church, also going on Mission Trip to Trinidad this summer and planning one for Hurricane Katrina sites soon</p>
<p>I can get pretty good recs and essays and I know a lot of these schools are REEEAAACH but I just want to know if I can be competitive. Thanks in advance for your advice. Please feel free to suggest match schools for me that I could be a good candidate for that has a good program for my majors and I would like to add that I'm a future prospect for Law or Business school.</p>
<p>I'm going to bump this since I finalized my list. I'm applying to Georgetown (SFS), Northwestern and UPenn. Georgetown as Int'l Econ major, UPenn as Poli Sci major, Northwestern as Econ major. I ended up this semester with 3.89 at University of Missouri - Columbia. (yay, I changed my B+ to A-) so my transcript looked like this:</p>
<p>Honors Intro to Geography: A-, class of 500+ people, heard less than 10 got A
Honors General Economics: A
French 4: A- (Prof. said no one got an A in this class)
German I: A</p>
<p>It was just a letter from NROTC unit in Northwestern telling me that they will vouch my admission to US Naval Academy, Northwestern and NROTC scholarship. You don't think I can get into Georgetown?</p>
<p>I disagree, you are likely in at Gtown. My guesses?</p>
<p>NU: 65%
Gtown: 70%
Penn: 40%</p>
<p>Consider adding Brown, its very similar to these socially and you have a good shot (over 55%). Its an easy transfer shot, much easier than first year admissions and you are a strong candidate. After you get in then filter schools. </p>
<p>Also look into Dartmouth, its about as hard or harder than Penn, but in my opinion it is the most transfer friendly top school. I think its perfect for you. I left Columbia for social reasons and Dartmouth exceeded my expectations beyond belief. </p>
<p>As a transfer it could not be easier to fit in for these reasons: 1) Can't rush greek until sophomore year anyway if you are into that scene (its very different than state schools and other places - greeks are not testosterone filled a-holes, rather friendly brilliant kids with an open door policy to anyone) 2)!!!!!!!!! You can attend Sophomore summer as a junior transfer which is a great chance to meet YOUR entire class (sophomore summer is after sophomore year) this is by far Dartmouth's biggest advantage to you, 3) as a transfer you go to orientation with the first years- and other transfers so you meet a ton of them (also Dartmouth orientation is awesome) 4) its such a social and open school that everyone is welcome at every party, so you'll end up meeting people very quickly, 5) they treat transfers incredibly well and you get special advisors, etc.</p>
<p>Its a tough admit to comeby, but if it comes through you'll be happy to have it as a choice. I never even considered the place seriously but when I visted after I got in, I was sold.</p>
<p>If you need a safety check out UNC-CH. You have a 95% shot of getting in, its a cheap easy application, and you are in. Great school with inexpensive tuition out of state and much easier to get into as a transfer vs. first year (like Brown and Northwestern).</p>
<p>Thanks for the comments. I've been DYING to get into Dartmouth but it was just way too competitve for me for transfer admissions so I left it out. I don't know if collegeboard was accurate or not, but Penn was around 23% and Dartmouth 13%. In the process, my parents and I mutually agreed that I will shoot for Tuck admissions later. Should I possibly add Dartmouth as well?</p>
<p>Also, another question. Which moderately competitive schools (ie UNC Chapen Hill, UMICH) are most likely to give me a good financial aid package?</p>
<p>Honestly I think you have a good shot at Dartmouth, one of my best friends got in with similar stats as you from a state school (Iowa Honors). Dartmouth is a playground, Tuck is great and has community but its not Dartmouth College. They have totally different types of students. Dartmouth College is a magical experience, its worth it to apply. If you get in it will be the most amazing thing, especially since you will love it the entire time on campus. I was told by a GC I wouldn't get in anywhere as a transfer - I ended up getting into Duke, Brown, Dartmouth, and Harvard. You'll forget the 65 bucks, if you get in it will be the experience of a lifetime. Not to mention Dartmouth gives awesome financial aid.</p>
<p>Write great essays, get some solid recs, and you have more than a chance. PM me, I'll give you some advice on what to do. </p>
<p>UNC and Michigan are equally likely to give great aid, but given UNC is about 2/3 the price I think it will come out cheaper. </p>
<p>Gotta go pick up two of my friends (Dartmouth alums) from the airport. Wow I love the school. It is as great as it sounds.</p>
<p>Yeah, HS 3.9/4.0 UW at a top prep school (20-25% went Ivy every year), 1470, amazing ECs. College GPA 3.4 at Columbia, sent a mid year report showing progress towards a 4.0 second semester (actually ended up getting a 3.8 second semester). </p>
<p>I think I got in for my recs and ECs though (which I continued to pursue in college), plus I applied from Columbia which helps.</p>