Transfer chances

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

<p>I am a freshman at Saint Mary's College of Maryland (recently ranked in the top 100 liberal arts schools by US News and Weekly). Unfortunately, Saint Mary's was never one of my top choices. I have been recently been considering applying for transfer to the University of Chicago, and was wondering if such an idea was reasonable, taking into account my past school record. </p>

<p>GPA for freshman through junior years was a 2.56 (un-weighted).</p>

<p>Senior year I took 3 APs (Calc BC, Euro History, Physics), and Honors English. In the past I had also typically taken the toughest courses available.</p>

<p>Finally got serious about school my senior year, achieving a 3.86 the first three quarters, and a 3.5 the fourth. </p>

<p>I took the SATs twice, got a 1250 the first time and a 1390 the second (690 Verbal, 700 Math)</p>

<p>I got a 4 on the American History and Calculus AB AP test, and 3's on the European History and Calculus BC tests.</p>

<p>Highschool activities included:
Marching/Symphonic Band for 4 years
Jazz Ensemble for 1 year
J/V Soccer for 1 year
Indoor Track for 1 year
Guitar lessons for 2 years
Clarinet lessons for 2 years
Gymnastics for 1 year
Garage Band for 2 years</p>

<p>Worked as the apprentice to a master carpenter over the summer during my junior year, and volunteered with a friend's church group fixing houses over the summer of my senior year.</p>

<p>In college, I have continued my uptrend. I am taking all intro classes this semester (Intro to Computer Science, Intro to Ethics, Intro to Psychology, and English Comp), but am doing well in all of them. I anticipate achieving low A's in all of my courses. I expect that I can get favorable reccomendations from all of my teachers. In addition to this, I am a DJ on the college radio station and am a member of the rock climbing club. I also play the guitar and the clarinet, although, as of right now, I am not involved in any ensemble. </p>

<p>Is University of Chicago a reasonable place for me consider tranferring to (especially as a sophomore)? I am terrible at calculating my chances of acceptance, so any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated. </p>

<p>PS. If it is in fact the case that U of C is not a good goal for me, does anyone have suggestions for schools that I might be better suited for? I am interested in attending a smaller school (5,000 students or less, prefferably) with good academics, and within reasonable proximity to a city or large town. I'm also interested in medical school, so any school that has a good pre-med program would be great. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance for your responses, and if this is in the wrong forum, I apologize!</p>

2

<p>Go for it! Get as high grades in your college courses as you can and this will certainly put to rest the early bumpy high school years. Your SAT at nearly 1400 is already quite competitive. Your upward trend plus genuine, heartfelt interest in what the University of Chicago has to offer may carry the day. I was an aspiring transfer student to U of C in the '70's who did not have the stellar credentials in high school, but did very well in my freshman year at Carnegie-Mellon which proved the springboard to my U of C acceptance. For the academically inclined, U of C is Mount Olympus. It really is worth it, so best of luck! I think you have more than a decent shot as a transfer if your college grades (and your other college activities) show you have the true grit.</p>

3

<p>A couple more thoughts - Along with U of C, an excellent school that accepts up to 50 percent of transfers in a normal year is the University of Notre Dame (a bit larger than the 5,000 student enrollment you desire but a fantastic school). For pre-med and excellent liberal arts in a university setting, consider Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and the University of Rochester.</p>