<p>Hey, I'm on my second year studying in a community college, and I'm trying to transfer to a 4-year school next year. I'm wondering about my chances of being accepted to the University of Chicago to complete my Bachelors in biology.</p>
<p>Age: 26</p>
<p>Gender: Male</p>
<p>Country of origin: Finland (lived in USA for 2,5 years)</p>
<p>GPA after fall 2006 semester: 3,6 or 3,7.</p>
<p>Phi Theta Kappa member</p>
<p>Recently got recommended to the Honors Program at my CC</p>
<p>Working 35-40 hours a week.</p>
<p>I haven't done SAT or ACT due that upon enrolling in my current school I only took their required admission tests on English and Math.</p>
<p>Other schools I'm intrested are Fordham, Johns Hopkins and University of Virginia.</p>
<p>I know I'll have pretty decent recommendations, and I'm not worried about the essays.
The things that make me curious are my age, ethnic origin, and lack of extracurriculars (have been too busy working to volunteer anywhere).</p>
<p>Working full-time shows a great deal of maturity and discipline, I wouldn't worry about the EC's. Any chance of a supplemental recommendation from a work supervisor?</p>
<p>I know I'll be getting a good recommendation from my councelor and from my biology prof. The transfer application didn't have a recommendation form for work supervisor or anything (so it's extra?), though it does have a form that should be filled by the dean?! I would get a recommendation from my boss, but what comes to the dean I'm not sure what to do. I haven't dealt with a dean before and he or she doesn't know me.</p>
<p>I believe the Dean's rec is simply to ensure you are a good citizen, that is, all is as it should be. Any CC dean will be thrilled you are trying to transfer to U of C and will be very helpful. Simply send the supplementary recommendation to the admissions office, they will include it in your file. Libby may see this, you can also PM her and ask her to take a look at the thread.</p>
<p>Last year, a non-traditional student applied to Chicago from a CC. I believe he was in his mid to late twenties as well. He had a perfect (or near perfect) GPA, 1400+ SATs, incredible ECs (served on city council, in military, etc.) and he was denied admission. If you are interested in his story, I would search for the "UChicago transfers" thread...not sure of it's exact title.</p>
<p>Simply by comparison, I don't think you'll be accepted to UChi this year since the acceptance rate for transfers seems to be falling (from 29% to 21% over the past couple years). If you intend to have a better chance, I think you need to prove yourself academically. A 3.6/3.7 is a good GPA, but from a CC it will likely be "deflated" a bit (in a sense). Strong test scores could help prove that you can handle the work at Chicago if admitted, since as of now, your B+ GPA at a CC doesn't really reveal that to the adcom. </p>
<p>The man with the <em>impeccable</em> application that I wrote of above may have been rejected simply because Chicago is not particularly friendly towards non-traditional transfer students (which is what you will be, due to your age). After viewing his stats and ECs (which were truly intimidating to everyone else applying at the time), I can think of no other reason, besides his age, for his rejection. Whether I am correct or not, it would seem that non-traditional students have a more difficult time transferring into an undergraduate college made up primarily of 'younger' students.</p>
<p>As for Fordham, I think you have a good shot. JHU has around a 15% transfer rate, so I would also recommend test scores to give your application more academic strength. UVA depends on your residency status - if you're in state, I'd say you've got a good shot. OOS is not likely.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. I'll definitely try UChicago anyway. I heard they're big on essays, and in my opinion my essays (or those 25th drafts) are pretty damn good. I'll go take the ACT as well. </p>
<p>Tulane sent me a personal application. I wasn't gonna apply there, but I just as well might try.</p>
<p>Wondering what you meant in post #3 about "ethnic origin." Do you mean that you're worried that as an international applicant, money is an issue?</p>
<p>Your ethnicity shouldn't make a difference then. According to their stated policy, Chicago does not discriminate on the basis of race. (Though the statement doesn't rule out consideration of economic status).</p>