<p>Hello. I have no ECs. 78% HS average. I'll have 31 credits when I apply to transfer. My GPA right now is 4.0 at a community college in new york. I can't imagine it will be below a 3.8 or 3.9 when I apply. My dad works as administrator at the Hotel School. What are my chances for transfer to Arts and Science, assuming I right a killer essay? I am pretty sure my recs will be good, my philosophy professor offered to write me one. Also, I had an interview at arts and sciences and it went ok (I mean ok, not good or excellent). 800V 620M 750W. Should I take the SAT1 again?</p>
<p>My cousin transferred into Cornell CALS from a community college. However, unlike you, she waited two years and amasses a 3.97 GPA. Furthermore, her SAT score was almost perfect (she was off by only 3 questions).</p>
<p>I strongly recommend you apply to CALS; they have a much higher acceptance rate for transfers while CAS is significantly lower. If you do what I tell you, you have a realistic shot of getting into Cornell (NOT now but after an additional year). I strongly urge to wait for 2 years before applying because if your only going to apply after 1 year at a community college while have a "C" average high school performance - you ain't getting in. </p>
<p>So reality check:</p>
<p>1) Wait for 2 years before applying. One year isn't going to cover up for your high school.
2) SAT score doesn't actually matter for CALS or CAS.
3) Try and get your GPA above a 3.9. You should have no excuse in getting over a 3.9 GPA; your at a community college for heaven's sake. </p>
<p>BTW, apply to CALS only if your major is somewhat similar to theirs (example -chemistry vs. biochem. which they offer at CALS) and only if you have genuine interest in that college. Don't use it as a "backdoor temporary" school because they will sense it in your essay and sniff you out - this leads to automatic rejection.</p>
<p>Just so you know, your at a disadvantage because your applying from a community college. Many students try and transfer in from prestigious state schools like Ohio State or NJIT or Colorado - your community college is no match for these schools.</p>
<p>Because of this, you will have to improvise - do tons of extracurricular work between now and next year before you apply again. Try and amass over 250 hours of solid, honest, community service. Then, write a profound essay regarding that activity. </p>
<p>So without any further ado, if you really want to get into Cornell, pull your grades up and start getting involved. When you say "I have little or no ec's" and they see that your from a community college, that's not going to cut it.</p>
<p>As a matter of fact, CALS had a ground breaking 50% acceptance rate for transfers last year. CAS had less than 30%. But if your major is completely different from the ones offered at CALS, apply to CAS.</p>
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assuming I right a killer essay
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<p>good luck with it</p>
<p>lol That's harsh, psquared.</p>
<p>Hahah, do people actually make an effort to spell things write on the internet, psquared?</p>
<p>I'm also planning on majoring in philosphy or english so CALS is essentially out of the question. eternity, you don't think having a parent as faculty will help out a lot? I also have a medical reason why my h/s grades are so bad that is verifiable just by looking at my transcript.</p>
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your at a community college for heaven's sake.
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<p>I can't begin to express how much I hate that mentality. At least we don't repeatedly confused you're at your at my community college...</p>
<p>Having said that, it is my understanding that Cornell actually gives preference to community college transfers over LAC and university candidates because it helps diversity. (Compare it to the policy at Williams of filling spots with qualified CC students, then going to four-year candidates; Wesleyan putting Connecticut Community College system students at the literal top of the pile; Vassar and Smith having community college outrech programs; and other top colleges actively recruiting CC transfers over four-year ones.) Cornell also offers renewable scholarships of $5k per year to community college students who transfer in with Phi Theta Kappa honors, which again shows a desire to have them as part of the student body. While Cornell is certainly a hard school to get accepted to, especially CAS, it is not in any way impossible to do as a community college transfer.</p>
<p>I do agree with eternity_hope2005, however, that you need to wait. Most four-year colleges much prefer CC transfers who will have completed their Associate's by the time they transfer in. This will give you a chance to knock off as many GERs for Cornell as you can -- make sure you're picking courses that should transfer -- as well as show continued excellence at the collegiate level. Also, the longer you are at your community college, the more time you have to polish your college record and get stellar grades that will make your high school record less and less important in the admissions process.</p>
<p>Another thing you want to focus on right now, as eternity_hope2005 rightly pointed out, is your extracurricular activity. All community colleges have clubs, just like four-year institutions, so get as involved as you can -- in a meaningful way. If you are in Phi Theta Kappa, do as much community service through them as you can, and be sure to log all the hours you do so you can put a total on your application. If there are any language, cultural, academic, advocacy, or activity clubs you can join, do so. Try to get elected to a position or two in order to show leadership qualities. All of that will help you in the admissions process.</p>
<p>Regarding your SATs, yes, you can take them again; it's normal for transfers to do so. Don't retake them, however, if you don't think your scores will go up. 800-620-750 is really good, so the only thing I would recommend is taking Math IIC and getting over 700, plus taking a couple other subject tests and scoring well (if you haven't already).</p>
<p>I do think you should have another interview before you're ready to transfer so you can improve on the last one. I would wait until the summer or fall before you're ready to receive your Associate's, which would be a year before you'd be ready to enroll at Cornell (assuming you're going for fall). That will give you some more time to practice your interview, as well as improve upon your current record.</p>
<p>The fact that your father works at the university certainly won't hurt you, but at the same time, I don't know enough about their admissions practices to know if it will help, either.</p>
<p>I do wish you the best, and I hope the transfer goes well!</p>
<p>dm3: You first said your father is an administrator, but then you said he's a faculty member. Which is it?</p>
<p>Also, if your grades were bad due to health, that does change things a lot -- be sure to address it in your interview and in one of your short responses on the application -- but you still should wait a little while longer. You can try applying now, but I don't think it will happen for you.</p>
<p>In the end, it really does matter what school your transferring from. I have experienced this firsthand in my life before.</p>
<p>The only exception to the above statement are schools that are elite Cali schools (berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, not Stanford)</p>
<p>It is much, much more difficult to amass a solid GPA from a rigorous state school than in community college. Colleges know this. </p>
<p>I also applied to Notredame a while back as a transfer and the school I was transferring from at the time - which was not very popular just like a community college - had a significant part in my rejection. The transfer coordinator told me that had I applied from a solid state school, they would have recognized me a lot more and looked at my application in a more positive light. </p>
<p>You said in your earlier post that Wesleyan favored the CT Community college students more than other, state univ. systems. Show me the proof - a website would be preferable.</p>
<p>I also applied to Cornell a while back (specifically CAS) with the same resume and transfer coordinator at CAS (Peggy Walbridge) told me that had I applied from a well known state school, it would have made a difference on my file.</p>
<p>I once had a conversation with one of the admissions counselors at Duke Univ., and she told me that many people transferring into Duke actually come from colleges not too far off from Duke's status (MSU, Colorado, UIUC,etc..)</p>
<p>You have to prove yourself more if your transferring in from a community college.</p>
<p>Aren't all administrators faculty? From m-w:
3 a : the members of a profession b : the teaching and administrative staff and those members of the administration having academic rank in an educational institution c faculty plural : faculty members <many faculty="" were="" present=""></many></p>
<p>After I told the lady that was giving me the interview this, she treated me a lot differently and said it definately helps. She made it sound like it was the same as being a legacy (or atleast mentioned the two in the same breath). Isn't this considered a hook at most schools (I know i've seen it discussed as such in the Harvard forumn).</p>
<p>I have also talked to several people (h/s guidance and college) and they all said transfer after one year was possible without an associates, even with my highschool record. I also have a 3 week break this summer where I plan to get 100+ volunteer hours in and maybe I can squeeze in another 100 before I send the app. Also, I just found out recently I can get extra time for the SAT's which I did not take before. I think I could get my math above 700 without too much trouble because stupid mistakes from rushing and not checking my answers are what drives my score down. Does Cornell take the composite? If not, would having 770 on the CR be sigficantly different than an 800?</p>
<p>If you screwed up your high school grades, it will still make an impact on the admissions committee if your trying to transfer to a top college. </p>
<p>The only exception is that you spend 2 years at your transfer college before applying (technically three semesters before you reapply). </p>
<p>A student who only applies with 1 year of transfer credit is looked at with 2/3's of emphasis still placed on his high school performance and 1/3'rd of his emphasis placed on his college performance. </p>
<p>A student who applies with 2 years of transfer credit is looked at with 1/3'rd the emphasis on high school performance and 2/3'rd the emphasis on transfer college performance.</p>
<p>There have been people who transfer into other top schools after 1 year in their transfer college but that is only because they had a stellar high school record to start off with. This is not the case for you.</p>
<p>eternity, i didn't make this clear in my post, but i am going to be finished with community college around this time next summer. I'm taking a ton of courses so I will get my associates before I transfer. 31 credits is also just 5 credits shy of 3 semesters of credits. And they will actually have 2 semesters to look at: summer and fall. eternity, you don't think colleges will think I took initiative to get an AA in 1 year (and summer) instead of 2? and don't you think getting 31 credits in like 7 months is harder than getting 36 in 18 months? my intuition is that there are no hard or fast rules in the admissions process, and you just made up that 2/3 1/3 thing off the top of your head (the Yale U transfer admissions lady, for instance, said it's about 50-50 but encouraged me to apply after I told her I had a weak highschool record because of medical problems).</p>
<p>dm3, "faculty" generally refers to teaching staff. Usually the terms used are "administrators," "faculty," and "staff," with the latter referring to anyone who doesn't fall into the previous categories. Could be different in various places, though.</p>