Hello everyone,
Thank you for reading this. I am a rising sophomore at Berkeley and would like to transfer. I was hoping that I could grow into Berkeley’s environment but it has not happened yet. I am concerned about safety. I would also prefer a smaller school 9some classes are 1500 students) with a better organized administration. Duke was one of my top three schools when I applied as a freshman and I got waitlisted and then rejected.
Some of my friends at Cal are discouraging me and say that transferring is very hard and mostly for community college students. Do you know of anyone who transferred from a university similar to Berkeley?
They also say that it is impossible to transfer to Duke since Berkeley has the HAAS UGBA program and is ranked #1 for Econ and a lot of other majors. (aka I do not have a compelling reason).
I am also concerned that my “unfocused path” will be a red-flag:
Fall 18: (undecided)
Psychology
environmental Science
Math
Rhetoric
Spring: (tentatively architecture)
Innovative Design
History of Art
Environmental Design 1 (architecture)
Environmental Design 4c (thermodynamics etc)
Architecture and Writing Class
Freshman seminar architecture
Digital Tools for Architects
May - August 2019:
INTERNSHIP: MARKETING AND UI/UX DESIGN at a start-up that led me to marketing/business
Summer 2019: (marketing/business/econ)
Intro Art Class
Intro Econ Class
Business Class on Project Management
I would love to hear whether I have a chance, what schools I could consider that are equally good (compared to Berkeley) and how I can create a compelling story despite Berkeley’s high rankings.
Thank you so much!
Here is some more info about my background:
I got waitlisted at Duke as a freshman and then rejected.
I was born and raised in Germany, English is my second language.
Cal GPA:
3.85 (after year 1)
31 credits after freshman year
Highschool: (ABITUR)
(in Germany so NC 1.0, about 4.0 GPA)
SAT:
R/W: 690 Math: 680
(my German school had a very different curriculum and I had to prepare myself)
TOEFL:
107
Activities:
High school:
student government president,marketing chair, volunteer tutor for refugee kids, paid journalist, tennis, swimming, orchestra
Berkeley:
Fall ‘18:
Rowing
Spring ‘19:
President of Hall Association
The Berkeley project volunteer
Tennis association
APX co-Ed educational Architecture Fraternity Chair of Fundraising
Volunteer over winter break for food bank and environmental film festival
Volunteer for Until there is a Cure (HIV research)