<p>Hi. I'm a freshman at Harvard thinking about applying as a transfer to Stanford next year. Here I have a 3.83 GPA (in high school I had a 4.58 weighted/4.0 unweighted). I did a lot of extracurriculars in high school (volunteer work, varsity athlete/captain, choir, lead in musical theatre productions, etc.), and in college so far I sing in an a cappella group and a member of an environmental organization. I am Caucasian, and my parents both went to college. I went to a public high school in Northern California (very highly ranked). I know transfer admission to Stanford hovers between 1 and 2%, so I guess my question is...are my chances significantly improved coming from a school like Harvard which is relatively equal in reputation/prestige/academic rigor? Thanks so much to anyone who can help me decide if applying would be worthwhile. I have wanted to attend Stanford all my life, but was deferred and eventually rejected after applying early for Fall 2008.</p>
<p>Harvard is ranked higher than Stanford. It’s #1, whereas Stanford is #4 according to USNWR. Why do you want to leave anyway?</p>
<p>I think I’ve heard of a few examples of people transferring Harvard to Stanford. I think it will definitely help coming from Harvard if you can provide some very good reasons for transferring. Even so, 2% is a very small number, so chances are slim for anyone</p>
<p>See post #374 on this thread:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/467805-stanford-2008-transfer-25.html?highlight=stanford+results+2008[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/467805-stanford-2008-transfer-25.html?highlight=stanford+results+2008</a></p>
<p>At least last year, S gave almost half of it’s transfer slots to CC and non-traditional students. You’re obviously academically qualified, it really depends on what S is looking for within the applicant pool. The number of accepted transfers is so low (20+), that it’s impossible to say anything about your chances beyond the fact that you’re a competitive candidate. </p>
<p>I do know someone who transferred from H to S, but that was about 5 years ago and he took a gap year after fr year to do some research in the tropics and then transferred as a soph.</p>
<p>I think it’s very possible, coz it explains how much you love Stanford and are willing to leave a #1 school like Harvard for it. The admission committee would love to take you in, I believe. Btw, you have decent GPA too, wow, how can you manage a 3.8 at Harvard, crazy!!! Best of luck!</p>
<p>Yes, in general your chances are greatly improved. But you have different battles to fight than most. You will need to give them great reasons for the transfer. Hopefully there is something you want to study that is not possible at Harvard or not nearly as good there. Something in engineering for example.</p>
<p>Next, many think it’s much harder to get into a school that rejected you in the past. And last, Stanford, unlike other schools seems to hold a number of transfer spots for kids from California community colleges, particularly their local ones.</p>