<p>I am a freshman at Northwestern, majoring in economics. Amongst my reasons for wanting to transfer, going back home to NYC is a major one, pushing Columbia high up on my list.</p>
<p>As far as stats go, my high school grades were pretty awful due to some extenuating circumstances (which I guess were deemed legitimate enough by NU), and I got a 1490 on the CR+M and a 770 on the writing on the SAT.</p>
<p>Right now, my class load is very easy (I am getting all A's and A-'s), as I am taking a bunch of required courses that are very similar to what I took in high school (I went to one of the top NYC private schools), and next quarter I am taking an additional course, one that will have a few freshman but mostly upper classmen, to try and a) give me something of a challenge, and b) show prospective transfer schools that I can handle a more rigorous program.</p>
<p>If you could please comment on my chances, I would really appreciate it.</p>
<p>If you apply to SEAS you'll have a much better chance.
CC is harder to transfer into.</p>
<p>From what I understand, just take classes you can do well in and get that GPA up. You're SAT's are pretty good and ur GPA thus far looks fine. And it seems like you have a very legitimate reason to transfer (also EMPHASIZE the Core Curriculum too though).</p>
<p>^that's pretty accurate and good advice, personalize whatever you're emphasizing though, and don't make 'wanting to come back home' as your main reason, they want to see how columbia will enhance you're education and how you will take columbia forward.</p>
<p>Sounds like homesickness. May not be a good enough reason to transfer to Columbia which accepts only about 8% of the transfer applicants. A common reason to transfer is that your current school does not offer a particular major that you want to study. In your case, Northwestern's undergrad econ program was recently ranked #1 in the U.S. by BusinessWeek, and always in the top ten by other sources. Northwestern may, however, differ substantially from Columbia as the Columbia core curriculum is very challanging from day one, while Northwestern freshman take several large survey type courses.</p>