Transfer Questions

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

I’m an aspiring applicant to Harvard via transfer. I have a ton of questions on the transfer admission process. Some are general, some are specific to Harvard.

General Questions:

Is applying from a top ranked foreign university as opposed to an American one disadvantage me in any way in the transfer application process? For example, applying transfer from the University of Edinburgh (UK) or the University of British Columbia (Canada)?

Does geographic and ethnic diversity come into play in transfer admissions? I’m not an American, but I am an URM and from an underrepresented country, if that makes any difference.

Do Transfer Admissions superscore? I heard that generally for ivy admissions, superscore is a bit of a myth.

Would 5 SAT test dates total be considered a red flag for schools like Stanford and Yale which consider all scores?

Is it better to take higher-level, more specialized courses that show interest and ability in a subject area… or is it better to take courses that are only first- and second-year level and easier to receive transfer credit for across different universities?

Should I take courses primarily in the area I think I’ll major in, or would it be good to get at least a bit of variety so I can get faculty recommendations from one science and one humanities faculty professor? Are transfer admissions particularly interested in how I would perform in my major?

In terms of extracurriculars, is it better to show high specialization and an extensive list of achievements in one area, or better to diversify yourself with your extracurriculars? I’ve heard that colleges admitted well-rounded classes and not well-rounded people, but I recently spoke with someone who claimed to be very experienced in admissions and said the exact opposite.

University-Specific Questions:

Do the admissions officers that review freshman entry applications also review transfer applications? For example, I know Harvard freshmen admissions was organized by region. Does that mean my regional admissions officer would be the same?

Does being rejected in the freshmen round of admissions count me out in transfer admissions? Have you heard of successful transfers to highly selective universities, e.g. Harvard, that were rejected in Freshmen admissions? The reason I’m sure I was rejected was because of a particularly weak last two years on my highschool transcript. There was a reason for it though, I was seriously ill and plan to explain it. If I compensate for those with a 4.0 in university and strong standardized test scores, is that a game-changer for my application?

2

Under Represented Minorities (URM’s) currently includes US Citizens who African Americans, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans (American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians), Pacific Islanders, and mainland Puerto Ricans.

If you are an international applicant, you are not considered a URM for purposes of admission.

Some of your questions can be answered on Harvard’s Transfer Admissions website: https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/application-process/transferring-harvard-college

https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/application-process/transferring-harvard-college/transfer-eligibility

Harvard superscores the SAT, but not that ACT. That said, for transfer admissions your SAT/ACT scores are not as important as your college transcript, college EC’s and professor’s recommendations.

I believe Christine Gibbons Mascolo handles transfer admissions. But, if you applied as a freshman applicant within the past three years, she will have access to your previous application. See: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/6/21/transfer-admissions-one-percent/

3

Thank you! Does Christine Gibbons Mascolo handle transfer admissions alone, or does she have regional officers that she oversees? I was just wondering if my regional admissions officer would be the same for freshmen admissions and transfer admissions.

4

Christine Gibbons Mascolo is the director of Transfer Admissions. With 1600 transfer applications a year, I imagine she has other AO’s working under her. I don’t know if your regional AO from your freshman application would be the same, but as Harvard keeps an electronic file of all freshman applications for three years, whoever is reviewing your transfer application will in all likelihood look at your file from your freshman application.

5

Thank you, again.

Could I get a second opinion on this question: “Does geographic and ethnic diversity come into play in transfer admissions? I’m not an American, but I am an URM and from an underrepresented country, if that makes any difference.” I was speaking to someone who claimed he worked as an AO for two years at an Ivy. He said I was still an URM, which was really surprising.

The same guy told me it was better to diversity in your ECs than commitment and specialization. This ran completely contrary to what I thought, so I am trying to get a few more perspectives. I don’t know how credible he is.

Bump for these two questions as well:

  • Do Transfer Admissions superscore? I heard that generally for ivy admissions, superscore is a bit of a myth.
  • Would 5 SAT test dates total be considered a red flag for schools like Stanford and Yale which consider all scores?
6

I’ll let someone else try to answer your questions, but I wanted to add this comment:

In the past three years, Harvard has admitted 12 to 15 transfer students per year. My guess is that about half the transfer students admitted are probably recruited athletes. Now, maybe some of those recruited athletes in the transfer pool will be from underrepresented countries. Who knows? It’s too difficult to predict, and I imagine it changes from year to year. It’s also the same for academic students admitted as transfer applicants: It’s too difficult to predict, and it changes from year to year. Harvard admits people, not ethnicities or states or countries or geographical regions, or highs schools or even colleges. And FWIW, I think taking the SAT 5 times would be a huge red flag for any college. Best of luck to you!

7

Disagree about taking the SAT five times. Not a huge red flag. 5 times is higher than average, but not egregious.

8

As the OP specifically asked what Yale would think of taking the SAT 5 times, it’s probably best to follow the advice on their website: http://admissions.yale.edu/advice-putting-together-your-application#academic

For Yale, which does not allow for score choice, taking the SAT 5 times might demonstrate a student’s obsession with testing and indicate their lack of understanding of what admissions is looking for, and what they value. Yale is just not interested in drone-like students who can score a 2400 after taking the test 5 times. They, like Harvard, are trying to get beyond test scores and figure out the applicant’s “character” meaning the way they develop their inner qualities: intellectual passion, maturity, social conscience, concern for community, tolerance, and inclusiveness. Testing doesn’t answer those questions, so I would follow Yale’s advice.

9

@gibby I do understand that is what Yale says on their website. However, having interviewed for Harvard for 18 years, my experience of the reality is somewhat different.

My feeling is that SAT scores do matter more than what Yale seems to indicate on their website. That’s my feeling, but it also happens to be backed up by data. Take a look at the SAT/high school GPA chart of Harvard Freshmen here for 2017:

http://features.thecrimson.com/2014/freshman-survey/admissions/

It quite clearly shows that there is a sort of cutoff line from the upper left to lower right. The higher your GPA, the lower your SAT scores can be and vice versa.

In short, the higher SAT score you have, the better chance you have. Seems pretty clear.

10

The more relevant point I think is that after 2 or 3 times of taking the SAT, the likelihood of your scores improving much is probably pretty low.

11

For what it’s worth, it’d be 5 times over five years. I’d be hoping for at least an improvement of 100 points if I chose to retake for the fifth time (and it would be the only time I’d test this year).

Since there’s a lot you couldn’t possibly know about me from a handful of CC posts, try not to assume I’d be obsessively retaking without any luck at improving my score. I came from a country where SAT and applying to the US for college is unheard of. If I took the SAT this last time, I’d actually prepare for it, which I didn’t really know how to do/didn’t have the resources to do before. I’ve recently moved to a country where access to test prep material is substantially easier. Does that change things for me?

12

Oh, and obviously this isn’t the only aspect of my application I care about/am investing time and energy into. I have plenty of focused ECs that demonstrate my passions and personality, so coming across as a drone is not what I’m concerned with at all. I think the fact that I’m applying transfer and trying to up my SAT to compensate for a less-than-stellar HS transcript (which I have legitimate reasons for and can address) would convey that I’m not that type of student either…

Going to bring that question up again: are universities looking for demonstrated commitment and expertise in ECs, or are they looking for diversified interests? Got really weird advice about this, which I posted about above.

13

As @gibby has already pointed out… your chances of getting in as a transfer are nanoscopic. Put your best foot forward, but hyper-analyzing (eg. do they want THIS or THAT) different aspects of your application will get you nowhere. There is no definitive answer… maybe one year they want THIS, another year they want THAT. No one here is going to be able to give you the magic formula. Remember, your chances are epsilon above zero.

By all means, submit your best “lottery ticket”, but be sure to make more realistic plans.

14

Yup, I definitely have plans B - Z as well. :slight_smile: