<p>Aristororty. I have completed the transfer admissions essay for Columbia University and it was the last university on my wide list that I wanted to transfer to. I too am a Biology major with work experience, starting my own food drive, being a vice president of the politics club and tutoring over spring break. My SAT score is above the 2250 mark and my GPA is currently a 3.9 at a tier 4 school. Like many others, my high school experience was good but not fabulous. The last time I took the SAT in high school I scored a 1980 but in college I retook it and made above a 2200 on it. Also I went to a competitive high school where everyone would be a top student elsewhere, anyways I have some questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Is it true that all transfers are placed in the less prestigious general studies program? If so does this look bad on your grad school resume and job resume?</p></li>
<li><p>I attend a tier 4 university, my high school GPA when I was applying to colleges was around a low B but in college I made a dramatic change. I heard that usually Columbia and other Ivies take transfers from other top schools and other Ivies, is this true? Can you go from a tier 4 school to Columbia?</p></li>
<li><p>Sorry if my questions are getting irritating but I want to know this, what are transfer students restricted from when they transfer into Columbia? Is it true that transfer students cannot go on abroad trips or play sports?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you are curious, reasons I want to transfer to Columbia.</p>
<ol>
<li>I want a higher level of competition and I want to compete with the top kids to see how far I can go in terms of academics.</li>
<li>Will help me when I apply for the top grad schools but only that, it will give me the chance to work with other top students on my major.</li>
<li>I would be able to do more in NYC and find more volunteer work, internships and other opportunities to help me get into the top business or law school (I am aware that biology majors can get into both).</li>
<li>Well renowned University where I will be surrounded by a lot of kids who want to learn and are ambitious, the competition will bring out the intellectual depth within me.</li>
<li>It is in the Northeast, my favorite region of America, going there will give me more motivation to succeed because I went to high school and currently attend college in a really conservative area of the US. I lived in the Northeast before high school.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>No - transfers are normal students in CC or SEAS.</li>
<li>Yes - you can transfer from community college if you’re good enough.</li>
<li>Studying abroad is difficult but not impossible. Most don’t want to study abroad, as they came to Columbia to be at Columbia. And of course you can play sports; it would be preposterous if you could not. As far as other restrictions: you can’t take extra time to finish school - must be done in the equivalent of 8 semesters - and you can’t really take any 5-year joint degree tracks.</li>
</ol>
<p>As far as your reasons, that’s all well and good. However, I would exclude the following points from your essay: First part of (2), because it is not necessarily true, (3), (5).</p>
<p>Make sure to understand and discuss the Core.</p>
<p>Do you think its a good idea to send in my january SAT score report? I only got 140 points better…and it wasn’t a 2300+…
I know my college gpa, teacher rec, essay, etc count more than that, but I cant help but worry. </p>
<p>Did anyone else here retake the SAT and not be satisfied? lol</p>
<p>If it is an 1850-1900, I would send it in. I don’t think that it would hurt your case if all of the other elements were strong. If it is in the low 1800s, you might want to reconsider. 1700 is, generally, a low score, and you really need to compensate for it significantly in other parts of your app.</p>
<p>For anyone else reading this thread, please don’t PM me unless what you wish to discuss should clearly be kept as private as possible. The more people who read your posts means the more advice you get from the CC community. Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi Aristorty, not too relevant but I was given some notice by the University of Maryland at College Park that I have been accepted as a transfer. </p>
<p>Didn’t know they notified so early but that is the case. So I will be getting out of the place I am in right now.</p>
<p>Thanks for taking questions, Aristororty. This thread has been extremely helpful.
I have a couple of questions:
is it wise to put high school extra-curricular activities on the application? I was not really active in my first year (in fact I’m only involved in 1 club), and I was not really in any leadership positions. Would this hurt my application a lot?
I really want to get into Columbia. I applied as freshman last year, but got rejected. I am currently in University of Toronto, GPA 4.0. I finished high school in Canada, cGPA wasn’t very good, although i ranked #1 in Grade 12. I got 2200 on SAT I (CR690/Math800/Writing710) , 33 on ACT and perfect on Sat IIs. I intend to study economics at Columbia, do you think I have a chance? Thanks.</p>
<p>As far as extra-curriculars go, you are usually fine to discuss your high school activities. If you have more college ones to talk about, of course put those first. If the high schools ones aren’t flattering, you might want to omit them. Try to draw the focus to the ones in which you thrived. These are all judgement calls that you will need to make. But very little hurts your application.</p>
<p>Bear in mind that activities don’t not weigh too much in the decision process.</p>
<p>I want to know something real quick, during the transfer admissions process, how did you keep your cool?</p>
<p>I seriously think I was asking too much when I applied to Columbia from a tier 4 university and right now I don’[t even know if I should have sent in my application…</p>
<p>I mean I have a 3.9 GPA and a 2290 SAT along with tons of ECs but still…</p>
<p>This is a strange question indeed, Techerdz. I understand that prospective transfers can become quite nervous - around decision time. However, this time is not until May. In fact, the application does not close until mid-March. So, relax. Your application has been submitted and there is nothing else for you to do. [PS: the latter should go without saying].</p>
<p>If you so anxious a person that you are already having anxieties at this stage in the transfer process, perhaps you should reconsider leaving your current institution.</p>
<p>…But still what? I am not sure what you meant by this comment. And “asking for too much”? What is too much? Admission to Columbia?</p>
<p>If, as you say, you are really asking for too much, then admissions will reject your application. In which case, you will go to a different school. So what? There is clearly no harm in trying. At this point, I would focus on your current school, tying up potential loose ends, etc. </p>
<p>Cross apply the logic in this post to your unanswered post about living in NYC. In other words: don’t get ahead of yourself.</p>
<p>I would also like to take an opportunity to reiterate the following:</p>
<p>BAD SATS/ACTS (THE KIND THAT MEANT COLUMBIA WAS A NO-GO OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL) NO LONGER WEIGH AS MUCH IN THE TRANSFER ADMISSIONS PROCESS. IF YOU SCORED 1900+ ON THE SAT, PUT YOUR MIND AT EASE AND APPLY.</p>
<p>Bear in mind, though: the lower your high school and standardized test scores are, the more you should compensate for them with college/AP test scores. You might also consider explaining (the value of) your bad grades by incorporating them into a personal narrative of change.</p>
<p>Thank you Aristororty for taking your time to answer questions, this is such a helpful thread!</p>
<p>I was wondering how many recommendations are too much? I currently have two from separate research projects at the American Museum of Natural History (one is from a former Columbia professor), one from a teacher at my former university, and will now have another one from some research I volunteered with at my former university. Will this harm me? </p>
<p>Also, though a U.S. citizen, I decided to do my undergrad in the UK. Are international transfers completely unheard of? I plan to utilize my study abroad to my advantage though, stating how traveling around Europe has made me realize the UK system that lacks general requirements is not for me and the CORE would better help me achieve my goals. Sound good? </p>
<p>Also (sorry it’s crunch time and I’m super nervous about everything), but this question: List the films, performances, exhibits, concerts, shows, etc. you enjoyed most in the past year…
I just find the character limit so restricting! Did you explicitely separate films from exhibits and concerts? Ex. Films - …, Exhibits - </p>