Transfer to Brown?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>Hi.</p>

<p>I currently a freshman attending Emory university (at Oxford), and I’m thinking about transferring to Brown. Brown was originally my choice school for college apps, but I wasn’t admitted. From what I can tell, there are a lot of similarities between my college’s choice in delivering a liberal arts education and what Brown has to offer. While I’m content where I am, I believe Brown offers a much better environment.</p>

<p>I’m a tad concerned about transferring, and whether or not I’m wasting my time.</p>

<p>Cons:
-High school graduating GPA wasn’t too high. I fell off towards the last semester.
-First semester college GPA was only above average. (3.2)
-Declined admission the first time
-1900’s range SAT score
-Applied as an undecided major first time</p>

<p>Pros:
-Took 12 AP classes in high school (and self studied one of them)
-Several extracurricular activities and sports. Leadership spots too
-Emory is a top ranked university
-Oxford has harder grading than main campus professors
-My college shares a very similar learning philosophy with Brown
-Had a very good interview session with the Brown rep
-Starting to develop a field of interest to major in which Brown is good with
-I applied to Brown the first time minutes before the deadline. Several days prior to the deadline, I underwent surgery from a spontaneous illness and was in the hospital for a day. I wrote my college apps on heavy doses of pain meds. This shouldn’t happen again.
-Hold leadership role in school club
-Founded a club within my first semester </p>

<p>I think that applying as a transfer would give me a better shot at getting in, but Brown is very picky with their apps. I think that the first time I applied I had an especially weak application because I was ill from surgery. However, my scores are in the lower quartiles of the acceptance range. My first semester was somewhat experimental, so I did not aim to get my GPA to a 4.0, but I could definitely do much better next semester. </p>

<p>Should I apply for the March deadline as a sophomore, or should I apply as a junior? I can bring up my scores and show progress as a junior, but I could get in faster as a sophomore. I’m also concerned previous applications might hurt my reputation as a transfer student to the admissions committee. </p>

<p>Any feedback is appreciated ^^</p>

2

<p>Since you were rejected in your application to Brown as a HS student, and your college performance so far does not show a major improvement over HS, I think that honestly it would be unlikely for you to get in as a transfer. (Even despite the higher acceptance rate for transfers.) You also do not give a very compelling case for why you would fit better at Brown and what you would bring to Brown that is not true of the school you are at (and doing well/par for that school). If you really want to be at Brown instead, I would respectfully suggest you continue where you are for a few more semesters where you get the stellar grades to show Brown that you have improved as a student.</p>

3

<p>From what I offered in the first post, that’s a fair reply. I didn’t offer any compelling reasons or attributes for the sake of not creating a huge post, but I feel like I have plenty of qualifying criteria outside of purely grades.</p>

<p>But you’re probably right, getting a higher GPA would definitely help to transfer in as a junior.</p>