High School: I did three years at my high school then attended community college for a year and applied to four year schools. I did not get into the schools I wanted to so I had to attend a safety school. I will be attending a top 50 school this year and want to transfer for the fall of 2016.
ACT: I have a 34 ACT, and 800 math SAT 2.
GPA: I had a 3.1 in high school and a 4.0 in community college. I plan to get a 4,0 my first year at my current four year school. (Please judge my application assuming I get a 4.0 my first semester)
WORK: For the Past three summers I worked at a national tech company and worked my way from a warehouse position to programming position. (40hs a week)
VOLUNTEER: I tutor disadvantaged children math through a charity.(2 hour a week)
I am going to be a math major at my current school but want to study economics when I transfer. I really would love to go to a school like Penn, but would like to know where I should apply.
Side Note: I recently found out I have 40 percent african american from a dna test. Does this mean I can put ‘black’ on college forms?
The most important question is: Why do you need to transfer? If you are already at a top 50 school, why do you want to leave? Does your current school not offer the program you need to pursue your desired career?
As for the marking “black” on your college forms, if you had to take a DNA test, then I would say no. Perhaps you are trying to work affirmative action, and regardless of what your stance is on the issue, know affirmative action is not nearly as powerful as most thing it is. When people ask what your ancestry is, what do you say? Whatever your answer to that question is should be your answer on the form.
My school is an engineering school, and not located in a city. I would like to get a liberal arts education, that I would not be able to at my current school. I would also like to be in a city like NY, Boston, or Philly for obvious reasons.
I was thinking of applying to the following schools: Penn, Columbia, Chicago, Cornell, Gtown, Duke, NYU.
What do you guys think of my list, should I add or remove any schools?
Bump. Would like to know chances and advice.
Looking forward to hearing what you guys think.
How will you pay? Consider first what it will cost you.
At my current college I have to pay full price, if I got into one of the schools I listed above I think the financial aid
could only get better.
Nope, not true. ^^^
It will get worse since transfer students usually get the worst deals. The best financial aid goes to entering freshman. I think @mom2collegekids can give you more detailed information on this.
@thumper1 also is knowledgeable in this area.
Duke has a 3% admit rate for transfers. Financial aid is hard to come by for transfers at any college. The schools you listed are not liberal arts colleges (LACs). They are universities. You have no hook for the universities. Try Vassar and other LACs known to meet full need. You like programming? … then try LACs with engineering …Trinity, Union, or Lafayette.
I am paying around 50k a year so it really could only be slightly worse. I really want to study economics at a top school to get good internships. Any thoughts on the schools I listed?
Bump, looking forward to see what people think.
Bump, looking forward to see what people think.
Bump, wonding what my chances are at different schools.
Bump, looking forward to see what people think.
I can’t imagine that you will have a different result applying to the schools you were rejected from before your freshman year of college. I don’t think that a 4.0 at a community college is going to convince Penn, Columbia, Chicago, Cornell, Gtown, Duke and NYU to take you this time since they rejected you last year. Even if you also got a 4.0 at your current “top 50 school” 1st semester it would probably not do enough to make up for a weak HS GPA and ECs.
As noted in a post above, the schools you’re interested in transferring to are even more selective for transfers than they are for kids straight out of high school. If you do decide to transfer, you should look at liberal arts schools comparable in selectivity to the school you’re starting now.
Edit – Also, be careful about changing your race on the transfer applications to any schools you were previously rejected from. I would think that suddenly identifying as African American might raise some red flags, as it did for Rachel Dolezal in Washington state.
@GnocchiB Thanks for posting! I think my ECs would be strong to very strong if I could go into more detail, but I do not want to. Could you reanalyse the chances with strong ECs?
The major criteria for transfer to say Ivy plus schools are as follows : one, you could have obtained admission applying for a freshmen seat, two, top grades in your current institution, and three, the new school offers a degree or major not offered at your original school-- simply wanting to transfer to a more prestigious school will not be sufficient.
@boolaHI Good thing that is not why I am appling. If I went into more detail I might get doxxed, I feel that my reasons are very valid for transfering.