Transfer

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tufts University
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I was accepted to Tufts back in March of 2011 as a prospective chem major. In the end, my decision came down to UPenn and Tufts, and I opted for Penn, largely because of the Vagelos Program in Molecular Life Sciences which I would join. After spending plenty of time in that program and at Penn, I switched my major to poly sci. I like it more, I've always loved politics, and I'm much happier doing this work.</p>

<p>Ever since I switched last year, I have never felt comfortable with my decision of Penn over Tufts. Sure, Penn may be ranked higher, but I'm not happy here. I was at Tufts just last weekend, and I got that wonderful feeling of belonging all over again. I love Tufts, I love Massachusetts...it's where I want to be.</p>

<p>Because of major social problems and challenges I didn't anticipate, I haven't performed well academically at Penn. I've had much success in extracurricular activities like my job, student government, and writing for a political magazine, but academically my scores are non-competitive for a transfer applicant. I have good reasons for my lack of academic success which I do not wish to detail here.</p>

<p>Now I want to transfer back to Tufts, but my GPA is around a paltry 2.0. I know Tufts doesn't have requirements for GPA/transfer applicants, but clearly this is non-competitive. My scores in high school are really outstanding, and my test scores are good enough. I've done some great EC's both in high school and at Penn, but my inability to adjust to this school and Philadelphia are a large part of the reason of why my grades are down (along with Vagelos problems, major social problems, of which my advisor here at Penn is well aware).</p>

<p>What do you think? I really love Tufts and I don't wish to transfer anywhere else; in fact, I'm not going to bother applying anywhere else. Is there any way Tufts might see through the GPA and see who I really am? Those numbers are in no way indicative of myself as a person, and, having been accepted to Tufts once before and having made a mistake by not matriculating, I just want one more chance.</p>

<p>I love Tufts, and I haven't seen anything like it--I just want to be able to work up to my full potential again. I really do feel that I could thrive there. I'm not running away from a problem--I feel like I'm less of a student at Penn than I was in high school, and I want to correct that at Tufts.</p>

<p>Thanks. Please don't flame if you can help it, I'm serious about this post.</p>

2

<p>The Tufts factbook shows they admitted 19% of the undergraduate transfer applicants. </p>

<p>The one thing you have going for you is that Tufts admitted you 18 months ago. But your performance since then has been rocky.</p>

<p>Do you have any convincing arguments that an experienced office full of adcoms will believe so that if they admit you, you won’t be writing a similar thread next year?</p>

<p>Do you want to get into Tufts badly enough to pull your grades up to straight A’s? That’s no guarantee of getting admitted, but at least it shows you have the ability to take control of your setbacks and stay on track.</p>

3

<p>Right, of course. I believe my argument is convincing enough, I took away a lot from last year, so it wasn’t just a waste of a year where nothing was accomplished. At that, I DO have great ECs for any applicant, I’m extremely involved.</p>

<p>Of course, I’m working as hard as I am now to pull up my grades quickly. I just earned my first A at Penn in an assignment today. </p>

<p>Thanks for the thoughtful input, I appreciate it.</p>

4

<p>All I can tell you is that decisions on transfer applications at most of the top schools are filled with surprises, so you just might make it.
You have nothing to lose by applying, so by all means give it your best shot.
Good luck!</p>