<p>I'm currently a sophomore at NYU, and I just can't take it here anymore. It's a mediocre school, with mediocre students. A lot of teachers in my high school told me I had a lot of unmet potential: partially because of my home situation, and the other half because I was very lazy and unfocused. Going into NYU, I knew I wanted to transfer out, but I gave NYU a fair chance. I worked really hard to get to know my professors (the best part of NYU besides the city itself) for potential recs, and I made sure to go to office hours to get the best grade(s) possible. So without further ado: </p>
<p>Current school: NYU (Class of 2014)
Entering as: Junior
High school GPA: 3.41 UW w/ strong course load (12 AP's)
College GPA: ~3.90 w/ 46 credits (However, I do have one "W" on my transcript...)
ACT: 32 (Should I retake??) No SAT II scores worth mentioning </p>
<p>Top college EC's: </p>
<p>1) SUNY/EPA environmental sciences internship-research (10 weeks)
2) Badminton club (Intramural)
3) Islamic Center/PAKsa
4) Work-Study jobs (18 hours/week)</p>
<p>Top high school EC's: </p>
<p>1) Medical Club President (2 years VP, 2 years President)
2) Co-founder of Students for Improving Healthcare (3 years)
3) Student Government VP (4 years)
4) Varsity Wrestling, NY Journeymen (5 years)
5) Travel Soccer private team (8+ years)
6) State community service awarded by congressmen for hospital/mosque volunteering</p>
<p>I am a Pakistani male applying as an economics major/middle eastern studies minor. I do NOT need financial aid. I also won a prestigious scholarship. (It's a grant and interest-free loan combination of 20K a year) Thank you guys!</p>
<p>Wow, awesome on that scholarship. I definitely think you have as good a chance as any in consideration of Columbia’s really low acceptance rate. You have a proven academic track record at a good school with a substantive amount of credits. If an essay is required, I would definitely highlight the reason for your wanting to transfer, without disparaging NYU. Namely, introduce aspects of the Columbia education which would allow you to fulfill your potential or happiness that are currently holding you back. If you do this carefully without trashing NYU, I think it would be a good angle. It would also serve you well to note the prestige of your scholarship as this definitely sets you apart from other applicants. Secondly, definitely make sure your LOR’s are super strong. If you have as close a relationship with the writers as you say, maybe request to view the letters beforehand. Good luck!</p>
<p>iggs99988 - Hey! Thanks for the response, yeah Columbia is my second choice behind Brown. ( I went to Brown for two nostalgic summer programs, so that’s my rationale.) I’ve gotten really close to two of my professors this semester. I plan on applying as an economics major/ middle eastern studies minor at Columbia and my recommendation writers are my Macroeconomics professor and Middle eastern literature professor, so my recs directly correlate with my interests. </p>
<p>Does anyone else have any response? BTW does not applying for financial aid as a US citizen (born in NY) increase my chances in any manner? I know Columbia has housing for transfers, so I don’t have to be like Obama and sleep on the streets for two days :)</p>
<p>Bump! Someone’s gotta have some insight on the whole process! I mean Columbia is in fact my second choice, but I feel that even though I’m a junior transfer, my ACT and high school grades are gonna put me in the “reject” pile.</p>
<p>I went through the transfer process so I’ll tell you my feeling, although there is no right or wrong answer. The committee for freshman admissions tries to form a well rounded class. Now most of those kids are amazing in some area and have outstanding numbers. When it comes to transfer admissions, they already have there class that they picked out. There are just now replacing a few kids who decided to drop out or have a little extra room for. So since there are very little spaces, from my research of going through it and speaking to tons of people, its a very big “numbers game” process. The kids who are getting into columbia as transfer have a 3.9 from top colleges (like nyu) and also have 2300 plus on sat and great ecs. You have the numbers I think now you have to bring something to the table outside academics, something that they will say “wow”. During freshman admissions, they take a few thousand kids so you can get away with great numbers and decent ec’s. But if there taking 5 percent during transfers, most of the kids will have outstanding academic credentials or “holy ****” worthy activities… thats my 2 cents… people will tell you they look at everything, but at the end of the day they want to see amazing numbers and amazing activities. I got into cornell- only ivy i got into as transfer- i really thought there process was holistic because I had an interview for about half an hour and we talked about why I would be a good fit… I didn’t end up going because i didn’t wana spend 3 years in the middle of no where busting my ass for a 3.3 gpa… what my friends up there are doing now… hope that helped.</p>
<p>It seems to me like you definitely have a great shot, because
A. Your college GPA is really impressive. To me, it shows that you obviously have mastered the difficulty level of NYU’s coursework and are ready and willing to take on the challenge of Columbia’s more challenging coursework.</p>
<p>B. I have never seen EC’s like yours before (award for work in hospital/mosque and work in the Islamic Center) so you definitely stand out. From what I know too having a minor in middle eastern studies isn’t too common too, so you’re filling a niche that isn’t your run of the mill poli-sci major (from what I’ve observed). You keep busy, you’re clearly committed to the programs and EC’s you’ve chosen, and you show you’re passionate about it (multiple EC’s regarding medical work and involvement in Islamic studies).</p>
<p>I don’t think you’re W would reflect badly on your part, especially with such a high GPA. Maybe if you’re worried about it thogh you could explain it in the additional info section on commonapp–46 credits also seems like alot for a 1st semester sophomore, so clearly you’ve been working hard and STILL getting stellar grades. </p>
<p>I don’t think re-taking the ACT would be important–you broke 30, and from what I’ve seen on here that’s good enough. And I also know that on their website the middle 50% of applicants score between a 32-35 on the ACT, so you’re wedged in there with the best of them pretty well.</p>
<p>All in all, I think you’re a unique applicant with very impressive EC’s and college GPA. Just do great on that essay and I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Transfer 9858-That’s funny because I actually currently go to Cornell and that’s been my exact feeling. It really is pretty isolated and I am busting my balls for what’s probably gonna be no higher than a 3.5 you hit it right on haha</p>
<p>Oh gosh that’s so misleading! I currently have 30 credits at NYU. Once I apply to the colleges, I’ll have completed 48. In the order of my semesters I took the following number of credits: 18 (with a 6 credits science w/lab), 12 (I originally had 16 credits, but I withdrew from a major class which I am retaking this Spring.), 16 (That’s my courseload right now, and I think I might get a 4.0…), and this Spring semester I’ll be taking 18 credits. My fall semester has much more difficult courses than my upcoming spring semester. </p>
<p>Also I know that a lot of people are telling me to not retake the ACT, but I think I really should because I don’t want to look back and say “what if…” Also (please don’t hate me) I don’t mind retaking the ACT, if anything I think it’s a lot of fun to test myself. I feel like I’m spending my time better working on college apps and studying for a college entrance exam this winter break.</p>
<p>-Hoping to transfer to Columbia College as a Sophomore with a major in Sociology
-Currently attending NYU
-Korean with U.S. citizenship</p>
<p>STATS
1st semester GPA: 3.6 (two A-, one A, & one B)
High School (attended a prestigious, private boarding school in CT) GPA: 87~88
SAT I Scores: Math: 800 Writing: 790 Reading: 690 (2280)</p>
<p>ECs (mostly in High School)
-Helping North Korean refugees through a resettlement facility in Korea
-Editor in Chief of school journal
-Head of a cultural club in school
-Acted in musicals and plays all 4 years of high school</p>
<p>Work Experience
-Interned at Accenture, a consulting company
-Interned at a Korean investment company
-Reporter for an IT journal in Korea</p>
<p>1) I’m going to disagree with some of the advice above and say retake the ACT. Send in the original ACT asap to your schools so the 32 is all they see, then update with a new score if its higher. I think a 34+ will help you.</p>
<p>2) Apply to a few schools. Brown and Columbia are great, but transferring it not easy. You should add in a few more top schools like Penn, Cornell, or Northwestern just to hedge the bet. No one can be sure to get into any Ivy, you have to give yourself the best chance possible.</p>
<p>Thanks Slipper1234! I’ve recently started studying for my ACT re-take, and I feel much more confident now that I have almost 2 years of college. But honestly, even if I don’t do as well on this ACT, I still have the 32 to fall back on. </p>
<p>Casper - I think your EC’s look excellent, but your college GPA needs to be at least 3.8+ to be competitive. Try and get your GPA up and junior transfer. That way high school won’t matter as much since you have 45+ college credits.</p>
<p>So, I’m also a prospective transfer student. However, I’m currently enrolled in a Non-American university. My family immigrated to the US and I’m looking for transferring options. My big problem is that the curriculum is completely different! I study Civil Engineering at Brazilian school and our curriculum is very similar to the European one, for the ones that are not familiar. Is basically only exact sciences with a very VERY heavy workload. It’s a 5 year program, classes from 7:30am until 5pm Monday-Friday. So I’ve basically done close to 200 credits and I’m still halfway until graduation. I also took 1 year off as a visitor student at NYU-Poly, so I guess I’m kinda familiar with how American universities work, so it’s definitely different. I don’t have much extracurricular, since classes don’t allow much and I have not taken the SAT’s.
I was looking at the requirements for transferring to Columbia, and it says that they don’t accept anyone who have taken more than 67 credits. So… how does that apply for international students? Does anyone know if it’s a cut-off? Or will they look at my application and say “hey this girl is from a school in another country, so they might work differently…”
Also, about the SAT’s, are they only valid if taken during high school? </p>
<p>I’d really appreciate if anyone could help me out!</p>
Good luck!!!</p>
you hit it right on haha</p>