Transferring from good public to ivies with less-than-perfect HS grades?

Transfer Students
1

<p>I am going to be starting as a freshman at Penn State (University Park) this fall. </p>

<p>I took the old SAT I once: 1410 (750 V 660 M)
I took the new SAT I once: 2220 (770 CR 740 M 710 W)
SAT II Math II: 740
SAT II Chemistry: 730
SAT II Bio M: 730</p>

<p>Final HS GPA: 94.23. It was probably a 96-96.5 at the end of junior year... This means that my senior grades are far from spectacular. Only one C final course grade though, and no Ds or Fs.</p>

<p>Good high school extracurriculars.</p>

<p>I am interested in applying for transfer to Penn (where I have legacy), Georgetown, and maybe Cornell. I applied to and was rejected from all 3 of these schools for freshman admission; I think my GPA was the reason.</p>

<p>Now, the question I have for CC: is there any point to even thinking about transferring to enter that caliber of school as a sophomore after being rejected straight out of HS? As in, even with a 4.0 in college, would there be any substantial chance of getting in?</p>

<p>I am under the impression (mostly from reading CC) that a junior transfer, with 3 semesters of college grades available, is far easier for someone who is trying to put high school records behind them and rely on college grades. Is this correct? Assuming a stellar college record, what do you think my chances of getting in as a junior transfer would be?</p>

<p>Does it look bad to not get in out of HS, to have a soph. transfer app rejected, and to apply for transfer as a junior again?</p>

<p>Should I even think about trying to transfer after one year, or would my time be better spent elsewhere? It's not like I want to get out of PSU as fast as possible - I'm going to be happy at Penn State, but if there's a chance of getting into one of these dream schools, I want to make sure I take it.</p>

<p>Anything I should keep in mind as I begin college to make sure a transfer app is as strong as it can be?</p>

2

<p>a 94 hs gpa is low? -_-</p>

3

<p>wow you're practically a mirror image of myself...creepy.</p>

<p>I had better distinguish myself quick :)</p>

<p>If you can get a high college GPA at Penn State, your chances are great. A 94 is not so bad...I had a 3.3 in high school and am not too worried about it, but then again I'll be applying for junior standing. I think you'll be a pretty good candidate at most schools if you can get close to 4.0 at Penn State.</p>

4

<p>forgiven, yes, it is, when you are applying somewhere that accepts less than 10% of applicants and many of them have GPAs > 100 or > 4.0, yeah, it's low.</p>

<p>also, while my hs doesn't release any rank information, they still do rank internally, and i've seen my place on the list... it's not in the top 10%.</p>

5

<p>I was accepted to Notre Dame for transfer as a sophomore. I had a 4.0 after one year at the University of Pittsburgh. These elite colleges want you to take as many courses as possible at their institution, so definitely apply for your sophomore year. </p>

<p>I applied to ND as a freshman and was rejected. It doesn't look bad, it shows how much you want to go there.</p>

6

<p>NDFreak7 what was your hs record/gpa like? had you gotten involved in any ECs in college?</p>