<p>From the next September, I will go to Grinnell College. But I'm considering to apply for the transfer admission of the colleges which I was rejected from. </p>
<p>High school UWGPA: 3.8 WGPA: 4.3
SAT I (superscored): 2120
SAT II: 800 in both Math II&Physics
Major: Biology
ECs: fairly strong, but all about math
Race: white&asian (int'l student who has lived in the U.S. for 3 years already)</p>
<p>I'm going to apply for the following colleges:
Cornell
JHU
UCB
Swarthmore
Pomona
Williams
Carleton</p>
<p>Questions:
- How much college GPA should I get to be a strong applicant for the above colleges? 3.8+?
- Are ECs important in transfer admission?
- I understand that my SAT I score is pretty weak. Should I retake to get the score higher than 2200?
- What specifically should I do in my college to increase my chance?</p>
<p>Berkeley only admits transfer students at the junior level (i.e. 60+ credit units completed); junior level transfer applicants are evaluated on college work and essays without regard to high school work or test scores other than those which fulfill certain lower level requirements.</p>
<p>Berkeley does admit a lot of transfer students, but admission is very competitive. Although public information is not widely published, UCLA does publish detailed transfer student profiles, and is probably nearly as or similarly selective as Berkeley.
<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof13.htm”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof13.htm</a> (click on the division (e.g. College of Letters and Science) to see profiles by major)</p>
<p>Thanks for your mention of UCLA and your link. It says that only about 5% of OOS students were admitted. But since I’m categorized as an int’l student, I’m fine due to the rate of 20%, which is almost equal to the acceptance rate of UCB posted by UCB’s website. Furthermore, since the acceptance rate of L&S division is about 30%, it’s even better for me. </p>
<p>I look at your list and as an undergrad I do not see what Grinnell cannot give you, which the others can. One option is instead of essentially leaving Grinnell before you get there is to embrace the excellent school and really take advantage of what it has to offer. You should enjoy yourself, not be planning to leave. This just seems a bit odd to me for such a school as Grinnell, but I admit you know yourself, I do not.</p>
<p>I applied for Grinnell for its high PhD productivity and wealthiness, but I have no data about how many graduates go to the best biology-related PhD programs. So, I’m uncertain about my future. For the case such that I can’t be satisfied with staying in this college, I have to be well-informed with the transfer admission now, so that I can be prepared for such a case. </p>
<p>Cornell, JHU, and UCB offer more upper division classes and grad-level courses. Swarthmore and Carleton have higher PhD productivity and better performance in sending their graduates to the best PhD programs. Pomona and Williams also send its graduates to the best PhD programs, and especially Pomona offer many classes through Claremont Consortium. </p>
<p>I haven’t decided to apply for the transfer admission, so I have to decide whether or not to apply after staying in Grinnell for 1 and 1/2 years. </p>
<p>It is not about how many, but about whom. Get a 3.7 or higher average in the sciences at Grinnell and you have as good a shot at top PhD programs as anyone else.</p>
<p>Getting 3.7 in Grinnell will put me in both the listed colleges and top PhD programs, so there might be no reason for me to do transfer admission. Well, thanks for your remark. I will probably do transfer admission if I will have a problem other than the one about PhD admission. </p>