<p>I'm planning on applying to Yale and Penn as a sophomore transfer student. I am fine with continuing my undergraduate studies in my current university (hence no matches/safeties) but if I am accepted, I'd definitely transfer. I think I have fairly compelling reasons for transferring. </p>
<p>International student (Chinese)</p>
<p>HS Stats
GPA: 4.0 (Valedictorian)
AP: 5, 5, 4, 4
IB Diploma: 45
SAT: 2300
SAT II: 780, 730
ECs: Lots of volunteer (Key Club, leadership positions), Jazz band (section leader), Other music ensembles, Tri-M (leadership position), Professional band (paid)... among others </p>
<p>Waitlisted at Yale & Princeton and ultimately rejected</p>
<p>College Stats (outside the states: the best university in the nation)
GPA: 4.0
ECs: School Jazz Band, Mock trial (leadership position), Volunteer work such as teaching music to children from low-income
Recommendation letters: Mediocre :(</p>
<p>I know chance threads are meaningless... but I want to know whether it would be worth my time to work on my transfer apps (meaning do I stand some chance at getting admitted)? If not, I'd rather save myself a lot of time and enjoy my holidays :) </p>
<p>What attracts you to both Penn and Yale? You may want to consider similar schools that have better acceptance rates.
Yale accepts around 2% of transfers I believe.
Penn around 18%. (Much better than Yale of course)</p>
<p>But if you do some research, you may be able to find similar caliber schools with better acceptance rates.</p>
<p>Thank you for your suggestion. I’m not too concerned about finding similar caliber schools with better acceptance rates because I’m not desperate to get out of my current school. That’s why I don’t have any matches and safeties But if I do get into those two schools, I would definitely transfer (and there are many academic, social reasons why).</p>
<p>I’m not sure whether I have to make a new thread on my questions about recommendation letters but I’ll just put them here. </p>
<p>I’m afraid my recommendation letters might be very weak and generic. I did get A+s in both classes, but I haven’t been able to forge a close relationship with the professors and they don’t know me personally. Although the professor gave lectures, he had no office hours (we were told to go see TAs if we had any questions). As a result, I’m really close with one of the TAs but I’m afraid her recommendation letter wouldn’t be as strong/meaningful to the admissions as professors’ recommendation letters. I’m thinking of supplementing these mediocre professor recommendation letters by providing a third recommendation letter from my high school teacher which will be extremely strong and personal. Would this work?</p>
<p>Or should I wait another year and apply as a sophomore? That way, I would have more time to build better relationships with the professors and get more deeply involved with the ECs that I’m interested in. But I’m worried that this will mean my HS record (which I think is quite strong) will not matter as much in the admissions. I am really confused…</p>
<p>Please help me out and give me suggestions! Thanks you =)</p>
<p>I would get the rec from the TA. What matters most is what the teacher says about you, not the credentials of the teacher. You could still ask the professor to write a rec, or to collaborate with the TA. You have great stats but Yale has a near perfect retention rate so there really just aren’t openings no matter how qualified you are. Yale and Penn are very different schools other than being Ivy, though. Is there something specific about these two? You could look into other Ivy’s, Cornell has a much bigger transfer program for example.</p>
But if I do get into those two schools, I would definitely transfer (and there are many academic, social reasons why).</p>