<p>Does NOT asking for financial aid in these following universities: Cornell, Dartmouth, UPenn, and Stanford GREATLY increases my chance to get in as a transfer student? I know for Yale, they're need blind to international students, but I wouldn't even dream of getting in there.</p>
<p>And I'm an international student from South East Asia, does that help or hurt me? </p>
<p>I'm taking the California Community College route to save money so that I'm only paying two years of monstrous tuition fees. I'm doing fine academically and I will be transferring with around 83 semester units (I know they're going to only accept 60-70 units) next Fall. I'm pretty sure I will be transferring with a 4.0 GPA, because I have finished all the English, Math, and major pre-requisite classes (Economics) last semester. Therefore, I only have GE requirements to finish. I have quite strong ECs too (Leadership at three different clubs, intern, tutor, volunteer, research conferences, etc).</p>
<p>And another thing, my SAT scores are a bit low, 680CR 800M 650WR, because I didn't have time to study for it (heavy units load, 20+ semester units every semester). Worse, I took the SAT in college last November because I've never taken it before. Hence, I'm wondering whether my SAT scores will hurt me badly.</p>
<p>Lastly, do I have any chance to get in any of the Universities that I mentioned? Even a small chance? Thank you for your responses.</p>
<p>Oh, forgot to mention that I'm applying this year as a Junior transfer.</p>
<p>Stanford (1-2% acceptance rate) is slightly more selective than Yale (3-4%) for transfers; both took about 20 transfers last year.</p>
<p>Your SAT scores shouldn’t be a problem since you plan to transfer as a jr.</p>
<p>While all of these colleges are need blind for US citizens, you need to check each of their websites to find out whether or not they are need blind for International transfers. Go to the source when you need this type of information.</p>
<p>I can’t give chances on these colleges, but if they are the only ones on your list, then you do run a chance of not getting into any of them since they are all very selective, particularly for transfers. You need to have a realistic list of reaches, match and safety schools.</p>
<p>Hi. Thanks for the response. For the acceptance rates, I noticed that Stanford is more selective, but I believe it accepted like 11 transfers from community colleges this year? While on the other hand, Yale mostly accepted transfers from 4 years colleges.</p>
<p>I know that every colleges that I listed are not need blind for international students. I’m just not sure whether the difference of asking and not asking is really big. And yes, I’m also applying for Haas, UCLA (TAP) and UCSD. I think UCLA and UCSD are my safety schools.</p>
<p>You did your homework, I’m impressed! Really, it’s nice to hear from a student who “gets it”, there does appear to be a difference between what S and Y are looking for in their transfer students. Here’s another data point that supports the theory: my D got into HYP as a freshman applicant (didn’t apply to S) but went elsewhere on a scholarship. She applied as a transfer to Y & S (and others) and was accepted to Y but not to S. Nothing conclusive, but it follows the trend that S is looking for what I think of as “diversity of life experience” in their transfers, rather than students who necessarily would have been competitive applicants straight out of HS. </p>
<p>About asking for FA, truthfully, I’m not sure how much difference it makes. It’s another one of those black boxes where we have very little information on how they make their admissions decisions.</p>
<p>Looks like you have a well thought out list, as a Cal alum, good luck with that as well as the rest!</p>
<p>I see. Perhaps my international background could contribute to Stanford’s tendency of diversity then, because I don’t think many students from my country attend Stanford. As for Yale, I guess I’m just gonna apply and wait for my rejection letter.</p>
<p>Okay! Dartmouth turns to need-blind to int’l transfer students this year. If you dont ask for financial aid, then I believe that you have pretty good shot at Penn (if you apply to Wharton, then not really) and Cornell. Your SAT might be a small concern, since when somebody else has a similar credential but a higher SAT, then you will be at a disadvantage. Try to make yourself stand out, not necessarily talk about how outstanding you are. Good luck!</p>
<p>Yea, I just saw the article about Darmouth. Guess I’ll cross it off my list or maybe I’ll just apply for the heck of it. And I’m applying for Econ at both Penn and Cornell. I guess I’m going to retake my SAT on January then. Thanks for the advice.</p>
<p>Transferring into these schools is insanely hard. Hope your record gets you in. Good luck.
I can’t stress how difficult it is to get in though. Only about 20-40 get into Stanford. If you think about the number of students in Stanford…</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement. I’m not really expecting to get accepted to Stanford and Yale, but what the heck, I’ll just apply lol. I’m just gonna cross off Dartmouth and replace it with NYU.</p>
<p>And a question regarding letters of recommendations. I can get stellar letters of recommendations from several different professors and I’m kinda having problem deciding which two are the better ones. Can you guys give me some suggestions?</p>
<p>Professor A - Stanford Alumni, English Professor (I took my second English class with him and he knows me very well. Also, I had perfect score in his class. I interviewed and wrote an article about him for the Honors Program newsletter. Currently doing a research project for the upcoming UC Irvine Honors Conference with him. He’s also very enthusiastic about Stanford and has been helping me with my personal statements).</p>
<p>Professor B - English Club Advisor, Honors Program Director, English Professor (I took my first English class with her and I had all As for my assignments and essays. I also hold a leadership position in the English club, very active at the Honors Program in my college and know her very well too).</p>
<p>Professor C - Economics Professor (Probably know me the best, because I had her for three of my Economics classes. I had perfect scores for two of the three classes and a 99% on the last one. I used to and still discuss about the current Economic situation with her).</p>
<p>Professor D - Business Club Advisor, Business Professor (I’m in his class now and I have a perfect score. He knows me well as I hold a leadership position in the Business club and also very participative in his class. We always talk about the stock market every time we meet and I made a bet with him in a stock market game. I’m also doing a research project with him for an upcoming research conference).</p>
<p>I know some other professors too, but I think these four are the most related ones for my majors: Economics for Stanford, Yale, Cornell, and U Penn and Business Admin/Econ for Haas, Stern and UCLA. If you were to choose two for Economics at the universities that I mentioned and another two for Haas and Stern, which two would you choose?</p>
<p>“I think UCLA and UCSD are my safety schools.”</p>
<p>You’d be lucky to get into UCLA. You gotta love these kids that don’t do well in high school, go to community college and then want to transfer to top schools. You know how easy community college classes are? Why would they offer you admission versus someone from a more rigorous four year university? And, no, you’re not doing a community college route to save money, you’re doing it because you couldn’t get into college directly from high school. You said it yourself: You didn’t take SAT until you were in college. No wonder some top schools stopped accepting transfers from community colleges, because of cases like this.</p>
<p>Wow such a hostile reply. I didn’t finish my high school here, I finished it in my country. In my country, we weren’t supposed to take SAT after secondary school. My decision to continue my education here was a little abrupt, and I couldn’t afford to pay four years international student fees, even in a UC, because the tuition fees, dorm, and living expenses could break $50k per year, which adds up to $200k for 4 years. Upon researching, I found out that the best way to transfer to a UC is from a CCC, where the cost is only around $10k per year. That’s why I’m enrolled here. And please don’t hastily generalize me as a “[kid] that [doesn’t] do well in high school,” because it’s preposterous. I was on an international scholarship and one of the top 10 students in my secondary school. I’m looking for inputs as I’m unfamiliar with the transferring process in the U.S. I’ll gladly accept any inputs, but please refrain from posting your ridiculous and unrelated rants in this topic. Thanks.</p>
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<p>I see. But does the class that the professors teach matters? As in, if I’m applying as an Econ major, should I ask specifically from my Econ professor? Or a business professor would work? Thanks.</p>
<p>For UG admissions, no. At the UG level, LoRs are used to ascertain your personality and work ethics - something they cannot get from the transcript. So, it doesn’t really matter who writes, as long as the LoR is well-written and the person who wrote the LoR is credible (that is, a professor who was instructing or working with you).</p>
<p>cr3sc3nt - If I were you, I would choose Profs. C and D. I would add A if there are any applications which would consider a 3rd recommendation. </p>
<p>I would use the same profs regardless of whether applying for the Econ or the Business major.</p>