Transferring to NYU

Transfer Students
1

<p>I'm curious if anyone can provide me with information regarding the transfer process-</p>

<p>I'm transferring to a competitive undergraduate business program in the fall of 2009. I've currently checked out UPenn, NYU, Babson and Bentley and plan on visiting American and UVA this winter. I've ruled out UPenn based on the impossible transfer process involved with applying, so NYU is my top choice. I took two years off after graduating HS in 2005 to decide a major. I graduated HS with a 3.0. I took my SAT's as a junior back in 2003 and scored a mediocre 1100. I was class president, student government, 3 year varsity swimmer and soccer and participated in a variety of other clubs. I currently attend Landmark College and maintain a 4.0 GPA. </p>

<p>Whenever I visit these school they don't seem to provide much information for transfer students. I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of the process involved and, based on the following information, how competitive I am as a candidate. </p>

<p>WORK EXPERIENCE
Direct Sales, Independent Contractor for The Southwestern Company
• Independent business owner responsible for a sales territory in the Houston Area.
• Worked consistently for 12 weeks maintaining a 75+ hour work week.
• Generated over $15,000 in revenues.
Server
• Admiral’s Cove Country Club; Jupiter, FL, 2006-2007 (Received formal server training) - Top 10 National Country Clubs; Platinum Rating; 5-Star Country Club
• Grande’s Bella Cucina; Palm Beach Gardens, FL 2007
• The Cheesecake Factory; Palm Beach Gardens, FL, 2005-2006 (Received formal server training)
LEADERSHIP & TEAMWORK
President, PBL Business Club Fall 2007-Fall 2008
• Organized first-ever fund-raising concert event at Landmark College, raising over $500.00 for March of Dimes Charity
• Promotional Business club Movie nights
• Collected food on campus for local shelter
• Attended 2007 National Leadership Conference in Buffalo, NY
Chairman, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), Fall 2008
• Provided Research to Hanna Grimes Center for Entrepreneurial Research and Consulting in Keene, NH
• Researched New England regional market trends in the Agricultural, Tradesman, Retail markets.
• Analyzed a variety of strategies for boosting small business productivity.</p>

<p>President, Phi Theta Kappa, Fall 2008-Spring 2009
• Achieved 5 star chapter status
• Organized and established a peer mentorship program that works with students in the Drake Center for Academic Support.
• Attended regional leadership conference in New Haven, CT on October 18th, 2008</p>

<p>Service Project Officer, Phi Theta Kappa, Spring 2008
• Committee Chair, organizing a variety of community service outreach projects to local food and homeless shelters.
• Attended 2008 International Leadership Conference & Officer Workshops in Philadelphia, PA.
Senator, SGA Fall 2007- Spring 2008
• Committee Chair, Established Pro-Action Committee as a means for leaders on campus to actively voice and address student concerns - Amended and improved cafeteria health policies
• Organized Coffee House to raise money for the community</p>

<p>ENTREPRENEURIAL
Organized first Business Literacy Group at Landmark College
• Success personal development group emphasizing book readings, peer presentations, speakers, and discussions
• Wrote group curriculum emphasizing book readings and financial reports</p>

<p>COMPUTER SKILLS
STARS Leadership Corps
• Nominated from an applicant pool to work with STARS Leadership Corps and conduct computer science research in user ability and software design.
• Worked with Adobe CS3 flash software to design and produce educational marketing promotions- Spring 2008
• Worked with computer systems to program robots and teach grammar school children about the applications of computer programming- Fall 2008</p>

<p>EDUCATION AND ACTIVITIES
LANDMARK COLLEGE, Putney, Vermont, 2007- Present
Business Finance & Psychology Major, Computer Science Minor
4.00 GPA, Deans List
President, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society 2008-2009
Service Project Officer, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society 2008
President, Phi Beta Lambda Business Club 2007-2009
Senator, Student Government Association 2007-2008
STARS Leadership Corps. Representative 2008-2009
Founder, Business Literacy Group 2007-2008
Chairman, Pro-Action Committee 2008
Collegiate Soccer for fall 2007</p>

2

<p>Penn, NYU & Virginia may not be worth your time & money. Your SATs are too low for these highly competitive schools. Your resume needs to be refined as well since it appears that you have listed every waking moment of the last two years of your life. Noone will read it and it doesn’t reflect well on your organizational & analytical abilities. Sorry to be so blunt, but my comments are intended to point you in the right direction.</p>

3

<p>Rather than list EVERY activity you’ve done in your life, why not just say, “I joined ___ club and did ___ hours of volunteering”? easier on your fingers</p>

<p>NYU Stern is super competitive, not as much as Penn’s Wharton, but still up there with the Ivies. Since NYU is your #1 choice, of course apply, but it’s a reach. Isn’t Landmark college the college for students with learning disabilities? They used to send me brochures and that’s like all they would say. You did really well in college, but Stern and the others all sound like reaches. </p>

<p>btw, why take off 2 yrs to pick a major? tons of freshman are undecided, going to college really helps you settle on what you want…freshman yr is usually a ton of liberal arts classes anyhow.</p>

4

<p>Isn’t Landmark College a college for students with learning disabilities? If your learning style requires certain accommodations, be sure to consider this in choosing your transfer school. You may find yourself a bit overwhelmed in a large university setting.</p>

5

<p>If I were part of the admissions committee, and I took a glimpse of that gargantuan list: first I would get my advil ready. Second, I would reject you.</p>

6

<p>i would not suggest sending that in to nyu</p>

<p>are you applying to stern? you didnt say so in your post, but im assuming so</p>

<p>how many semesters is your 4.0 over?</p>

<p>i think people on here may be being a tad bit harsh because of your resume…real world experience is very important for stern, you seem to have more than most other stern applicants…depending on a variety of unanswered questions i have about your app., i think you’ll have a shot</p>

7

<p>I have a 4.0 based on 36 credit hours. The information I provided was to give the readers of this thread a glimpse of my activities the past couple years. Everything I listed I put much time and effort into to specifically to stand out as a transfer student and show my potential. </p>

<p>Regarding Landmark College, I have AD/HD but it’s never been a huge problem for me. I thought the school would be a good choice where I could learn some good study strategies and skills. Its been a great experience. In hindsight I would have been better off going straight to a university out of high school, but I’m not too worried about it.</p>

8

<p>the fact that your received your college grades at a school for students with learning disabilities will be a tad disconcerting to a school like nyu stern</p>

9

<p>Regardless, a 4.0 over 36 credit hours is not easy, esp since you’re so involved with EC’s/Work</p>

10

<p>dufflebagjesus said:
“the fact that your received your college grades at a school for students with learning disabilities will be a tad disconcerting to a school like nyu stern”</p>

<p>I would agree. The only reason I decided to go was the amount of students who went on to transfer to more competitive schools. I did my best to set myself apart as a person. We’ll see how this all works out for me. :/</p>

<p>Regarding SAT’s-- When I visited UPenn I asked if I should retake my SAT’s since I took them once five years ago as a junior in high school and scored low. They told me not to since all competing transfers would be submitting their high school SAT’s as well and it wouldn’t be fair if I took them after two years of college.
I’m thinking about retaking them anyway for other schools. </p>

<p>What do you think of this?</p>

11

<p>I think PENN’s policy is similar to other schools’ policy</p>

12

<p>Do HS SATs carry any wight at all after 2 years of college for transfer to Penn?</p>

13

<p>From most of the people and schools I talked to-- No. They look at your current college performance and workload. </p>

<p>But at the more competitive Universities I’m finding that high school SAT’s can be a deciding factor when being compared with other admission candidates. This is especially the case at the top business colleges. A bit disconcerting. </p>

<p>Also— I’m referring to UPENN not Penn State.</p>

14

<p>I know that. I want to get out of Penn State and go to UPenn :). I’m looking to go for junior transfer.</p>

15

<p>Mike,</p>

<p>Let me say first of all that I respect your determination. As the father of a son with ADD, I know that what you’ve accomplished has probably been more difficult for you than it would be for most students. </p>

<p>It is easy for people to sit at home and anonymously snipe at your resume. If the criticism is constructive, and some of it is, then learn from it. If it seems mean spirited, it probably is.</p>

<p>It is probably true that your resume needs some cleaning up. Although you have accomplished many things, the scale of those things may not be what a school like Stern is looking for. I don’t want to take away from your accomplishments, and real world experience is probably at least as good or better than classroom learning, but if memory serves me correctly, some of your accomplishments are being trained as a waiter and selling $15,000 worth of goods in two years from some type of home based business. I’m not saying that you should leave these off your resume/brag sheet, but you should probably have the sheet edited by someone who’s familiar with college admissions and transfers. </p>

<p>There are also many books now written by former admission officers pertaining to college admissions in general. Probably a lot of the information in these books pertains to transfer students as well. I am currently reading one I got from the library, “The Truth About Getting In”, by Katherine Cohen PhD. She is the founder of IvyWise, a counseling service for students. I think this book is great. My younger son is a very good student and a high school junior. That’s why I’m reading this book. You can find many books about college admissions on amazon.com. Maybe there are even books about college transfers. </p>

<p>Ms. Cohen pains a very bleak picture for students who which to transfer into a very selective college. The acceptance rates are very low.</p>

<p>I think a good question to you is “Why Stern”? The truth is, if they don’t want you/accept you, it is because they believe the curriculum will be too hard for you. Eleven hundred is not a great SAT score, although it is 120 points better than I wrote back in 1977, LOL. </p>

<p>Ms. Cohen points out that there are many good colleges in this country, and that people are obsessed with getting into Ivy League schools even if the particular school is not a good fit for them. </p>

<p>My nephew was recently turn down at Stern. He has a 3.9 unweighted GPA, something like 4.14 weighted, was ranked somewhere around 47th in a H.S. class of 750, is vice president of his class in senior year, has played in competetive soccer leagues year round for about 11-12 years, attended a “student leaders” camp last summer, and has worked part time for the past 3-4 years. Go figure. His “sin”? He didn’t break 1200 on the Math/Reading parts of the SAT. NYU was his “dream school”. But you know what, he might end up better off. He was accepted to U.T.-Austin, but not into their business program. He will have to do a year in their regular college and then transfer, based on his grades, into their business school. My sister tells me that UT-Austin Business School is ranked higher than Stern anyway. </p>

<p>My points are that there are many colleges, some are a better fit than others for the individual, keep your mind/opportunities open, and things have a way of working out very well for people that apply themselves towards a goal.</p>

<p>Best of luck to you!</p>

16

<p>I appreciate your feedback justchuck.</p>

<p>I looked into those schools for the sheer sake of the challenge. I wanted to see how much of my potential I could tap into and I felt like those schools would encourage/ force me to do it. </p>

<p>I’ve been looking at other business schools that are less selective, but still competitive and challenging, such as Babson, Bentley, and Bryant, among others. I’m in the process of applying as we speak. We’ll see how this goes. </p>

<p>Thanks again-</p>

17

<p>McCombs is definitely NOT ranked higher than Stern. Stern is perhaps the best undergraduate business program behind Wharton because of its strategic location in NY. </p>

<p>Giving false hope, in my opinion, is worse than telling the truth.</p>

<p>To the OP:</p>

<p>Your accomplishments, as I will reiterate the general consensus, are respectable. However, your SAT score is EXTREMELY low, not medicore, for Stern. Landmark College will also raise concerns about your ability to cope with Stern’s curriculum.</p>

<p>I would say shoot for a tier 2 business program and apply to Stern for your MBA.</p>

18

<p>Do they really look at your SAT score? I thought they don’t really care about the SAT score for a Junior transfer.</p>

19

<p>As much as people say that around here, I disagree. They wouldn’t ask for something they didn’t care or need to gain a holistic view of your academic ability. I don’t know where people are getting the self-conceived notion that your high school record doesn’t really matter.</p>

<p>Nothing goes away.</p>

20

<p>326qbbsm</p>

<p>I appreciate your feedback. I agree that stern is an extreme long shot. Its definitely a reach school. I realize that I dug myself a hole in highschool that digging myself out will be a long process. I have taken on a more realistic approach to transferring given my credentials. My goal is in fact to attend the mba program at stern or wharton later on- something more feasible after I make up for lost ground.</p>