Transferring to Rice U after freshman

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hello. </p>

<p>I am attending University of Wisconsin at Madison... I graduated from Catholic high school in San Antonio, Texas. I applied for Rice in hs senior, but I was rejected. (3.8 GPA, SATI 1970, 800 SATII Math IIC, 700 Chem, 800 Korean) </p>

<p>After this year, I am joining to army... I have a Korean citizenship, and I have to fulfill the duty for about two years. I will serve in an army called KATUSA (Korean Augmentation to US Army.) After two years, I am planning to transfer to Rice University and start sophomore there. </p>

<p>I took 18 credits from my high school (dual enrollment), 12 credits from my first semester (Calculus II, Music and Italian 101) and 13 credits for this semester. </p>

<p>I have 4.0 GPA upto the first semester, but I don't think I can maintain 4.0 this semester, because I am taking really challenged classes. (Cal III, Linear Algebra and Differential Equations, Statistics for Engineers and Italian 102) Most of my classmates are junior.... and I am having pretty tough semester... </p>

<p>Anyways, the questions that I want to ask are...</p>

<p>1) I think I will end up getting one A, two ABs, one B in this semester... and lower my GPA a lot.... Do I still have a change to get in???
2) What am I supposed to do with the recommedation letter? UW is a massive school, and the professor doesn't even know me... and after two years? I don't think TAs will even recognize me....
3) It's more fundamental question... I don't like my school, and that's why I am trying to transfer. I can't specify the reason why I don't like the school, but I don't like it anyway. Do you guys think it's worth to transfer from UWMAdison to Rice??? Bascially, Is rice a better school than uw madison, in general??? </p>

<p>Thanks...</p>

2

<p>2) Take advantage of this semester and get to know your profs and TAs, go to office hours, contribute to class discussions, etc. Then go to them towards the end of the semester and ask them to write a LOR, explaining that you plan to transfer in 2 yrs when you’re finished with your army obligation. That way you have LORs on file for later when you need them.</p>

<p>3) It will be important for you to be able to elaborate on why you want to transfer since that’s the main CA essay question. There are some very obvious differences between UWisc and Rice, think about which ones of these make Rice more appealing/UWisc less appealing.</p>

3

<p>Go to office hours…when you have questions or want more explanation. Don’t go so often that the prof/TA will get annoyed (if you really don’t have much to add, but want them to know who you are). If their office hours are inconvenient, most of them (the nice ones, anyway – the ones you’ll want writing a good recommendations on your behalf) will be probably accommodating to your schedule. Many of the TAs spend a lot of time reading, anyway, and say they’re flexible.</p>

<p>Well, if you have two years off from school, you should have a lot of time to think about what you like and don’t like about your school. You should start thinking now, about what in your daily routine doesn’t make you happy. I also go to a large state school (UC Berkeley) and can tell you I dislike how large classes are, the impersonal atmosphere, the toughness of getting a wee bit of paperwork done. I’m guessing you applied to Rice the first time because it was sort of nearby (to your HS)?</p>