Transferring to The University of Chicago Next Year

<p>So basically I worked really, really hard to try and get into UChicago this year and I got deferred from early action and then rejected in the regular action pool. I still have a lot of other top universities I'm waiting to hear back from but I think my dreams of going to an Ivy League level school are gone for now. As a result, I'm hoping to work even harder through my first year of college so I can try to transfer out to UChicago or another Ivy League level university. I know this means that I will have to achieve spectacular grades and participate in several different ways including research opportunities, clubs, internships, etc. Although the thought of doing this does not scare me in the least bit, I do have some questions regarding transfer applications. First off, I know that these high end schools have extremely low transfer application acceptance rates, but for the kids that do get accepted, what level of undergraduate school do they typically come from? I'm almost certain I'll be accepted into one of my top schools including either NYU, Boston, or hopefully Northwestern, but I want to know if going to one of these schools will tremendously boost my chances. Also, getting a good GPA is essential when transferring, but what kind of GPA would they be expecting from a top university such as the ones I just mentioned? Also is the size of the transfer accepted pool determined by the size of their freshman applicant pool? To clarify, do these universities take in a certain number of transfer applicants based on how many freshman chose to enroll? Lastly, as I was hoping that I would be accepted into UChicago or another top university(but now my chances are looking bleek), my second semester senior year grades aren't looking too well. Although I'm not in any danger of getting a C, I think it's very likely that I'l get a few B's if not many. I've heard that these grades are only somewhat important to a college and that they'll really be looking for high freshman year grades. How true do you think this is and will my grades suffice? I know that there isn't an exact answer to these questions but please share your thoughts or advice. P.S. My current high school GPA is a 3.8/4.7, I'm enrolled in all AP's, Got a 34 on my ACT (35 Superscore), SATII Math Level 2- 790, SATII Chemistry- 750, and I was also well involved in my school and community (volunteering, clubs, sports)</p>

<p>Colleges look for excellent high school and college grades from transfer applicants. Going to a competitive college will boost your chances to get transferred, but your GPA and standardized tests matter more. Whichever college you choose to attend, you should have a GPA as close as possible to 4.0. </p>

<p>DO NOT rely on getting transferred next year, as your chances are almost zero - around 1% of transfer applicants are admitted.</p>

<p>The amount of places any school has available to offer to transfers is based on how many students are leaving the school at any given time, leaving dorm and classroom vacancies. To answer your suggestion directly, it does NOT depend on freshman yield, since if there are too few freshman enrollments the spring before the year starts, the school will dip into their waitlist instead of leaving the seats empty for whole next year (and losing all the tuition). The college buzzword used instead is “retention” - if a school has a lot of people dropping out, transferring out, or even going abroad with an intention to return to the school later, their retention is low and they’ll have more room for transfers. At Chicago and Ivies, the retention is usually high.</p>

<p>It’s difficult for admissions to estimate how many places will be open for transfer students applying to start their sophomore years at the university because they don’t know how many freshman will transfer out (the processes at all schools are simultaneous). That’s why vacant spots run on a lag and it can be better to apply for transfer when you’re one is a sophomore who would start his or her junior year at the place he or she applied.</p>

<p>Spending more time at your original college also gives you more time to build an impressive college transcript. If you apply as a freshman to start at the other school your senior year, they’ll only have your freshman first semester grades, and will de facto have to weigh all of your high school stats more heavily, because they just have less new information. Since these stats were what got you rejected the first time around (and because your spring isn’t going so well), you probably want to deemphasize them/dilute their relative importance by waiting to apply until you have more positive credentials under your belt.</p>

<p>MeIsHM is right that you should pick a place you like this year and psychologically prepare yourself for the possibility that you might spend 4 years there even if you ATTEMPT to transfer. Here is a list of the transfer acceptance rates at various schools; Chicago’s this year was 2.1%:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1456285-uchicago-2012-transfer-admit-rate-2-1-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1456285-uchicago-2012-transfer-admit-rate-2-1-a.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Some places will appreciate your going to an undergraduate institution closer to their level more than others - I know a lot of people who’ve had good luck transferring to Columbia from other colleges that were only a step down (Wellesley, JHU), but also some how have transferred from community college to the top tier.</p>

<p>I get what you guys are saying but don’t you agree that most people who attempt to transfer out dont come from high tier universities. So that way, someone who is transferring out of let’s say Northwestern would look much better as an applicant than someone who is trying to transfer out of a community/public college. And that individual will have very little completion because there are very few people from other top tier schools he has to compete with. And the reason I’m asking about the GPA is because better schools have a harder education which often makes is extremely difficult if not impossible to get straight A’s. Im sure it must be weighted/taken into account of the undergrad college’s intensity.</p>

<p>I know that the rate is low but isn’t that due to the lack of high level applicants apply. I mean if most people attempting to transfer are from low end schools that ivy leagues don’t like, than the acceptance rate is bound to be low because they throw these applicants out immediately. I feel as though my high school grades are plenty good enough as well.</p>

<p>They definitely have a finite amount of spots – it’s pretty ridiculous to think that they only accepted 21 transfers last year because ONLY 21 were qualified and/or the rest were from regional colleges (deeming them garbage-worthy, you seem to think? I also disagree with this). I’m not sure why you asked if the forum thought you’d have a better shot of transferring from a “high tier” school if you THOUGHT you already knew the answer. (You also seem unfamiliar with the fact that UChicago looks down on Northwestern for being overly preprofessional as well for inflating grades. So to answer your question about adcom’s willingness to consider the rigor of your college, this would be more curriculum/class-based than institutional. It isn’t actually difficult to perform well in intro classes/freshman requirements no matter where you go (even at Harvard, that stuff is a joke), but if you’re taking advanced math, pre-med science, or 300-levels, then yes, they will consider this.</p>

<p>I also wasn’t implying that your grades were bad, just that Chicago must have some rationale (wether right or wrong) for rejecting you, and that if you just turn around and submit the same things, plus one SINGLE piece of new information (in the form of one semester of new grades), I don’t see how this could be successful. Transfer admissions are competitive – it is four times more difficult to get in this way than when you apply for the first time – so you should attempt to be that much of a better candidate. While some of the transfer applications won’t be considered too seriously, I’m sure some undergrad applications weren’t either - the rates were still quite low, and these types of inferior applications are in no way the majority of the 30,000/900.</p>

<p>guitarsmasher25, Northwestern is a damn good school and if you’re lucky enough to get in, I’m not sure why you’d want to transfer out.</p>

<p>Also, given the similarity between the two schools, you’d have to give a compelling reason to the adcom folks on why you think you’d be better served at UChicago, not an easy task.</p>

<p>In any case, good luck on the rest of your schools!</p>

<p>Well i got declined from Northwestern too… is it just me or are all these schools much harder to get into this year than previous years. Every other year people with similar stats as me in my school have gotten in and somehow all the top kids in my school are getting waitlisted/declined this year.</p>

<p>I was certain that I would get into Northwestern. Arrogant, I know, but it does seem like the competition was pretty stiff this year. I was waitlisted at both UChicago and Northwestern. (4.0/4.0 GPA and valedictorian at sub-par school. 36 ACT 2300 SAT 800 MathII 800 Chem; decent ECs) I think that part of it may have been my lackluster Why Northwestern essay.</p>

<p>So… I’m going to BU this fall as a freshman (Terrier :P) and was looking at these transfer threads to see if I had any possibilities of transferring to a top tier school. Well, it looks pretty difficult and I’m not sure if I’ll end up transferring. The only reason really that I might think of transferring is because Boston has been my home since 2006 so I thought a change could be good. I have nothing against the university (except their well-known grade deflation with pre-med classes, sniff). I love it already haha but who knows, I’m going to try my luck. I was thinking of applying to start as a sophomore to the school I apply to but I don’t know yet… In HS I had a 3.7 UW (95.2%), SAT 2230 (CR 690, M 740, W 800), SAT II 730 Chem, 760 Bio, 800 Spanish, AP Art I & II (4, 5), AP Bio 5, AP Psych 4, URM (Hispanic). Hoping to get a 3.8+ first year, though I doubt since everyone thinks getting a 3.5+ at BU is impossible if taking pre-med classes. However, if I do get a 3.7 GPA at BU let’s say, what are my chances for U. Chicago?</p>