I’m currently an incoming freshman at UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry (chemistry major). I was wondering, what would it take to transfer into UPenn SEAS, in terms of GPA/essays/recommendations? I plan on taking maximum credits for my first semester at Berkeley (18), one of which is a sophmore Calc class, and hopefully aim for a 3.8+ GPA.
Some high school stats:
35 ACT
2280 SAT (2320 superscored)
800 SAT Math II, 790 SAT Chemistry
4.56 high school weighted GPA, 3.9 unweighted.
5’s on AP Chem, Bio, Micro, Macro, Eng Lang, Eng Lit, AP Calc BC, Psych, Stats
Bunch of EC’s, couple leaderships
Bunch of awards
Top 2%
For anyone wondering, I just feel like I belong at Penn. The close collaboration between schools is something I really, really like, and it’s hard to do that at Berkeley, considering how I’m constantly fighting to get enrolled.
@Rgfdr17 “What would it take to transfer into UPenn SEAS…?”
I don’t have much experience with transfers, but your hard stats seem to be in line with Penn students and your reason, and interest in a collaborative cross school approach is an excellent one. If your ECs are good and you keep your gpa up, you should have a good chance of transferring in.
There are courses that you are required to take to transfer into SEAS, however, I think that your APs would cover several of these. The requirements for SEAS are:
"Students transferring into Penn Engineering after one year of college should have completed at least:
• one course in chemistry,
• one course in physics (involving the use of calculus),
• one course in computer programming,
• two courses in calculus,
• If possible, two courses in the social sciences and humanities.
Students pursuing a major in bioengineering, computer engineering, mechanical engineering and applied mechanics, materials science and engineering, systems science engineering, electrical engineering, or networked and social systems engineering should also complete a second course in physics."
My daughter is a rising junior at Penn and in her experience so far , enrollment across schools is a problem here too. The desirable classes fill up very quickly and first preference is given to upperclassmen or students within the school/major. So a SEAS student will have a hard time getting into a class at Wharton for example. Of course in her case these classes or professors were known to be popular, but then its frustrating when you really had planned on doing one and just couldn’t get a spot.
She’s an engineering major, wanting to take design classes as well, but same story there. The One School philosophy doesnt always work out practically, so I would suggest do your research before you transfer just for that reason.
If anyone else has had different experiences, I would be interested to hear it.
It’s sad to hear that you haven’t yet attended a single class at Cal and that you are already thinking of transferring. It seems like you’re heading for a joyless and stressful freshman year. I recommend that you put the notion of transfer aside and focus on taking advantage of what Cal has to offer. In practice the admission rate for transfers to Penn is very very low so you have the dilemma of “wanting” to transfer and needing to get very high grades and stellar recommendations in rigorous courses at Cal – the college that you’re beginning to want to leave.
DD wanted to take a class in another school, but could not get in. She discussed it with her Faculty Advisor. The FA contacted someone and she was in the class the following week.
I suggest working / communicating with your FA. Sometimes they can help resolve problems. Her FA has helped her navigate several issues. I assume it depends on how helpful they want to be, how well they know you, and how good they are at getting things like that done.
Hey, so I’m an incoming transfer to Penn. Just wanted to say that I’d actually worry less about GPA and more about fit. I only had a 3.6, but I had internships (during freshman year) and was on the boards of a few clubs that related to my interests by the time that the app date came around. So yeah, focus on your essays and ECs most of all I’d say.
As for recommendations, I actually wouldn’t worry about having it be, in your case, a chem professor. Might seem counterproductive, but don’t put pressure on yourself to make a connection if you just don’t mesh well with your professor. Try to sit down with a professor/TA you like so that they can speak to your interests. Like, I had a history TA write a rec, and I don’t really like history. But he spoke to how I was in class, and said in his rec that I was really passionate about sustainability. So yeah, don’t stress out.
And don’t be afraid to have a TA write for you. Penn sort of makes it seem like they don’t love TA recs, because you also have to have the main professor sign off on them, but I had two TAs write for me and it worked out! Berkeley seems pretty huge and you might have big intro classes, so don’t worry about trying to make a connection with an hard-to-reach professor if it just isn’t happening. I was super super close with my TAs and I think it made a difference in my application.
So yeah. Obviously a 3.8+ would be awesome, but DO NOT just sit in your room studying in order to get that. Penn wants to see that you’re invested in your current school and not just transferring because of social reasons. (Not saying you’re doing that, but I’m just referencing it as a bad example.) Get involved! Stay busy! I really didn’t like my old school, but I found my niche on campus, and sacrificed study time because I knew staying busy was the best way to stay sane.
PM me if you have any questions! Obviously I’m not on campus yet but I’ll help if I can