Vanderbilt Student's Transfer Chances

<p>I am a Vandy freshman who just finished my first semester at Vanderbilt. I am pre-med who plans on majoring in English. I was wondering what my chances are for transfering to UPenn for my sophmore year.</p>

<p>First Semester Stats
Asian Male-Parents are Texas Residents
GPA- 3.55
Took 18 Hours my first semester.</p>

<p>Ecs in College-
Intramural Football
Pre-Med Club
Youth Club
Did Research for 3 weeks at Vanderbilt's Medical Schools
Shadowed a Doctor for 100 Hours at Vanderbilt's Hospital</p>

<p>High School Stats
Unweighted Gpa - 3.8/4.0
Weighted Gpa-4.1/4.0
Class Rank- Top 14 percent at a Huge Public School---fml
10 A.P.s
Sat Score - 2210/2400 (Total)
1490/1600 (Reading and Math only)</p>

<p>Ecs in High School
Pre-Med Club
Tennis
Asian Club
Youth Club
National Honor Society</p>

<p>What are your reasons for transferring? What are your biggest extracurrics? – how involved are you with the clubs?</p>

<p>Transfer2013 - as biomajor5 said, what’s your compelling reason to transfer to Penn? It’s most important to talk about FIT - show WHY you want to attend UPenn. That’s a key part of the app, perhaps as important as the numbers.</p>

<p>^ I was mostly involved with the Youth Club/Intramural Football/Pre-Med EC’s.</p>

<p>I just don’t find Vandy as academically stimulating as I would have liked. My cousins who are current seniors at UPenn have had very different academic experiences than I have at Vandy.</p>

<p>Pre-med at Penn is brutal. Hundreds of kids drop out from each class. Are you sure you want to deal with the Penn curve? You could just get great grades at Vandy and maybe be better off.</p>

<p>What activities will you be involved with at Penn? Pre-med ECs is going to be too vague for admissions officers.</p>

<p>Transfer2013 - you’re probably going to need to be more specific or persuasive than that. If there are certain programs Penn offers that Vandy doesn’t, for example, that’d be a persuasive reason to go. I don’t know if the admissions officers would buy the “Penn seems to be academically stimulating” argument as much. If you can think of other compelling reasons that drive you to West Philly, your app would be more persuasive.</p>

<p>I know several students who have transferred from Vanderbilt to Penn. I think you will get in, but you will have to write a good essay about why you want to transfer. It is not that compelling that after one semester at Vandy you have decided it isn’t academically stimulating. (My son felt that way after his first semester at Penn, by the way) You are going to have to come up something Penn offers that Vandy does not. Perhaps something about which you have changed your mind since initially choosing Vanderbilt.</p>

<p>^ thanks for the great advice everyone.</p>