I had a decent profile and I got waitlisted from the following for computer science:
UIUC
Georgia Tech
University of Michigan
Got rejected from:
UCLA
USC
UT, Austin
I never actually prepared to go to college in the USA, I just applied and this happened. I am an International student and I am greatly heartbroken but I am still very determined to attend a top college.
So now, I want to do everything I can to try and transfer into one of these/similar or higher level Universities.
What should I Ideally do in my first year of college?
Does getting a 3.7+ GPA Suffice?
How do I present myself as an exceptionally strong candidate for their University?
Coming to the USA is going to cost my family a lot, so I really wish that my family’s hard earned money is well spent and hence I want the best education possible. Please help me out.
I guess I’ll be doing that for sure.
Do other factors like difficulty of coursework, the University where I did my first year and so on matter? Like getting a high GPA at say Georgia Tech would be much harder than say University of Colorado, Boulder?
Also, is it easier to transfer into another UC from a UC than any other University?
I need to get this right from the beginning, so I’d like to know as much as possible about the transfer admissions process so I’d appreciate some more detail.
Being an international transfer is even harder than being an international freshman.
First, you don’t get any financial aid (except perhaps à UMN-Twin Cities, but you need to tranfer from an American college I think).
Second, there are far fewer open spots. Universities that admit 600 freshmen may admit 30 2nd year transfers, and out of those, perhaps 3 internationals (no financial aid).
Yes, getting a high GPA at GTech is notoriously difficult!
Transferring from UC to UC is rare.
The best way for you to get off the waitlist is to indicate you can pay full costs (in addition to sending a letter stating your interest; to your first choice, indicate they’re your first choice).
@myos1634 nono I will be transferring from an American University for sure. I haven’t applied for need-based aid anywhere, so I guess indicating my ability to pay full costs is redundant… right?
I know it’s harder to transfer but I don’t really have a choice here. I want to do everything I can get to successfully transfer.
Should I send a physical letter or would an email suffice?
When would be an appropriate date to send the letter?
What should I include other than telling them they are my first choice? Because all my waitlisted Universities clearly indicate that they don’t accept any accept any new materials.
You should note that the UC (and CSU) system only take transfers at the junior level,
so for any UC, you’d need to have completed 2-years worth of the appropriate sequence
(depending on your potential major) transferable units to even be eligible.
The UC’s have specific transfer preference for California students from CC’s.
Do you have any current offers from US schools, or only the wait lists?
What are you doing to show those schools who’ve wait listed you that you’re ready to matriculate?
Should you get an offer from any of the three that you’ve posted as wait list,
grab it and don’t even think about transfer.
@hop I am not sure how to show those schools that I am ready to matriculate. I plan to write to them for sure (email or letter btw? not sure whats better) but am still confused what to include in the email/letter :\
Honestly, I would take either one of those four schools you’ve already been accepted to if I were in your position. There’s no guarantee of getting off of the waitlist, and even if you do, you’re likely to be admitted past the May 1st deposit deadline. I’d secure a spot at either one of Wisconsin, Washington, Purdue or NYU while there’s still time.
I don’t know what transfer admissions are like for UT-Austin, but freshman acceptance rates for non-Texans are extremely low. They are required to accept any student who is within the top 7% of his or her high school class in Texas, and they fill most of their freshman class with that statutory obligation. They might be more flexible with transfer admissions. I know that UNC-Chapel Hill only has its in-state quota for freshmen. The UCs only accept Junior transfers. As it is, you have been accepted at three computer science programs that have broken the hearts of thousands of other students with rejections. Go to one of them. Feel free to look into transferring, but you can’t go wrong academically.
OK, this is extremely silly. UDub, UW-Madison, and NYU all have very well-respected CS departments, and while declaring for CS at UDub is quite competitive/difficult if you’re not a direct admit, declaring for CS at UW-Madison still isn’t (and if you got in to CS at NYU, you don’t have to do anything).
As I said earlier, the UC’s only take upper-division transfers and the preference is strongly weighted toward in-state CC students, and the competition for transfer seats at UCLA and UCB is even more fierce than freshman admission. The course requirements for transfer are also very specific. Simply having 60 semester units is not enough.
You should do you due diligence and select one of the terrific schools that you’ve already been accepted to and not look back. Going into a situation with an eye to transfer before you’ve even begun is a recipe for dissatisfaction.
Try to remember why you applied to these schools to begin with and see them for their advantages.
As someone else mentioned up-thread, you’ve gotten into schools that others are breaking their hearts over.
Thank you everyone for the replies, I truly appreciate it!
@Myos1634 I’ve been accepted at UDub, UW-Madison, NYU and Purdue. All of these universities have clearly mentioned that they don’t want any new information so…
repeat what exactly? Not sure what you are saying.
@lbad96 I definitely plan to accept one of those but this definitely doesn’t seem like a nice endgame for me.
@woogzmama@purpletitan@hop I know this might sound extremely silly to you but that just sounds like an excuse for not being able to be at the best place possible. We could always excuse ourselves from any sort of achievement by saying things like this to ourselves. Why go to college at all then? There are thousands of people who don’t even have a roof under their heads, I should just be happy I get food daily. I might be getting a little philosophical here but I want the best possible and I am ready to break a leg to get it. There’s nothing wrong in wanting the best even though I am at quite a decent position right now.
As for my current situation,
Getting into UDub CS is stupidly hard I don’t even want to bother.
NYU is stupidly expensive and definitely not worth paying 71k over UW-Madison’s reasonable 41k
UW-Madison is quite good but it’s superbly cold in that place and I come from a place where the temperatures go as high as 122 degree Fahrenheit.
and Purdue really isn’t hard to get into at all and is pretty meh. Everyone seems to get in there and life there seems dull.
@derprage, @MYOS1634 is saying that the universities that waitlisted you want new info. And re: UW-Madison, you come from a country where it’s deadly-hot outside (Qatar, I’m guessing?), and you are complaining about Wisconsin being cold? You don’t want to adjust to a change of climate? Doesn’t being in constant heat bore you sometimes? I live in the Northeast but will be going to school in the South (where it’s much warmer November-March) next year, because I wanted a change. Don’t you want to see yourself grow as much as possible in college? A change of climate will certainly help you with that.
If you’ve been accepted, of course they don’t need new information. Only universities where you were WLed need extra information. (If you were WLed at universities that don’t want information, consider you WL a “soft deny”).
Essentially, your choice seems to be UW vs. Purdue. Both are cold, but Madison is an an awesome college town, so I’d go with it!
Counting on a successful OOS transfer into UT-Austin from anywhere is a terrible mistake. It’s not impossible, but there will be literally thousands of in state transfer applications from students in the CAP program, Austin Community College, and elsewhere all over the state, many also targeting the small number of available slots in the CS program.
Your application list is comprised solely of top-tier STEM universities. Rather than pining for the ones that have rejected you, focus on the ones that have indicated they want you. After you pick one, follow the advice given by others regarding your first choice waitlist school, and be prepared to move on if that doesn’t work out.
Your situation is not unique; well over 50% of your peers are also dealing with the disappointment of rejection from their first-choice schools. You can certainly try the transfer route next year, but the schools you are targeting are still going to be longshots, at best. All except USC are state run schools with obligations to serve in-state students first. Congratulations on your achievements; many many kids would love to have the option of even one of the schools that you are casually dismissing.
@lbad96@myos1634@sltxdad Thank you guys for all the advice, I will think deeply about what all of you have said.
I know transfer admissions is a long shot, but then again even freshman admissions aren’t a joke. Slogging through 4 years of high school, doing all those extracurriculars, doing well on the SATs etc etc. Nothing’s easy anyway. I just want to be the ideal transfer candidate (if there’s any such thing).
Is Madison much colder than Ann Arbor? I don’t think so. I’m from CA myself so my dd was used to temps over 100 in the warm months yet went to UW for grad school. I think you just get the right clothes when you get there for outdoors. boots, jacket, gloves, hat, scarf. Indoors the heat is on. Both are similar as far as great college town and strong CS reputation. They plow the bike trails and people even use them in the snow. I wouldn’t like cold myself but I did like Madison it was a really great place to visit.