<p>Hey all,
I'm a freshman, thinking of applying to two colleges this spring, Harvard and Upenn. From browsing through this forum, I've found that many people have referred to 3.7 as the magic number, in terms of gpa cutoff for transfers, which is quite frightening to me, to say the least. I haven't finished finals yet, so my exact semester grades are not finalized, but I am pretty sure my gpa will definitely not be over a 3.7. Is this a major cause for concern? I mean, the chances of getting into either of those schools are already slim enough, but now, I'm just outright terrified.</p>
<p>What are the rest of your stats, and where do you currently go to school?</p>
<p>There is no "magic number," however, since you are applying to only Harvard and Penn, you shouldn't really get your hopes up.</p>
<p>3.7 is the rough "average" for most competitive schools. The thinking is generally that if you have a 3.7 you're in decent shape for admission to top schools. That isn't to say that a 3.7 is a guarantee (at all!) of admission, but it puts you in the competitive range.</p>
<p>3.7 is not good for the ivies (exception: Cornell)
it is a satisfactory GPA for most Top 50 universities...and as horsegirl1050 said ... its the average for them...</p>
<p>a 3.75 might work?</p>
<p>Cornell is no exception.</p>
<p>niddumas...perhaps you have not come across real-life examples to know that cornell has accepted students with 3.3 GPA to one of the competitive majors of Biology in their College of Arts and Sciences....</p>
<p>Pakiboy, you either are a troll, or have the most ridiculous advice ever. I'm leaning toward the former.</p>
<p>You claim to know people from community college who have been accepted by Cornell with 3.3/3.4s. Even if true (unlikely), are you naive enough to believe this is the rule, not the exception? Plus you don't know the full story. They may have had serious extenuating circumstances justifying their gpa or may have impressed the adcom in ways you are unaware of.</p>
<p>You need to quit telling people Cornell is easy to get into</p>
<p>you are quick to deny...reality
i am not troll
secondly, they had no extenuating circumstances because i read their application!</p>
<p>perhaps..what might have worked to their advantage... is that they were NY residents</p>
<p>hey... horsegirl1050, when you say 3.7 is the "average" gpa for most competitive schools- does this mean the transfer applicant pool's average gpa is around 3.7 for those competitive schools, or the actual people at the school have average gpa's of 3.7?</p>
<p>and chessiestyle, I'm currently at a school in New Jersey thats pretty top ranked. I think I'm probably around the top 30% of my class, but the students are really competitive. I really had to work my butt off this semester, even if that isn't reflected in my gpa.</p>
<p>also, does anyone know if there are interviews usually for transfer students? I've heard that around 200 xfer applicants for Harvard are usually selected for interviews, but I am not sure.</p>
<p>From the H website:</p>
<p>"The Office of Transfer Admissions does not ordinarily schedule personal interviews. If the Committee needs further information, you will be contacted."</p>
<p>Peach - Sorry for being ambiguous, I meant that the average accepted transfer student had a 3.7 when applying. I know a school like BC (my first choice) has an average accepted transfer student GPA of 3.7...and while BC is a great school, admissions aren't as competitive as the Ivy League.</p>