Where would YOU apply??

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hi all.</p>

<p>I'm currently a freshman at Carnegie Mellon and looking to transfer OUT (but not "down"). Where would you apply? I am open to both larger universities and small liberal arts schools. All suggestions are welcome. My academic interests are English Lit, History, and potentially also Classics. I also like Philosophy and Art History, so anything with a strong Liberal Arts/Humanities program would be perfect!</p>

<p>Some stats:</p>

<p>I am in an honors program for Humanities students and I was selected to take an honors Philosophy course.</p>

<p>College GPA: at best 4.0, at worst 3.8-3.9 (current courseload 5 classes and two mini courses)
HS GPA: 3.63 (school doesn't weight -- this is THE single biggest weakness in my application and is what kept me out of better schools the first time I applied in HS)
SAT: 2220 (670 M, 770 CR, 780 WR)
SAT II: 730 Lit, 690 Latin, 690 Math 1 (Could retake Math 1 and/or Latin if you think they are a glaring weakness in the application)
Hooks: None, except maybe that I'm a full-pay applicant</p>

<h2>(Stop reading here if you're bored. My resume is really nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible either.)</h2>

<p>College ECs: Newspaper, Art magazine, Women's Leadership Institute, Literary magazine, some volunteering (note: Keep in mind that I haven't even been here one full term yet, so I obviously do not hold any leadership positions unfortunately)</p>

<p>Highschool ECs: President of 3 clubs (Peer Tutoring, Latin club, and another, less significant one), volunteering, newspaper, club sport (all 4 years), various summer jobs, tutoring outside of school, 8-week internship with PROGRESS (a women's rights program at CMU)</p>

<p>College Honors: Most likely Dean's List? Can't imagine how I wouldn't get it with the GPA, Humanities Scholars Program, Honors Philosophy course...not sure what else, if anything?</p>

<p>Highschool Honors: Honor roll (all 4 years), Latin Honor Society, National Merit Commended, AP Scholar with Distinction, Westinghouse Science Honors Institute, National Latin Exam (1 year Magna Cum Laude, 1 year Cum Laude)</p>

<p>Essays: Well, I AM an English major ;)</p>

<p>Recs: Two from full professors at CMU (One from the director of my Honors program, one from a History professor), maybe one from a high school teacher (either AP Latin or AP English)</p>

<hr>

<p>I'm sorry this is so painfully and embarrassingly long. Any suggestions for schools are welcome, as are suggestions regarding my stats/ECs, etc.</p>

2

<p>University of Chicago.</p>

3

<p>Do you think I have a legitimate shot at UChicago?</p>

4

<p>Good SAT scores, good college GPA. I say you got a good chance for U. Chicago.
But I don’t know where that 4.0GPA came from. Easy introduction classes or harder classes? Because they look at what courses you take too.</p>

5

<p>Wow, you could seriously transfer almost anywhere. Even if you’re in intro courses you’re only a first semester freshman so a GPA that high is very impressive. I suggest looking up the top schools for your intended major and visiting them.
Congrats on doing so well this term!</p>

6

<p>I’ll have the 3.8-4.0 because I’m working hard and I finally have my ***** together, not because I’m taking easy courses. My low HS GPA is due to an unfortunate combination of private school grade deflation and my naive preference for socializing over schoolwork. </p>

<p>Thanks everyone!</p>

7

<p>Additional input would be greatly appreciated.</p>

8

<p>Columbia
UPenn
Cornell
Brown
Chicago
Swarthmore
Reed (I love this school)
Wesleyan
UC Berkeley (I personally would apply here because I am a CA resident)
UCLA (Same story)</p>

<p>Probably not all of those, but those are the ones I would consider. I would throw some safeties in there too (if I was really bent on getting out of CMU).</p>

9

<p>Why do you want to transfer? It might help guide suggestions.</p>

<p>But it looks like CM is working quite well for you.</p>

10

<p>I don’t hate CMU, but I don’t love it either. The English department is very small, and there is clearly an emphasis on Creative Writing and Tech/Professional Writing (My major is English Lit). Very few classic “literature for literature’s sake”-type classes are offered. As an English major, I BARELY made it into an English class for next semester (didn’t even take one first semester), and even then only off a waitlist and not into a class I really wanted to take (definitely not a your quintessential lit class). In general, the Humanities are not a focus here which bothers me a lot. Even as a Humanities Scholar, I don’t feel that I’m getting the type of education I wanted. I want to be somewhere where a liberal arts education is encouraged and not scoffed at. Learning has never been a means to an end for me, and even the Humanities feel like that here. I hate that. </p>

<p>I also realized that Classics and Art History are things I’m interested in pursuing and CMU offers neither.</p>