Why do some Universities have a low transfer GPA req compared to their HS GPA req?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hey guys I just got accepted yesterday to the University of Utah from Palomar College, a community college in CA. Although I am very thankful that I got in I have been curious as to why their standards are so much lower for transfer students than it is for incoming Freshmen out of High School? For incoming Freshmen UU requires a 3.2 GPA while the average they accept is something like 3.53. I was able to transfer with a 2.611 GPA (after classes that don't count for college credit were removed from the equation.) My low GPA was caused by three years of chronic depression, which I have since recovered from. They require a 2.6 for those who transfer without an AA or AS degree and a 2.35 for those with either an AA or AS degree.</p>

<p>Why do some Universities have such lower standards for transfer students? I know not many transfer to UU as undergrads, only about 2,000 or so from what I read online. Is it because they want more transfer students?</p>

<p>Thanks Everyone!!!</p>

2

<p>It could be because a transfer student has shown the ability to be successful at the college level.</p>

3

<p>Because high school GPAs don’t directly translate into college GPAs. A 4.0 in high school does not mean much but a 4.0 in college is cream of the crop material.</p>

4

<p>As the previous posters have indicated, high GPA’s are a lot harder to get in college.</p>

<p>You know how people say “C is average”? That always seemed ridiculous to me in high school (because hardly anyone who did the work got C’s), but in college it is much closer to reality.</p>

<ul>
<li>The Gracken</li>
</ul>

5

<p>Sound reasoning, I am just a bit curious as to why there is a very wide disparity at some places like UU and not others like BYU where you still need quite a high transfer GPA. That might not be the best example as BYU is a private and UU is public, though they are both in the same region.</p>