<p>I am starting my freshman year at Clark University this Fall and I am looking to transfer schools after my freshman year for various compelling reasons.</p>
<p>My HS GPA is 3.4 UW
SAT: 2100</p>
<p>I am looking to apply as a transfer to these schools:</p>
<p>My question is: If I get a 4.0 GPA my first semester at Clark and have a stellar essay with a great reason to transfer, could I get in to ANY of these schools or should I just wait until I am a sophomore to apply? I know UPenn prefers freshman transfers. If not, could anyone suggest other top colleges I have a chance of being accepted to?</p>
<p>Well, he has a bunch of privates on his list, and their costs are just as astronomical as UCs OOS.</p>
<p>And I agree that while NEU and BU are the easiest to transfer in to from this list, I don’t see the point of leaving Clark for either of those 2 schools.
What are the “various compelling reasons”? Why are you even attending a school that you intend to transfer from?</p>
<p>I’ll assume that your reasons are truly as “compelling” as you think, but with just one semester of college grades to look at, every school is going to take into account your high school grades and scores, neither of which are anywhere near good enough to qualify you for most of the colleges you’ve listed. And if the best you could do in high school was a 3.4, is it really likely you could manage a 4.0 your first semester of college? Complete a year at Clark, see where your grades are and whether your desire to transfer is still as strong, and then revisit this whole plan in the fall of sophomore year. Clark has a lot of happy, successful students. You may become one of them</p>
<p>Transferring into those schools (save for BU and NE) would be ridiculously difficult. Stanford, for instance, prefers community college transfers, and its admission rate for transfers is already so low… </p>
<p>@fogcity @PurpleTitan @"Erin’s Dad" I understand that they are overall not that much “better” than Clark. My major is Computer Science and I was satisfied with Clark’s CS program. However, over the summer, I did an internship with Wolf Robotics and fell in love with Artificial Intelligence and Mechanical. Clark’s CS/Engineering program is not as strong in AI and Mechanical as it is in the schools I listed above. That is why I want to transfer. </p>
<p>@MommaJ I agree that a 3.4 GPA is pretty meager compared to others. However, that was not the best I can do. I screwed up my GPA royally in my freshman year (2 F’s, 1 D.) But, I turned it around, took 9 AP classes, scored 4’s and 5’s on AP tests, and my cumulative GPA not including freshman year was 3.96. I am confident in my ability to obtain a high GPA at Clark.</p>
<p>It looks like I should wait until the middle of my sophomore year to apply as a transfer. How are my prospects if I have 3.8 college GPA or higher, higher SAT score, great recs, and great essay sophomore year?</p>
<p>Colleges won’t consider SATs taken in college. The test was designed for HS students. Google the Common Data Set for each of your schools and look at section D.</p>
<p>Though, to be fair, colleges care more about your college GPA in transfers.</p>
<p>Though I do wonder about the research that you’ve done. How do you justify each school given your interest in AI and MechE? And why virtually none of the publics known for engineering and CS that are easier to transfer in to (besides the UCs)?</p>
<p>You will not get into Stanford, Berkeley, or the two Ivies, so save the application fee and the essays, and apply to schools where you have a shot. Why didn’t you apply to top schools in the first place? If it was because you thought your stats were too low, what has changed? You’ll need to explain in your essay whatever it is that now makes you a good candidate for the schools you are applying to, so start thinking about this now. Good luck!</p>
<p>BTW, you may find that you like Clark–there are lots of smart, interesting people there, so give it a chance rather than focusing all your energy on going somewhere else.</p>
<p>Though I’m not sure why @Massmomm is so certain that there’s no way he’s getting in to Cal. Is it because he’s OOS? Applying after freshman year? Because Cal takes a ton of transfers.</p>
<p>Also, Cornell takes a ton of transfers (granted, many are guaranteed transfers or through relationships they have to various CCs and SUNYs).</p>
<p>Brown and UPenn also take some transfers, and not considerably less than Northwestern or UChicago.</p>
<p>In any case, you have to come up with compelling reasons for these schools.</p>
<p>A 4.0 GPA would help.</p>
<p>The criteria will be different for transfers than for HS applicants, Schools are usually looking to backfill departments that have too few students. IMO, your test scores almost don’t matter (as they’re not looking to play the rankings game any more).</p>
<p>I have a thought for you OP, since Clark looks like home to you for the near future refocus the energy from the newfound “Transfer-itis” into making this first year an amazing and challenging experience. When you get to school in a few weeks seek out a prof who may help advance your interests through research or independent study.</p>
<p>It is very likely that many of the jobs you will hold in your lifetime DON’T EVEN EXIST yet. Learning how to learn, write, think critically, innovate, and in this case make the most of prior decisions and situations, is a great start to achieving any life goal.</p>
<p>Do great in undergrad, work hard, and whether you choose to transfer in a couple of years or be a well prepared grad student with an amazing GRE score and acceptance letters from Cornell and Stanford remember this; no matter where you fall asleep you wake up with yourself. Regardless of your College, good luck being the best you.
It’s your freshman year have some fun !</p>