Worth the time/money to attempt to transfer?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hey, everyone. So I've been agonizing over this for weeks now, and I just thought I'd go ahead and post my questions and see if anyone out there feels like behind kind and helping me out.</p>

<p>At present, I go to NYU. There are certain aspects of it that I love, such as the emphasis on study-abroad and the whole "in and of the city" mentality, but I don't feel academically challenged here. Part of that could be due to my current program (Global Liberal Studies). I am going to apply for an internal transfer next semester as well, but I want to give myself more options. I feel that I could benefit from a more rigorous academic environment, and am considering some prestigious research universities and LACs. Here are the schools I would like to apply to, listed in order of preference:</p>

<p>Columbia
UChicago
Yale
Brown
Berkeley
Barnard
Swarthmore
Vassar</p>

<p>I would honestly also like to apply to Harvard but even I know that's a waste of money, haha.</p>

<p>Here are some stats:</p>

<p>Class Rank: 15/273
Unweighted GPA: ~ 3.85
Weighted GPA: 4.34
SAT I Composite: 2160
SAT I Breakdown: 780 CR, 800 W, 580 M (I know how big a weakness this is, no need to flame.)
NMS Commended
AP Scholar with Honor</p>

<p>As for ECs, I was VP of my high school's debate team and participated in a program called Youth Roundtables as well as volunteering at The Habitat Store (Habitat for Humanity). All of these activities took up a significant amount of my time (for example, I have ~ 100 hours volunteering at the Habitat Store).</p>

<p>I'm aiming for a 3.8+ GPA in my first semester. I think I could feasibly get a 4.0 except that I decided to take 5th semester Spanish, which was the biggest mistake of my life. Hopefully I'll get points for rigor? I'm part of a leadership program at NYU and I'm hoping to become an Admissions Ambassador and a Student Health Leader. I've started volunteering at a local homeless shelter regularly and I'm also planning to take part in an intergroup dialogue next semester.</p>

<p>I guess that my question is, with such a low math score, is it worth even applying to such selective schools? I managed to get waitlisted at Harvard during the RD round last year, in large part I believe because I wrote my supplementary essay on why they shouldn't reject me for that reason. Would a similar approach be useful here? Lastly, I know that the colleges I've listed above are not only in different locations but have very distinct educational philosophies. That is a conscious decision. As I said, I want to give myself more options. </p>

<p>Any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Can anybody help me? I’d be willing to chance back or help you in any way I can!</p>

3

<p>Not sure you can transfer to UCB as a soph, I thought the UCs only took jrs, someone correct me if I’m wrong, I’m not a UC specialist, just thought I read that in the past. Also, if not a CA resident, you’ll be full pay if accepted.</p>

4

<p>Try an internal transfer. Your stats are good, but I’m not sure if they could get you into Columbia. I’m assuming you will have stiff competition even just from NYU if you apply there. Yale is a long shot. You didn’t get into Harvard the first time around, and your college GPA still isn’t weighted as much, so the chances are still slim (not to mention the less than 1% acceptance rate). </p>

<p>It’s not a waste of money if you’re always going to wonder, “what if?”. </p>

<p>You have a chance of getting into some, but I just don’t see academic rigor being an issue at NYU if you change your major.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the info, entomom, I’ll look that up. And ouch, is that really the case about the FA? I assumed it would be worse than freshman admissions but I didn’t think it’d be that bad.</p>

<p>itransferred11, thanks for the honest opinion. I’m definitely going to apply for an internal transfer, but I think I would always wonder “what if” about Columbia since it’s been my dream school for so long. I probably won’t apply to Yale, honestly, as I don’t really like anything about it except the academics, anyway. Maybe not Brown either since their statement on FA is extremely not promising. What do you think, though, of my chances for UChicago and Barnard?</p>

6

<p>Anyone else? I’ll chance back/be helpful in any way I can!</p>

7

<p>You have a decent shot at Barnard. Not sure about Chicago.</p>

8

<p>Thanks. Not to keep bothering you, but do you think there’s anything I could do between now and then to significantly improve my chances?</p>