<p>I'm planning on applying to Yale for the fall of 2009 in one of two programs (regular transfer or Eli Whitney Students Program). I'm still deciding which may suit me better and, of course, which may offer the best chance of admission. What do you think?</p>
<p>High School GPA: 3.3
College GPA: 3.9
Current School: CCC
Major: Social Science (hoping to study sociology and economics at my next school)
ECs: Editor-In-Chief of school paper, founder of Middle East discussion club, student government senator, President of Literary Society, Phi Theta Kappa member, honors program and honors club member, supplementary instructor in developmental math courses, research assistant and co-author on sociology projects with high profile professor, various intramural athletics, published one fiction book, etc
ECs in high school: baseball, track, 4 years of newspaper, was in a touring reggae/ska band (main reason I wasn't interested in school, haha), marching band, etc
Class Rank in High School: ~top 25-30%
SAT: taking in October
MISC: Moved to United States with my mother when I was in grade school. We came from rural Poland (underrepresented?) escaping because family had ties in the Solidarity movement. Also, I was out of school for a few years and I traveled a lot and actually lived in Iceland for sometime. I've been back half a dozen times or so and have written for newspapers about Polish migrant labor in Iceland. Lastly, no one in the history of my family has a post-secondary degree. Not a soul.</p>
<p>So, which (or neither) of these Yale programs would you recommend applying to? Also, I am thinking of applying to transfer the following schools:</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins </p>
<p>U Delaware (apparently lots of good opportunities to do research in my field of interest)</p>
<p>Swarthmore</p>
<p>Cornell (CALS in Developmental Sociology)</p>
<p>Columbia </p>
<p>Can anyone recommend safties/matches for me? Everything feels like a reach (maybe not UDel). Thanks!</p>
<p>you published a book?! That's amazing, embellish please! And I actually think you have a solid shot at any of those places. I wouldn't count on Columbia, Yale or Cornell, but they're definitely matches. Everything else is verging on safety territory.<br>
I'm not sure what the focus of those two programs is. Also, why do you need to take the SAT if you're applying as a transfer?</p>
<p>Can you even take the SATs this late and have these schools acknowledge your score? And by CCC, you are talking about a California Community College, right? Your location (Philly suburbs) kinda threw me off.</p>
<p>No, CCC is a County Community College. Sorry, it's the colloquial we always use here in the Philadelphia area. We also call it C^3 and 13th grade (<em>sigh</em>).</p>
<p>The book is a novella that'll be in print this October by a small, but legit, publishing house. The people who own the publishing company are a super cool couple of dudes who are really dedicated and hardworking MFA students - it'll be their fourth or fifth release. Apparently, it'll be available in all the indie book stores in Philadelphia. </p>
<p>SAT: everyone keeps telling me to retake it. Like, they're telling me relentlessly. Thoughts? (original score was around 1300 on 1600 scale).</p>
<p>Are you planning to transfer as an entering Jr? If so, I don't think you need to retake your SAT. A 1300/1600 is respectable and they will put much more weight in your college record than HS & test scores if you are applying during your sop year.</p>
<p>While being a Polish refugee will not make you a URM for college admissions, your background would make an interesting essay topic.</p>
<p>Most Ivy League schools are notoriously hard to transfer into, with significantly lower acceptance rates than for incoming freshmen. However, your unique background combined with your current success in college could give you a decent chance, so I say go for it, but don't be overly disappointed if you aren't accepted.</p>
<p>There's three kinds of people that apply. First, there's the people they HAVE TO let in. You can recognize these people because they often have the same last names as the dorms or residential colleges and/or are VERY connected (or have perfect SATs, are Hawaiian varsity basketball players, concert pianists, and are the legacy son/daughter of King of or Ambassador to somewhere exotic). Look at Tony Blair's son, our president, half of the kids at H, etc. They just have to let them in.</p>
<p>Second, there's people who have a chance. These people aren't royalty but have a very solid academic background, an interesting story to tell, are involved engaged enough to earn great recommendations, and are, almost without exception, an optimist on some level.</p>
<p>Lastly, the people who stand no chance due in part to their admitted lack of confidence from the outset. Often, these people will say they applied because, "...mom and dad made me." I think this comes through in their apps and adcoms are usually very good at what they do. They sniff out when someone applies and hopelessly reaches for a school that they may not even want to go to.</p>
<p>You know, I also wonder if I should bother. Isn't the college record the one they REALLY consider?? I mean, doesn't that mean we have to like super work hard in first year??</p>
<p>hi, 24/190 for admitted transfers doesn't mean anyone's a "match" for swarthmore. that's only like a 12% admission rate. many more people have probably heard of/feel like they'd really fit at JHU because it's much bigger, which likely accounts for the many people that apply for transfer. who's heard of Swarthmore outside of the academic community? surprisingly few. who's not heard of John Hopkins??
out of the twenty-some admitted to Swarthmore this fall, EIGHTEEN are attending. i've talked to many of them already, and they all were very sure they liked Swarthmore. their why swarthmore? essays were specific and excellent. those numbers show that the people who are ADMITTED to swarthmore really KNOW they want to attend swarthmore. it's not a "match" for anybody, and especially not for transfer admission. transfer admission is just weird.
that being said, the OP's record is very strong and will play well into swarthmore's desire for a diverse, multi-cultural student body. if OP can convince the admissions board that he'd really fit at Swat, then they may very well allow him to be one of the 12% admitted.</p>
<p>--seasoned swarthmore transfer admission veteran
don't degrade my school, yo.</p>