<p>HS GPA (magnet UW): 3.93
1st Semester Freshman Year College GPA (5 courses): 4.000
Completed 20 credits this semester, +16 AP credits = 36 total so far
SAT: 2350
ACT: 35
SAT II: 800 Math 2C, 780 Chem, 690 Lit (ouch)</p>
<p>Currently a freshman at Columbia University (Columbia College). I noticed that Yale doesn't ask for extra curriculars... which leads me to ask, is transfer admissions much more numbers oriented or do they care just as much about the "soft factors" as for freshman applicants? I was thinking of submitting an additional recc letter from my employer (I teach SAT's) and my internship (at the medical center) but would that be overkill?</p>
<p>Never applied to Yale out of HS, did Columbia ED. Thanks for any replies!</p>
<p>Why do you want to transfer already from Columbia? You've been there for one semester and you didn't even apply to Yale. Are you that unhappy already?</p>
<p>Columbia is an awesome school... I just want to apply to Yale because it's somewhere I've at one point dreamt of going to and never got the chance to apply during HS. THat may sound like a crappy reason... but iono, believe me when I say I'll be happy even if I get a rejection letter because at least I applied.</p>
<p>I know that you have your reasons but damn dude, don't be so spoiled, Your at one of the top schools in the world, its Ivy League and the admission rate is only like 12%.... </p>
<p>99.99% of the entire world's population will never get close to the kind of education your getting at Columbia...you're happy there...you should just consider yourself EXTREMELY blessed and stay put...anyway, you're in Manhattan, being in New York City will expose you to things, people and places you'll never experience anywhere else.. you'll make connections and get prepared for real life in a way that's hard to imitate at Yale.</p>
<p>If you're so resolved to go for Yale, however, why would you care about people on this board chancing you? It seems you already have your mind made up... Obviously your numbers are good and you already got into a top school, just apply to Yale and see..whatever anyone says here won't matter one bit, you're not a high school senior trying to decide what school would be the best fit for you,lol</p>
<p>I think your reasons for transferring are semi-legitimate, but doubtfully so to adcoms. You have every right to do whatever you want with your education and go for the next highest ranked school, but do keep in mind that a bird in the hand is two in the bush: why compromise your contentment unless the payoff is significantly greater AND your current institution fails to meet your needs? The rewards really don't seem to mitigate the risk: uprooting yourself and cutting off your relationships at Columbia with both students and faculty. You've been there one semester and it seems a little arbitrary, if silly to me that you're so keen on leaving and willing to start anew without spending even a year there. That said, you know yourself and can judge far better than any of us, but still, transferring is an enormous undertaking and should not be taken lightly without compelling personal and intellectual reasons.</p>
<p>So long as adcoms are homo sapiens and not machines, admissions are entirely holistic. That does NOT suggest that adcoms will look at each application equally or without prejudice, but that while there are objective standards/indicators of ability and intellectual capacity that generally are maintained for successful applicants, a gut feeling and subjective preponderance of the materials are the true arbiters of success/failure. In fewer words: adcoms will strictly judge your application based upon the numbers (i.e. scores and GPA), but when it's all said and done, how you fare is dependent upon how the adcoms feel about your personal and intellectual ability to fit in at Yale. Your chances are as good as they can be, but it seems your essays would hurt you unless you made up a most compelling reason for leaving.</p>
<p>Leave him alone. He never said he was "resolute" on transferring to Yale. He just wants to give his old dream school a try, and if rejected, he will happily stay put at Columbia. I say go for it if you're willing to throw away your free time on these icky apps. Your numbers are very good btw, and the adcoms will not easily overlook a 4.0 gpa from Columbia.</p>
<p>I apologize if I've offended anyone. Let me assure you all that my reasons for applying to Yale does not stem for any want of marginal prestige. I want to apply, and if I am admitted (approximately 3% chance), I will be faced with what may likely be the toughest decision of my life up to that point. If I don't get accepted, I will be just as excited to return to Columbia. </p>
<p>Anyway, I appreciate all the input and I've realized it hardly matters if I get accepted or not, and it's more important personally to me that I at least apply.</p>
<p>Hey you have good stats.. write great essays and include a resume. If its your dream and something you feel that you have to do..then go with it! Its worth a try anyways..</p>
<p>I really don't think its necessary for you to get "chanced" truazn. Being at Columbia, you definitely have the stats to get in, so there's no problem there.</p>
<p>And Track87 needs to take a chill pill. If Yale is his dream school and if he didn't have a chance to apply in high school, he should definitely go for it. I don't think he's "spoiled" by wanting to try for his dream school, and you're really making him out to be spoiled. Yes, 99.99% of the population will never have a chance to experience what he experienced, but you say that as if he doesn't KNOW that.</p>
<p>It's apples and oranges..reminds me of people who get into Yale and whine because they didn't get into Harvard,lol.. </p>
<p>I know that's not the case here...he made it perfectly clear he would be happy to stay at Columbia..I'm just advising as Wayward did, he doesn't know how he will feel at Yale but he already knows that he is happy at Columbia.. so again, I don't know what his personal reasons are, so I can't comment if he's being totally silly but I still maintain being at an Ivy AND in New York City is a combination that Yale, Harvard or Princeton can't touch..</p>
<p>..and yes rotinegg..it was perfectly clear from his first post that he was resolute on trying to gain acceptance into Yale which makes this whole thread a mystery and quite pointless IMO..why would you want people to chance you when you have obviously made up your mind to apply regardless of what your odds are....</p>
<p>That's right. You will never get what you don't ask for in life! Submit the transfer application. If you don't get into Yale...you've still got Columbia. Win-win situation for you!</p>