Besides essays and internships what gets people into top universities? My current community college has bad clubs and honors program what can I do outside of my college that will boost my chances of getting into top schools?
my second year on here despite getting into my schools last cycle so here we are again 💔 i just wanted to wish everyone good luck as the 26-27 year begins and offer a few words of “wisdom” (even though technically i’m also applying to transfer…again lol)
if you’re here, i already know that you definitely have drive and want to succeed, and that’s something you’ll need to remind yourself of throughout your whole process. remember your why and i promise you it’ll take you so far. cling to it and don’t let go because the second you lose focus of what your goal is, all hell will break loose. stay on top of everything!! i don’t care how smart you are or how you react in last minute positions, if you slip, it’ll be hard to catch back up. also, you don’t even want to be in a place where you have to deal with that. please just keep yourself on track lol.
i know being on this sub can make it feel like you’re miles behind everyone else… trust me, i felt the same way. i literally spent hours on this every single day last year, trying to analyze EVERYTHING, everyone’s stats, everything regarding admissions, and it did nothing except
dig a deeper pit of anxiety in my stomach. and guess what? it really was all for nothing because even though my stats didn’t look like the ones i was seeing on here, i still got into my dream schools. and i know this might seem ironic because i didnt commit and have to reapply, but i’ll be following my own advice because i still have faith that ill get in where im meant to be and i cant be reined in despite any circumstance. the most you can do is do your best, put in all the effort you can, and have faith in yourself and your abilities.
i’ll be going into my sophomore year now and reapplying as a junior transfer, so if any prospective sophomore transfers have any questions i’d love to help out!! and if any junior transfers have any guidance, id love to connect. i know this community can get crazy sometimes, but we’re here to help eachother at the end of the day.
good luck to everyone!! wishing you all an amazing semester and a wishful admissions season :)
title. as my first semester approaches i want to be sure i have a good and balanced list. i royally screwed up this step in first year admissions and would appreciate some help 🙂
my hs stats
other info
my list as of right now
Do people restart new extracurriculars for transfer applications? I am applying to a completely different major than what I apply to originally at my school and I was wondering if it’s still worth it to try to transfer out my first year if I’m going to have to restart extracurriculars completely. Do most people restart extracurriculars are use the same ones from high school.
basically title, but i will not be retaking the SAT and want to know if its still worth it to apply. i have a 1370, which i know is below average for t25s, but im unhappy with my current institution for a variety of reasons, and this is before ive even moved in. im hoping to make up for it with ECs and grades, but if im an automatic no for some schools ill take them off my list. thank you.
What are some things to keep in mind about both and which one would you rather go for?
i was admitted as a first year to yale however for i decided to attend another ivy which i am now regretting. ( long story) how difficult would it be to transfer to yale? is it a bad sign that i rejected them initially? would it be ok to use bulldog days as examples for my "why" or is this not a good idea
Hi! For reference, I was waitlisted at Vanderbilt for Biochemistry. Here were my stats for the cycle:
- Major: Chemical/Biomolecular Engineering
- GPA: 3.78
- Calc 1 completed
- Only ChemE undergrad to win my university’s research symposium. 40 total winners including masters/phd students out of 270.
- Honors Program
- 2 successful research posters (Learning model for engineering and applications to the system. + Computational Modeling and simulation of methylxanthines with quantum mechanical analysis, Gbind, affinity, etc.)
- 4 recommendation letters: 1 from Chem Chair, 1 from English Prof, 1 from Physics Prof, 1 from Pharmacy Manager near Nashville (i’m an in state resident)
- Pharmacy Intern Experience
- Volunteer hours + shadow hours (100+)
- There’s a bit more.
Updates for the 2027 cycle:
- 3.5 gpa :/
- Goldwater Scholarship Nominee
- Working on a publication on Parkinson’s disease drugs in ionic pharmaceuticals. Wet lab and comp lab experience.
- Presenting at ACS National Conference
- Became Pharmacy Technician Certified
- Would have another 4 very strong recommendation letters
- Taking Honors Orgo 1/2, Calc 3, DiffEq, Calc Physics 1/2, and foreign language
- Upwards mathematical grade tracjectory (C in Calc 1 - At uni - and A in Calc 2 - Summer and in person)
- AO engaged continuously last cycle.
Other notes:
- I am applying for financial aid. I can pay half but not full. I will commute.
- I’m connecting with Vanderbilt Chem professors in October.
Other schools i’m considering:
- Emory
- Duke
- Notre Dame
- Cornell
- UNC Chapel Hill
- Colorado Boulder
However, Vanderbilt remains my top choice. I’m open to any constructive feedback! Please don’t just be negative to be negative.
Hey everybody,
I’m planning on applying as a transfer student for fall of 2027 and I have a question.
How much does needing financial aid really matter?
I’m from a low income background so I know I’m already fighting an uphill battle, but I also know that it’s different for every single university.
I have a 4.0 GPA, transferring from a T100 and I believe I have really strong extracurriculars and I’m going to try my best to write some great essays. My main disadvantage I think is my need for financial aid is going to be an issue even if my admission is looked at holistically.
Some of the schools I plan on applying to are
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
Lehigh
Lafayette
UPenn
Colombia
Wake Forest
And a few others in the same league within the t50’s
I’d appreciate any of your thoughts or inputs heavily!
EDIT: I’d also like to add on that I’m going to be a sophomore transfer and im US Domestic and did fine in high school.
CC student studying economics, UChicago should be #1 for my major but alot of people talking about the cons of UChicago, and had alot of friends get rejected for UChicago as first year EDs, they wouldn't bother applying to UChicago. Northwestern sounds nicer, although they seem to me "need-aware" for transfers, which I'm not sure if it would or will not hurt my chances?
How does it work or make a difference.. because I get that Columbia prefers sophomore year transfers, but I’m a freshman with sophomore yr credits. I’m a philosophy major, idk if that makes a difference. Is it smarter to apply as a sophomore instead??? Lmk
title, but i will not be retaking the SAT and want to know if its still worth it to apply. i have a 1460, which i know is below average for some of the t25s, but im unhappy with my current institution for a variety of reasons. I'm wondering if studying would even be worth for a 1500+ for schools like Vandy, duke, cornell, usc, emory, etc in those caliber of schools.
I literally don’t have any awards. I was wondering if I can put my high school diploma as one of my awards??? 😭😭😹😹😹😹
This is my last year at CC and I practically have 0 extracurriculars. I’ve developed a close relationship with my math professor (he was my professor for calc 1-3 and possibly differential equations), and will probably ask him for a LOR.
I’m not sure what I can even do during to help my application. I was planning on retaking the SAT. I also have a teacher from elementary school who has kept contact with my mother and I can maybe ask to volunteer and teach math, but don’t know if that’ll actually happen. I could try and tutor calc 1, but I’ve been sort of busy self studying real analysis, linear algebra, and number theory/combinatorics.
That’s all I really have and some of these aren’t even guaranteed. I was planning on transferring to
Berkeley
Uchicago
CMU
Brown
UPenn
Johns hopkins
UMD (my state school and probably the only school I have change of getting accepted)
and Princeton, but I know I don’t have a shot I’m simply just applying to apply
Is there anything I can do or is it pretty much over for me?
I just finished my first year at UT McCombs and I now have the option to transfer to either NYU Stern or Cornell but non-Dyson (CHE).
I would still like to try IB recruiting, but I’m more focused on recruiting for consulting, as well as exploring product management and other strategy roles.
My main goal with Cornell is translational entrepreneurship, where I hope to explore the entrepreneurship scope through research, outside of traditional finance jobs. I can also come back to McCombs after a semester at Cornell.
However, I feel that now is not the time to explore, as I will be missing out on recruiting for IB and MBB consulting. But also I am not prepared for IB technicals anyway and I still have time for consulting recruiting.
Additionally, even for consulting, even if I come back to McCombs before junior year or stay at Cornell, being at NYU Stern would probably put me in a better position right?
My main thing is exploring healthcare/translational entrepreneurship in an Ivy environment for a semester, compared to limiting myself to finance at Stern or McCombs. However, Cornell
At Stern I would be there for 3 years, but at Cornell I can try it out for a semester and then come back to McCombs.
I know for IB if I’m not well-prepared, I can’t make it anyway, and I've heard from students that Stern is actually not good for MBB consulting compared to Cornell (and Dyson is not required for consulting) as far as I've heard.
Cornell → UT McCombs
Pros:
Cons:
Stern
Pros:
Cons:
Please give your honest opinion about Stern vs Cornell non-Dyson for a semester then McCombs, for someone who wants to get into business roles (PM, consulting, maybe IB or quant) but also not completely sure/exposed so wants to try alternative routes like entrepreneurship.
And is it true that Stern is worse for consulting recruiting than McCombs and Cornell non-Dyson?
so i just graduated high school from a rural state with no good schools and really wanted to go oos. i forced myself to still go with oos even though the aid wasn't great, assuming that it wont be the end of the world. now that im actually hit with all the expenses, i realized that i wont be able to afford this for 4 years + dental school. i can just go back to my home state and attend it guaranteed tuition free, but i really want to stay oos. that's when i looked into schools that are oos but also tuition free based on my parents income.
the only schools that offer free tuition based on my parents income for oos transfers are t25s so i thought it be okay to share my situation here. the current list i have right now is yale, princeton, emory, jhu, caltech, mit, harvard, upenn. im definetly not considered in-need for most schools so the options available for me on the list are looking very rough with all of them being transfer-hostile. the most im praying for right now is emory.
i'm very determined to make this happen because i am planning to transfer back to my homestate if this doesn't work out, but i'm kind of clueless on where to start because this wasn't in my mind until this month. if anybody can share any general tips/resources/rules or any other schools that offer free tuition for family incomes under 200k i'd be soso grateful since i haven't been able to find much about transfer processes compared to regular application processes.
Thought I should give some background on myself.
Rejected/waitlisted from all 9 reaches. Accepted only to VA target and safety schools. I'm currently planning on double majoring in Political Science and Business Commerce at UVA (the two majors I applied with during Common App) and plan on applying for McIntire and Echols Scholar next year regardless of the result of transfers.
I wasn't a terrible student in high school. Pretty much the "average" applicant who tried to go ivy (top 10%, 1550 super, mostly 5s, etc.). Had like OK ECs and awards (business passion projects, political internship, few clubs, national debate accolades).
Honestly the only reason why I'm trying to transfer isn't really opportunities or whatever benefit is brought from going to a more prestigious institution. I strongly believe in the fact that anyone can find success wherever they go and whatever their situation is. The only reason why I want to transfer is simply because I just seek prestige and the name of the school. With that out of the way I do have some questions in regards to how I should approach the next year of college to maximize my transfer success.
How should I go about asking for recommendation letters from professors? I feel that if I were to go and build a meaningful relationship with my professors and then going out of the blue during office hours asking "hey so I actually want to leave your institution can you write me a rec?" it would just leave me being very disingenuous and jeopardize my chances of getting a good rec.
How heavily are activities and honors weighed for sophomore year transfers? Because by the time I've submitted my application, I'll only have had like 1 1/2 semesters under my belt so I'm curious as to what AOs will look at/weigh more in an application. Additionally, are any "relevant"/"impactful" ECs from high school still fair game?
If I were to submit a standardized test score it would be a 1540. I'm currently set to take the September SAT near Charlottesville (I am "attempting" to aim for a 1570). Should I come short (which is most likely going to happen), is it ever worth spending my spare time in college when I'm not doing any activities or studying to prep for the SAT because I'll still have 3 more opportunities throughout the year.
Reflecting on my essays during first-year applications I've realized that I'm a god-awful essay writer and that I think genuine AI slop has more voice and substance than I do. Knowing that, is there any way I can compensate for my pitfall in essays in my application?
I’m planning to apply to Emory as a transfer for Fall 2027, and I’m trying to be realistic about my chances. I’m originally from Georgia, but I’ve been attending the University of Arizona for the past two years on a full-ride scholarship. I’m still eligible for my scholarship, but I’m considering leaving Arizona for personal reasons, including difficult experiences with racial tensions involving staff and the surrounding community.
My current GPA is around a 3.1. I know that’s below the typical GPA for admitted Emory transfers, although the published minimum is 3.0. I’ve also seen people on here with 3.7–3.9 GPAs asking if they have a chance, so I’m definitely aware that Emory would be a reach for me 😭.
I had legitimate financial circumstances that affected my academic performance, but I’ve had an upward trend since then. I’m currently studying STEM/Pharmaceutical Sciences, but I’m also considering pursuing business if I transfer, potentially through Goizueta, because I’m interested in the intersection of healthcare and business.
I also considered transferring to UGA, but I currently fall below their 3.3 GPA requirement for students with fewer than 60 transferable hours.
For people who have transferred to Emory or are familiar with the transfer admissions process: would you still apply with a 3.1 GPA if you had legitimate circumstances, a strong explanation, and an upward trend? Is there anything specific you would focus on to make the application as competitive as possible?
I’m not expecting anyone to tell me I’m guaranteed admission—I’m just trying to figure out whether this is a realistic reach worth taking a shot on or if I should focus my applications elsewhere. I’m not expecting anyone to tell me I’m guaranteed admission I’m just trying to figure out whether this is a realistic reach or basically a waste of an application.
Not to be pessimistic, but really the capital markets scene in canada is sm smaller and ivey/queens aren't very high odds to NY/SF anymore. Im Canadian and didn't apply to us schools out of high school and have some regrets as I did get into every school I applied to in Canada - I do understand US admissions is a whole new ball game. This is why I want to attempt to transfer to US schools with transfer rates higher than first year(UChicago, Northwestern, Cornell, NYU, USC etc). Unfortunately, my parents make too much for aid but not enough to afford a U.S school full pay (420k CAD, 300k USD pre tax) to what degree are loans worth it? are my odds still decent enough from queens/ivey? thanks for your time all.
Not sure if it is really worth trying again. Or if it's worth attempting different colleges.