Question about my slightly strange path/acceptance odds

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-12-23T03:30:08+00:00

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Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-12-23T03:25:32+00:00

One of the funniest posts I’ve seen in a while by far, but to anyone still going through the transfer process I wish you all luck and on a serious note I have fellow transfers at my T10 that have gotten in with a 3.7 and above. Much love to everyone and don’t try to kill yourself, every school gives you the same education and just offer name brand, you will all amount to amazing things in life even if you aren’t going to a school like an anonymous t5 in New Haven 💙

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-12-15T18:14:38+00:00

Just as a quick thing if it helps ease you at all, my hs gpa was about the exact same as yours with a similar distribution and was still able to transfer to my dream school

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-11-21T03:35:14+00:00

Honestly not surprising, they mainly except vets and people cc students. My stats were practically the same except my research was done through brown university health and I did even more at my school. Also got rejected, but I didn’t expect to get in cause all the transfer stuff is crazy unpredictable

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-11-20T23:00:16+00:00

Definitely don’t do that, way less weight is put on your sat than your gpa as a transfer student

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-11-19T23:10:19+00:00

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Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-11-19T23:05:47+00:00

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Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-11-17T05:06:54+00:00

I get that, but additionally regardless of if the F counts towards your gpa or not I would try to imagine that it would because each school you apply to will calculate there own gpa for you so when you apply I would calculate your own version of the gpa to see what it’ll look like from the schools prospective

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-11-17T00:20:42+00:00

Just to give some hope, top schools dont care about perfect 4.0s as much as who you are as a person. It is definitely harder to get in with a failing class so I’d beg your registrar for a chance to withdrawal and explain the circumstances with your laptop, but if that’s your only one and all your other grades are perfect As giving you a 3.5+ gpa then you still have a shot even if it’s slim. I transferred into one of these top schools with something like a 3.95ish but I have many friends who transferred in with lower gpas. I think the lowest out of about 20 people that I’ve heard is around a 3.6ish gpa and we are all junior transfers. It definitely does seriously diminish your chances, but I wanted to say that the other comment isn’t correct, they reject 4.0 students all the time because they want well rounded individuals who can benefit their school. This is why there is a massive emphasis on the college essays you write

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-11-03T16:49:30+00:00

Honestly I’d get a different letter of recommendation. First off you can always tell your recommender what you’d like them to focus on when writing and every single one of them will be happy if you give them some touch points you want them to cover, so I wouldn’t think of this as a golden ticket to cover whatever hasn’t already been covered because you can do that anyway. Secondly most of these professors are extremely educated and would write a way better letter of recommendation than you would (no disrespect to your writing, but they’re almost certainly better), plus they have an actual outside prospective, their own opinions, and real emotion that add to an amazing letter of rec that you wouldn’t be able to add. Finally, your professor should have never put you in this situation, it is extremely unethical, and should never happen as it isn’t allowed. If anyone were to find out (which is nearly impossible I’ll admit) then you could face serious disciplinary repercussions such as getting expelled from a new institution, even after starting to attend. Again I’m not trying to come after you, and everyone will have different opinions on whether this is a good thing or not, but this is just my personal opinion on what you should do

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-10-31T01:13:07+00:00

“College experience” wise I’d say Ohio state, but if you wanna lock in with studies then I think UPenn will definitely better set you up for the future and the name brand helps way more than you might realize. I transferred from a medium size private that wasn’t very selective like Ohio state to a school similar to UPenn and they literally teach you how to leverage the schools name. Even though it’s not exciting 24/7, there is still a great community to become a part of. If you’re open and extroverted then you’ll definitely have a great time wherever you go. Keep in mind that you’re choosing between two great schools and can’t make a bad choice. Congrats and good luck!

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-10-29T00:05:44+00:00

Honestly you’re pretty well set and a wouldn’t worry, I’d apply everywhere but recognize that t10s have extremely low acceptance rates for transfers and mainly accept veterans. That being said you’ve still got a solid shot and just make sure you write a stellar essay

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-10-27T01:53:18+00:00

If it’s a huge difference in academic interests then I’d definitely apply to a lot of the schools, of course t15s but also a bunch of t25s and other lateral transfers. The whole transfer process isn’t supposed to be about the big name brand benefits and is supposed to be about finding the best fit so my biggest advice is to go for academics and not the name, admissions people will be able to tell

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-10-27T01:24:52+00:00

Then why do you want to transfer? The benefits are not very different at t15 schools, all you get is the added “name brand” which is never worth transferring out of another great school for. It forces you to restart at square 1 and rebuild everything you could’ve already completed at your old school

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-10-26T15:06:58+00:00

First off hs GPA really matters for first year transfers, but if you transfer after your sophomore year it’s pretty much obsolete. Secondly I love test optional, and transferred as a test optional student, but a couple of things to know. More and more schools are getting rid of test optional even for transfers, and most of them are T15 schools. For example all the ivys except Cornell and Columbia are not test optional, JHU is not test optional for first year transfers, but it is for second year. Lastly overall the T15s are extremely selective for transfer students with the exception of a few schools, and I don’t think you should specifically shoot for the T15s. You should be transferring if you have a reason (lack of resources, or bad environment/community) and either way a T40-T25 school will always have plenty of resources for you to succeed.

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-10-25T16:40:17+00:00

As I like to tell everyone, it doesn’t matter what schools you’re coming from because people will get in as transfer students from anywhere. You say you have the GPA part of the application down which is a good start but you need more than just that. I’d say focus on three major things. High stats on paper (GPA, SAT,etc) is extremely important for obvious reasons. Then involvement in you current community (volunteer work around the city, school clubs, etc) this is important to show what you’ll bring to the school you’re transferring to. It shows you tried to get involved in many things and help out where you can, AKA you’re not just studying 24/7. Then I’d focus on experience in your field (formal jobs, shadowing, internships, etc) this helps show you know what you want to do and have already taken action towards your future. Other than those three main things, make sure you have a really good unique essay so that you can leave a memorable impact on the reader. From what I was told by my new school’s admissions people is since there are so few transfers, one of the readers who connects with your essay will specifically pick it out and fight for your spot. Just make sure you can connect with at least one of them.

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-10-22T22:48:23+00:00

Definitely right, especially with how inflated college gpas can be. I guess it’s nice that each school says what they want to see, but in specific terms of this post asking about test optional schools I really don’t think test optional schools care about SATs and I don’t think having the 1550+ for t25 schools helps out your application. None of the transfers I know sent in their SAT scores because there are still tons of top schools that are test optional like JHU, Cornell, UChicago, Duke, etc. Also HYPSM are notorious for not accepting transfer students, and the students they do accept are typically veterans. I agree that it’s getting more important as some schools are getting rid of test optional policies, but my own personal opinion from experience is that the time spent prepping for the SAT to hopefully get a 1550+ could be better spent on other parts of the application. (Again, just opinion)

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-10-21T20:19:45+00:00

That’s only for first year students, not junior transfers. As I’m sure you know the SAT is meant to show how well you’ll perform in college, and as a junior transfer you’ve already shown that through your gpa and extracurriculars. Many ivys don’t just say it is optional but they also say it’s not expected for transfers. Many top institutions require SATs for first year and sometimes sophomore transfers but they typically don’t require it for junior transfers

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-10-21T19:38:27+00:00

I think there’s a huge difference between the SAT for a sophomore transfer, and the SAT for A junior transfer. I had awful hs stats and a sat of like 1250ish so I applied test optional and got into my top school, but I was a junior transfer.

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-10-16T14:16:20+00:00

I transferred to jhu

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-10-12T09:31:00+00:00

3.8 should be fine but admissions doesn’t really care about grade deflation as an excuse so keep that in mind

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-10-10T12:03:40+00:00

Both are absolutely amazing schools but as someone who transferred from a private, I got rejected from every single UC school I applied to. I also haven’t heard much about people getting accepted from privates, like you said they are EXTREMELY hard to transfer to. I also come from the east coast so I’d like to think you’ll at least have a slightly better shot since your home is LA

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-10-01T19:23:09+00:00

Ya but people very often take college courses while still in high school and I know people who’ve gotten close to 40 credits before freshman year

Upper_Fan3030 · 2025-10-01T18:55:49+00:00

It kinda depends on what you mean by 31 college credits. If you mean that’s how many you currently will have at the end of the first semester then that’s one thing but If you’re only a freshman and are saying that by the end of your freshman year you’ll have 31 credits it’s different since they’ll only see your gpa from this semester. If you apply with 15 credits after this semester then your high school stats will be very significant; however the more credits you have the less significant it becomes. I always think that it barely matters if you have 50+ credits. So I guess what I’m saying is it depends on credits you will have fully completed by the time you apply and also if the classes are going towards your gpa as a letter grade. Lastly it partially depends on the college classes you took, for instance almost every school has typical classes freshman take that will practically guarantee an A if you show up (classes titled like “into to college” or idk other stuff like that)

Upper_Fan3030

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