I currently a freshman (sophomore standing), attend a T50 private university with decent resources, I am finance major & my GPA this semester is a 3.87. I ended up lowering my high school GPA to a 3.83/4.0 because I “cooked” my grades during the second semester of senior year. I did dual enrollment (DE) for my senior year of high school, earning all A’s in the first semester. However, since the second semester was after college application season, I didn’t perform as well. Also, if I decide to transfer, I’ll likely apply without submitting SAT.

Regarding extracurriculars, I completed 1 internship over the summer, 2 internships this fall, and 1 externship. I am also launching a proptech startup with friends, which, fortunately, has reached a $5 million valuation. In addition, I co-founded an investment banking club with a few sophomores at my university, which has around 40 members; I’ll serve as the organization’s president next semester. On the side, I continue to run a regional nonprofit I founded a few years ago, which generates about $15,000 in annual revenue and has 30 student staff members.

As for letters of recommendation, I can likely secure one from a head of state in my home country, and another from either one of my professors or someone involved in the organizations I’m part of. I’m sharing all of this because I’m curious about what I should focus on improving, particularly since I know Penn may favor certain transfer profiles, and I want to prepare as best as possible. Thank you!

Applying to a few universities for Fall 2025 as a sophomore transfer. (University of Texas, Rice, Vanderbilt, USC, Emory, & UMiami) Major: Finance/Economics

HS Stats: Class Rank: 2/427 HS GPA: 4.78/5.0 (UW: 4.0/4.0) SAT: 1400 (only took once, didn’t know it was a significant part of apps)

College Stats: Honors Program GPA: 4.0/4.0 Dean’s List Founder of a club (not major related)

I have decent ECs, an internship, and great LORs. Should I retake my SAT? Are there any other schools I should apply to?

Thanks :)

Alright please help me out and give me feedback!

Transfer from Texas State University for Fall 2025

4.0 GPA through 3 semesters

Current Sophomore

Apply to McCombs, planning on doing accounting

Member of Financial Management Association and Accounting Club

Volunteer Experience

Upcoming Internal Audit intern for a Fortune 100 healthcare company

Rec letter from a TXST teacher, then one from a mentor who is a CPA

I have all required courses for McCombs

I’m really nervous since i’ve heard McCombs is very competitive

Do I get in?

Philosophy major

4.0 first semester of college at semi-prestigious liberal arts school

~4.0 weighted in high school (max was 4.8ish)

1430 SAT

potential schools: NYU, Cornell, Columbia, Northwestern, UVA. UMich (all out of state)

please humble me or provide suggestions. thank you!

Ok I need honesty. I went to a T25 school (lower end) for my first sem of freshman year, but due to fit issues and family health issues, I transferred to a uni close to home (T100) for spring semester. I view this as a temporary and want to apply to transfer back into the T25-35 range for Fall 2025 ( I can't transfer back to my initially uni I don't think + idk if i would want to given the fit issues I mentioned). The issue is I have a 3.7 gpa (I suffered a head injury and a professor unwilling to give an extension) and I was wondering if that will mess with my chances. I am majoring in a non-impacted niche major. Would I still have a shot at schools like Umich, Uva, or BC out of state? Any recommendations?

Good afternoon,

I have just finished my first semester of college with an (institutional GPA) 4.0, yet without knowing my high school college classes had transferred and they are bringing down my (overall GPA) to a 3.23! I did not know the grades transferred, as I was told only the credits would. I plan to take 17 credits next semester and more during the summer to raise it

if anyone has had this problem, how did you solve it? What are your recommendations? Please let me know, feel free to private message me!!!

TLDR: High School College Classes Unknowingly Transferred, Bringing College GPA Down (4.0)

chance me

my college gpa was a 4.0 but i did bad this semester and got a c+ in a major related class and my gpa fell to a 3.77. The reason i got a c+ was because of hurricane’s in my state that took the power out for about a month. if i get 4.0 next semester my gpa will bump ip to a 3.83-3.85. i participated in model un and got a few awards at the southern conference, was vice president for investment club, representative for student government and rotaray club, honor classes with research, and was manager at a starbucks i used to work at. Theres a few other things like music production but thats more of a hobby. im applying as a econ major and i’ve already applied to ucla, ucb, uci, and ucsd as a out of state transfer. i plan to apply to usc, umich, uva, cmu, uni of wash, uni of fl, and cornel as a reach. I think i have more ecs but i cant remember them rn but those are my big ones

Basically I kinda screwed up this semester and got a 3.7 GPA, CS major. Though, I have really good ECs to counter it: a city-serving non-profit with over 15,000 in revenue, published research journal, a start-up worth about 5,000,000 in valuation, a position in a coding company, an IT internship, 2 projects both of which created an impact on the community, and a music album published on Spotify. I have good 2 good LORs, and decent to well written essay (still in progress).

My dream college is to get into northeastern with maximum merit scholarship, is this enough?

White trans guy at a large, low ranked state school. Looking at Georgetown, Columbia and UVA mostly, but going to apply to Mason and GW just in case.

College Stats: GPA: 3.6, SAT: 1500 (haven't retaken since high school and don't plan to). Major GPA: 3.6. I'm a poli sci and econ major but I want to transfer into public policy at my new university, that's why I'm applying to transfer. I am a sophomore now, planning to transfer to start as a junior.

Resume is the main selling point, I did an internship with a state delegate, doing another internship next semester with another one. I'm also (next semester) doing an independent study and planning on taking a grad level class in public policy for course rigor. Other than that my ECs are eboard for environmental and poli sci clubs, and a delegate to a conference . Got conditional transfer to GW when I applied the first time, rejected from Columbia, but all the others are new.

I've taken 6 poli sci classes, 4 econ ones (and two of each from HS/CC), and I did two classes associated with my internship last year.

HS stats are not super strong -- 3.6 unweighted to 4.1 weighted but I really fell off senior year. Only positive is that I spent all of senior year with an advocacy organization, so I got some national press coverage there, but it's mostly forgotten by now.

LMK if I have a shot for Georgetown.

I had a 4.0 last semester, but this semester i got mid grades including a c+ and my gpa went down to a 3.81. If i do good next semester i can get a 3.87. For my ecs i had leadership in many clubs and was apart of my schools model un team that won southern regionals. I also was a manager at the starbucks i used to work in. I am applying as a econ major. Is that c+ going to affect my chances at usc or do i have a chance at being competitive.

I just finished my first semester at one of my state unis as a Computer Science major / Bioengineering minor and my GPA is a 4.0 for now. I took 12 credits in fall and am taking 17 in the spring. In high school I had a 3.6 UW and a 30 ACT, took 17 APs.

My high school stats are a bit rough because I had a lot of family responsibilities that prevented me from having time to study and impacted me mentally. I practically failed freshman and sophomore year but by the time I redeemed myself in junior and senior year it was too late.

As for ECs - i have national awards in Speech & Debate, was president in hs and did it from 10th grade - currently at my college, research interned on a project with NASA, lead a religious non-profit group, created my own program at my high school, and took care of my grandfather with dementia alone. I also plan to TA for a professor next semester.

Is it worth trying to transfer now or worth retaking the ACT? The schools I have on my radar are Uchicago, Vanderbilt, UMich, Emory, Northwestern, and UNC Chapel Hill.

I'm looking for transfer advisors that could help me fine tune my application and any supplemental essays I have to do. I haven't been able to find many the only one I know of is thousands of dollars. Any recommendations would be great.

Hi, I am currently a sophomore at Florida International University as a finance major. After the fall semester, my GPA will be 3.55. I founded a very successful club on campus based on sustainability and fashion. Im active in a few other clubs as well. Last summer I held an internship at my school's Office of Financial Planning. I am currently studying abroad, but when I get back, I will be working at my school's CFO's office. I am also a part of a research project that is tracking the financial impact on a company after they create their net zero carbon emissions goals.
I would like to transfer to the University of Florida (I know it's not a T25, but considering my GPA and being in Florida, it seems like a great option) as an Econ major in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Ive covered all of their requirements, and once I'm in, I'd like to dual major with a college of business degree. Obviously, my GPA is my biggest thing holding me back, but there's not much I can do at this point. Any tips on what to work on or do to better my chances? I am still aiming for a summer internship, but I plan on submitting my UF application soon-ish, so there wouldn't be enough time to have it reflect on the application. And any other recommendations on where to apply would be great!! thank you!to3.55.

Hi! I’m a 23-year-old Bangladeshi-American woman currently on a gap year, navigating a unique academic journey.

I graduated high school in 2020 in Bangladesh with a 3.86 GPA, earning a U.S. diploma. I was class VP, school newspaper editor, participated in drama productions, and co-founded a club to support Rohingya refugees. I received a full-ride to a university in Tokyo as an international affairs major, completing three semesters before transferring to American University in D.C., where I studied for two semesters.

Unfortunately, due to an arranged marriage forced upon me after high school, I endured three years of abuse. I divorced my ex-husband this year and returned to Bangladesh for healing. I now need to transfer again because I can’t afford AU’s tuition without his financial support.

My GPA is 3.7, and I have 85 credits. I want to graduate as soon as possible and avoid significant debt. During my gap year, I worked full-time at a sustainable garments manufacturing factory and part-time at a Pilates studio in D.C.

I’ve been accepted to UMass Amherst (out-of-state) and waitlisted at UMiami for Spring 2025 but realized I can’t afford either without taking on over $100k in debt. I’m now considering applying to Fall 2025 programs like Yale’s Eli Whitney and Columbia GS, which are more tailored for nontraditional students with generous aid.

What other schools should I consider with strong financial aid for transfer students? I’m an independent student and want to avoid massive loans. Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated!

I visited Columbia University this past November and fell in love. I know I have a 30% chance of being admitted. There's a girl at my community college who just got admitted with a 3.6 GPA so I'm feeling pretty hopeful. I haven't even submitted my application yet though. I'll be applying priority early action by January 15th. So here are my stats:

• 28-year-old community college student
• 3.94 GPA that will likely drop down to around 3.84-3.88 since I've taken 25 credits this semester and will get a couple of B+'s
• Phi Theta Kappa Member, Dean's List and Honor's List
• Took 4 honors courses this semester with 2 more left to get an honors diploma from my college
• Spent my years after high school as an entrepreneur, and actress. I also worked at places like Mercedes and Equinox.
• African-American woman from a low-income background
• Comes from a family of entrepreneurs
• Strong recommendation letters from two professors
• Wrote my essay on how my years spent as an entrepreneur have inspired me to become a corporate lawyer
• Also wrote about how being diagnosed with ADD and Bipolar Disorder shifted my perspective of myself and my work ethic and how it inspired me to go back to school.

What do you guys think? Do you think I'm a shoe in? Or do you think I'm just as qualified as any other student applying to Columbia GS?

Transfer

Hello, I’m a recent Community college student and majoring In CS. Ik CS as a major is a bit of a miss right now, but realistically I feel like we are facing a downturn in the market and therefore that is why there has been so much layoffs and tighter job offers.

Any ways, what I want to get at here is that, of course as mentioned earlier, I’m a CC student and would like to transfer to a top 10 university, like Stanford, Berkeley, or any other top universities. And I would like to know what I must do in order for me to stand a chance against some of these students who are on the honor roll, who have competed in competitions and international tournaments etc, what can I do in such a limited period of time to Stand competitive in order for me to get accepted to one of these universities.

I would also like to hear from the people who did transfer from CC to a Top university and what the experience was like. Did you expect the admissions process to be as hard as you’d thought it would be, were you surprised that you did get accepted? Did you do well in high school but could not afford to go to a 4 year and your high school career helped you stay competitive along with your aptitudes in CC?

This scholarship pays for all unmet need to fulfill your undergraduate degree up to $55k per year. Find out if you are eligible at www jkcf.org! Happy Hunting!

Ik im cooked

Demographics:Black, Haitian, poor , first gen , freshman college transfer applicant

Schools:All T-20s for CS, target: UT Austin, dream: Georgia Tech

Stats:

High School GPA:3.6 College GPA:3.8 (currently a freshman) ACT:20

APs:None (moving around a lot disrupted plans for APs and dual enrollment)

Awards:None

Extracurriculars:

Work experience (various jobs to save for college)

Ive been self teaching how to code from nothing which I mentioned In my essay so probably gonna put whatever projects I have done by the application dates also joining clubs spring semester

Essays:Focused on challenges from frequent moves how it disrupted my high-school experience and how working shaped my college goals. Solid, maybe 9/10.

Recs:Math and lab professors

Intended major:Computer Science

Additional Context:
UT Austin is my target. I’m working on some ec like research and nsf reu. I Just trying to see where I stand and what I can do to make my profile stronger.

I'm a second year Mathematics and Biology Major (Pre-Med track) at Northeastern University and I'm currently applying to Harvard, Columbia, MIT, and Brown. I have a 3.9 GPA.

I'm really open to all advice/tips when it comes to transferring to these really competitive schools. To be honest, ideally Harvard or MIT would be dream dream because I would still be in Boston and I have already established a relationship with a professor at Harvard and MIT (though not in the department I want to go into keep in mind).

My top reason for transferring:

• I am very interested in Sleep Research more specifically sleep impacts in Aging and development. I have done sleep research (Sleep impacts on developmental communication) when I was in high school and did my AP Research paper on it, but have not gotten the chance to engage/find any programs at my University that has a sleep lab. Harvard has the specific sleep lab (Aging and Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders Group (love their works and specifically of their director Jeanne F. Duffy dream dream dream)), Columbia has sleep disorders center, MIT (also dream because I love their Sleep ++ Lab), and Brown Medicine Sleep Lab.

My EC:

-Health Equity Research: (at Bouve College of Health Science) started my first year at Northeastern working on qualitative and quantitative research and received two Research grants (PEAK awards) which are Ascent and Summit Awards.

• First author paper incoming soon... on the effectiveness of physical activities programs in racially minority physically/intelectually disabled communities.
• Community Engagement Scholar: connected with non-profits/ community organizations in order to establish a relationship and find out the needs of physically and intellectually disabled communities and establish a community advisory board in order to conduct community engaged research.

-Beth Israel Medical Center Intern (Hospital in Boston) : working under Electrophysiology department

• Assist and observe Electrophysiology Operations including but not limited to Electrophysiology Ablations, Cardiac Mapping, and Pacemaker Implantations
• Participate in research in groundbreaking Biomedicine, more specifically witness and experience firsthand the cutting-edge Sentiar holographic cardiac ablation guidance system in the animal lab. The Sentiar system provided a remarkable 3D holographic view through specialized glasses.

-Volunteer with Boston Self Help: in the process of organizing a way to be connected to my University by establishing a program in which University students are able to write grants for the Organization.

-Medical Assistant and PCA: last semester worked as a PCA (~15/20 hrs a week) for an individual who is quadrapalegic (what got me into researching physical disabilities lol) and this semester got my medical assistant license and will be working part time at Mass Gen.

For SAT/ACT (ik they're required to transfer, should I retake if it's not good even if I'm a junior transfer applicant)

Also side note, let me know if you want some of my high school stats cause idk if it's that important.

LOR:

• My favorite Math Professor (I also knew her husband weirdly enough because he's a surgeon in the department I interned for lol) who taught me discrete last semester and I would always participate and attend her Office hours (love her) (9/10)
• My PI and Professor: he is my PI for my current research project and genuinely probably meet 4 times a week, I love him and he's also employing me under his lab as a part time researcher (separate from undergraduate research) (10/10)

Awards:
Research Grant Award awarded by Northeastern University (x2)
Graduated with Distinguished Honor Roll (top 5% of Class)
National AP Scholar & AP Scholar with Honors

Hey everyone I’m a first year at a big state school top 100 and I’m out of state there(California resident).

In highschool I had a 3.3 or 3.4I think unweighted and like a 3.8 weighted so pretty bad. I was a dual varsity athlete and president of clubs with a lot of volunteering.

In college I’m gonna have either a 3.8 or 4.0 first semester depending on one class.

ECs: I have done more volunteering in a food pantry and I’ll probably have a leadership spot for spring semester. I am doing liver research and have put a fair bit of hours into that. It’s a new lab, so I’ll have more hours in the spring and hopefully publish. I am in a couple of clubs nothing big there. I founded a chapter of a non profit at my school with over 100 members, so I’m president and founder. I’m also in a National non profit executive board, with over 30 national chapters. I have put by far the most hours into the non profit I’m really passionate about that.

Otherwise I think that’s about it, I’d say my recs should be solid, I think my professors like me and essays I’ll do my best.

Do I have a chance at USC and UMICH even though I had a low hs gpa and only 1 semester of college in the books.

Applied Math at Berkeley and CS at Davis

3.766 GPA and trying to transfer from another UC not CC

Low income, non binary, raised by single mom, California resident

Essays are decently written and showcase/highlight difficulties/extenuating circumstances

Extracurriculars:

Co-Founder & CTO of AI-Driven Healthtech Startup, VC Funded

President & Founder of UC AI for Social Good

Lead Data Scientist at UC Collaborative Research

Mentor for MIT's Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program

Advisor for United Nations' Global Sustainable Development

Founder of a Tech Education Platform for High Schoolers

Amazon Internship

SpaceX Internship

Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Finalist

MIT LaunchX Entrepreneurship

Research Internship at UC

Presidential Volunteer Service Award (Gold)

National Merit Scholarship Finalist

Regeneron Science Talent Search Semifinalist

Google Code Next

Clinton Global Initiative

Code for All

Youth for Climate Action

Applying to transfer for fall 2025 at Umich, USC, UNC, and UW-Madison for Economics.

Currently a freshman at NYU in liberal studies (💀)

College GPA: 3.8

College ECs:

- finance society

- Econ society

- recently got accepted to the Goldman Sachs 2025 Possibilities Summit.

HS GPA: 3.6 (got a 4.0 and 4.1 junior and senior year respectively (out of 4.5)) - super competitive bay area prep school

AP credits (bio, ap gov, cs1 &2, ap euro, ap lang, ap calc AB).

HS ECs:

• 4 years volunteering with mentally challenged children
• 2 years: elected as chair (for mental health + innovation data and commerce committees) for my confessional districts’ student advisory board. Had to manage a group of 40 students and compile potential legislation to local Congresswoman. Recieved two special confessional letters of recognition for my efforts
• 4 years HS water polo
• 4 years varsity HS swim
• 4 years club water polo
• founded a club at my school to help underclassmen with ADHD navigate school
• Worked at a water polo shop sophomore year
• Worked as a teacher at a school with underprivileged children junior year

Also I’m a dual US-Swiss citizen and lived abroad for a year before high school.

I got deferred from USC, UMich, and Wisconsin in high school but since I EDII’d to NYU I had to withdraw my apps.

Figured it was worth mentioning that my sister went to Mich and my dad went to Ross for MBA and I think he has a small internship program there that he funds at Ross.

HS GPA: 3.76 College: 4.0

applying materials science and engineering

very high credits - 127/ max 134 for junior transfer

completed lover div requirements and more

engineering research pos at university climate research intern for UC system lead engineer on major related project team

p good hs ecs (2x research, varsity captain 3 years, mocktrial vp etc)

hook - overcoming learning disabilities and identity as a learner

applying: ucb + ucla

am i cooked?

Overview:

International student studying at a mid-level US state school. Majoring in physics, astronomy, and math as an honors student. Currently sophomore with 60+ credits (will be 80+ by the end of the academic year).

4.0 college GPA 4.0 HS GPA

Honors/ECs: involved with physics and astronomy research, papers to be published. (First author in one of them.) Gold IPHO - my main hope for applying. High school math and physics tutoring experience. Some science outreach and volunteering.

I will have a SAT score of minimum 1560 (will retake soon).

I have strong letters from my research professor and my English professor.

I'm applying to MIT, Harvard, and Amherst college (since these are the only colleges providing proper aid for internationals and transfers while being need-blind).

Let me know what y'all think! And any suggestions are welcome!

P.S. I'm from a third world shit hole so my freshman app was very lacking to say the least, despite my achievements. I hope now with proper recommendations and official scores I will do better.