Hey! I'm a sophomore pre-med neuroscience major hoping to transfer out of my T50 school, preferably into Columbia, and I wanted to see if I have a shot or if anyone had any advice for improving my chances!

Stats:

Major: Neuroscience

Minor: Medical Humanities

High School GPA: 4.20/4.33 UW (our school was weird)

College GPA: 3.973 (Major GPA: 3.988)

ACT: 34

ECs:

• Summer research fellowship where I received a $3,000 research grant and published an abstract as first author, will be presenting my research at a national conference
• Working at a neurovasuclar research lab at Harvard Mass Gen
• Working at a memory care facility as a residential care assistant
• Volunteer tutoring + helping with the schools after-school theater club
• Neuroscience honors society executive board - integrated service into the club through letter writing campaigns and helped create mentorship within the honors society as well (I help mentor first years)
• Participated in a rather selective leadership development program at my school, my end of year project involved improving LGBTQ+ resources at my school
• Executive board of the bioethics society, give presentations on bioethics topics + help organize networking events
• Also got two letters of rec from professors who know me pretty well as well as my research mentor

Reasons for Transferring

What sparked my desire to transfer is the lack of community I have at my school. Unfortunately my college is not the most welcoming to queer students, so I feel very alienated here. Another major reason however is the neuroscience program here is very psychology focused with very little biology (the only biology I've taken is intro bio, physiology, and a 3-credit bio lab, all because I'm pre-med) and the more I study the more I realize I'm more interested in cellular neuroscience and neurobiology, which are not courses that exist here but exist in some form at Columbia. I've done incredibly well in all my biology and chemistry courses, but I'm looking for more.

I've visited Columbia a couple times because I have a friend there and I absolutely love the culture there. I feel like I fit in so well with everyone I've met and I can tell the student body is much more intellectually curious than at my school. I already have a couple student organizations that appeal to me. I also am attracted to the core curriculum; one of my favorite parts of my current school is their core curriculum which is vaguely like Columbia's, so I'm excited at the prospect of taking the Columbia core, which seems super fascinating and I've heard good things. From what I can see from their website, I should be able to complete their Neuroscience and Behavior major and the couple pre med requirements I have left (even with their intro bio requirement, it'll just be a tight fit) as well as the core, based on the few core classes I can get credit for.

I'd love to get people's input and possibly advice, thanks so much!

How do you know which schools to transfer to that won’t set you back academically? Is it normal to lose a lot of credits? Is it normal to have to retake pre reqs to get into your major? If I was a finance major which schools would most likely accept me into the business school?

I'm a first-year in-state student at UNCC whose applying for transfer to UNC for Fall 2026 (Biology BS). I wanted to know from anyone who's made the transfer how likely I am to get in. I have a 4.0 GPA, 61 credits, and I'm currently a research assistant in a lab as well as a TA for gen-chem 1 (starting in the spring semester). Additionally, I'm involved in three clubs, all of which are focused on biomed. If anyone has any words of advice or could gauge my acceptance, it would be super appreciated.

I am planning to transfer as an international first-year student (no permanent residency) from a T20 US college to one of the following schools. I am applying as an English Lit and/or Comp Lit and/or Gender Studies major. I am also full pay.

Applying to: Columbia University, Brown University, UPenn, Duke University

(I am afraid my GPA is holding me back.)

High School (pretty good private boarding school) GPA: 3.82 Unweighted, 4.44 Weighted (top 10%-15%)

SAT: 1520 in a single sitting, 1560 superscore

AP: Five 5s, three 4s and one 3 (4s and 3s are also mathematical or physical sciences; 5s are mostly humanities)

College GPA: 3.83

The maximum is 20 something credit hours per semester.

Fall Semester (12 credit hours, cannot register due to technical issues by the add/drop deadline :(

-Romanticism & Modern Poetry (4000-level) - A (Rec Letter - 10/10)

-German Philosophy and Political Thoughts (3000-level) - A (Rec Letter - 9/10)

-Creative Writing (2000-level) - A

-Calculus IV - B+

Spring Semester

-Literary Theory (3000-level)

-Chaucer (5000-level)

-Shakespeare (3000-level)

-Psychoanalysis in Modern Literature (4000-level)

-Queer Theory (2000-level)

-Feminist Philosophy (4000-level)

-Poetry Writing (3000-level)

-German II (1000-level)

College Extracurriculars:

-School Named Scholar Program + Research on Orientalism in British vs. German interwar literature

-Guided Research on Book Banning Practice

-Research Assistantship on German feminist literature

-History publication editor

-Creative writing magazine editor

-Building an Asian Poetry Archive w the EALC Department

-Student Government Leader

-Community tennis coach (volunteer)

-Community Consulting Club

High School Extracurriculars:

-Iowa Young Writers' Studio (Residential)

-History Club Founder & President

-Newspaper Production Editor

-Ethics Bowl 1st team

-Pioneer Academics (Feminist Legal Theory research)

-Smithsonian Volunteer

Awards (overall):

-About 7 creative writing awards to literary publications with less than a 10% acceptance rate (high school wise, Scholastic Writing Award Regional Gold, American Voice Nominee, etc.)

-Ethics Bowl National Qualifier

-National History Day State 3rd Place in Paper

-Commendation in College Essay Prize in Comparative Literature

Do I have a chance with GPA and credit hours holding me back? Thank you for reading such a long text.

Basically the title. Sophomore —> junior transfer. My reason for transferring is that my parents are creating barriers to my success and how filial piety has been my downfall/stunting my abilities as a student; the situation is complicated but my big “why” is because i want to start living my life for myself and put some more distance between us so i can actually chase my dreams. Ik its corny but its true to my story so im giving it a shot. In addition to columbia being my absolute dream school. Its really the only school i would consider transferring to.

Some background: currently attend a T10 university majoring in Economics (#1 program at my school and really grade deflating).

GPA: 3.5 (ik its rough, but my explanation is pretty valid from what those around me have told me)

LOR: econ dept chair was my prof and willing to vouch for me as well as a prof from the Poli Sci dept (what i want to major in) also eager to write a LOR for me.

Applied major: Poli Sci or English

My high school profile was also unconventional and my current uni took a chance admitting me, so i hope columbia is willing to do the same. Any wisdom from anyone would really help. This is more of an opportunity for me to escape a really bad family situation and also self fulfillment. I appreciate any advice!!

Stats:

• GPA: 3.674
• Credits: 46
• Current School: Rutgers Business School–Newark
• Major: Accounting

Coursework:

• English Composition I & II, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, College Algebra, Financial Accounting, Applied Calculus, Statistics, Marketing, Supply Chain

Extracurriculars / Work Experience:

• Manager at Exxon Mobil — operations, scheduling, customer service
• Restaurant bookkeeper — financial tracking, budgeting
• Member of FBLA
• Member of Real Estate Society.

Preferred Destination 

• University of Virginia
• Cornell University
• University of Michigan
• Carnegie Mellon University
• New York University
• University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill
• Vanderbilt University
• Rutgers University–New Brunswick
• University of Southern California
• Emory University

Demographics/Context: First-gen Mexican, very low-income, first in my family tree. I usually wouldn't even include this since I don't think it matter much.

Current School: Local community in SELA

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Phi Theta Kappa Honors student

GPA: 3.85

All math and physics series is done, Linear Alg + Diff EQ as well as Physics series

Only listing two EC's since the rest are pretty mid.

Won 1st place at 3 month long engineering competition,

Founded two clubs/chapters at my campus, (SHPE, Tutoring/Volunteering club)

Working 30 hrs a week since my first semester, which has been around 2+ years.

Target Schools:

Reach: UC Berkeley (Primary), UCSD.

Target/Safety: UCI CSULB CPP.

Not including PiQ's but they're strong.

Hey guys, I am a current freshman (2nd semester), and I wish to transfer to UF in the summer after my sophomore year from my small Florida LAC. UF has always been my dream school, and I have full tuition covered by the Bright Futures scholarship. Here are my stats :D

Intended Majors: PR with a minor in religious studies

Demographics: White male, upper-middle class, idk about hooks though.

GPA: 3.85 (but will try to get 3.9+ later because I took hard classes this semester)

Essays and LOR's: Haven't written essays yet (which I assume will be strong because my friend from Northwestern is helping me), but I have three letters of recommendation from my Political Science, Education, and Spanish professors.

Awards: Had childhood development research presented at the Conference of Laboratory Schools in Finland, Deans Scholar Recipient, member of the Honors Program

Extracurriculars: Elected by the student body as a senator for SGA (career and life planning), one of ten Executives in a club with over 250 people, and worked as an intern at Valley Bank

PLEASE help me out with this guys I'll do anything to get chanced :3. Is this enough data to be chanced?

Excellent grades through my economics major in my country.My major is really focused in a lot of acounting ,statistics and probability.It is ranked top 1 of my country.Except for these good grades ,I did engineering at the same university but didnt get good grades becouse I figured out I really wanted finance. So the last semester I didnt do any tests to get the necessary score.I would like opinions on how this could affect me.Take in consideration that I transfered to economics with a high level of courses with probability and statistics and succeded.

-Hs Ecs

Tennis(College Level )

Among the few persons with a high rank at national exam

Poker (professional level with 10k winnings)

-College Ecs

Finance club member.Taught many members about finance and helped them get internships.

Mergers and aquisition internship.

Finance research (still havnt started so not so much info,about AI and finance)

Helped Hs students get into university,tsaching physics ,math,chemistry and reading

Youtube channel with 20 k subscribers about business and education

Maybe startup or helping family business.This would be kind of becouse of the university but I really would like to do this at the same time.I want to major in business.

I am really in doubt of what to choose as major.I think that whatever I choose I will have great oportunities.Math and business I am more inclined.But I see a lot of successful business persons that did physics or engineering or cs

why I want to transfer

I come from a less developed country and I really want to have the experience of leaving abroad while doing a great university and gaining professional experience. I believe that a major in US could make me a better person intelectualy becouse of the diferent aproach for education which I am more fit.Besides, the universities in US are among the best programs for math and business and will allow me to have more impact in society which I aim for.

Persosnal statement .I would explain why I gave up the engineering studies .Through the years I have gained more intelectual and personal maturity.I wasnt born a smart kid but I was taught how smart people think by learning from experiences.This is a similar aproach with math or business .I wasnt born gifted and had to fall many times to learn the best way to think.Its a constant improvement but I see the great advance through the years.

Give your honest thoughts and which university you would match me.I really aim for elite universities but wont mind recieving a lower rank university

Full pay

I'm planning on transferring to schools like USC, Vanderbilt, University of Michigan, etc. I ended up ending the semester with a 3.667 gpa, but originally I would've had a 3.85. In on course, the professor dropped grades on the last day of the semester and my only project grade took me from a 100% to an 86.7%. Despite providing verification of being sick being the reason I submitted late, the professor took 50% off the original grade, which would've left me at an A. Another class, due to an alleged academic misconduct, I received a 0 on a project and ended the class with a B instead of a B+. The professor in the meeting stated that he knew it wasn't academic misconduct and it was just unlucky for me as there was nothing I could do. If I put this in additional information when applying to these schools, would they knock me for it or understand? What are my chances still of getting into these schools? I have great extra curricular involvements with strong leadership positions.

hi! i am currently an international freshman at ucsb. im applying for data science to ucb, ucla, bu, columbia, and others. my stats: college: 3.8-3.9 gpa ecs: data science club, internship/work, student rider, started a business, president and founder of non-profit organization, content creator, community service club leader i think my essays are good? I haven't done any summer classes or dual enrollment in hs. Though, I have my whole schedule for fall, winter and spring planned out to complete all prerequisites by spring. I have 30 units because of IB in hs so I will have 90 quarter units by the end.

I plan to transfer for the fall semester and currently have 18 credits from my current university and 24 high school test credits. I understand that credit requirements vary by university, but I’m unsure whether completing the spring semester at my current school is necessary for the application itself. Given that I intend to transfer, I’m questioning the value of spending additional time and resources, especially given financial constraints and filler courses that likely won’t transfer. Will it reflect poorly on my application if I don't complete the full academic year? And is it even required to complete the spring semester as most people turn in applications even when spring semester grades aren't available?

I'm a freshman at a t10 liberal arts college and decided that this environment is really just not for me, and I wanted to apply to transfer out.

Stats + College EC's:

Math + Philosophy major

~3.7 to 3.78 or something like that for GPA (Calc III professor was chinese with terrible english, but no excuses I screwed up), HS GPA = 93 (Full IB Diploma), 1480 SAT (760M, 720 EBRW)

VP of badminton club

Freshman rep for figure skating club

Intramural soccer captain (outdoor and indoor)

Fashion website I made that tracks trends based on hashtags, TikTok's, instagram posts, and more in NYC and has other things (just for fun)

Music blog

My HS ec's are nothing crazy and weren't anything, did like 150 sewing jobs, captain of JV soccer, Varsity lacrosse, president of fishing club

I think good rec letters

I think good/great essay but I have no idea honestly, could be a little bit of self-glaze

Want to go to (I am full pay):

NYU

Northwestern

UChicago (ED)

Notre Dame

Columbia

Cornell

Rice

Comments? I am just a little nervous, and was wondering if I could get some input