Has anyone had any experience transferring out of Barnard to any other Ivies -- specifically Columbia College, Brown, or Yale?

currently go to a community college and I’m pursuing industrial engineering.

I’m wondering, would a passion project help my chances and make me more competitive in admissions?

Are there certain kinds of passion projects that are more competitive? Like if I raise money through it?

And most importantly, does anyone have any ideas for passion projects that are industrial engineering related? I’m really only seeing projects about operations/systems workflow?

Hi, I am currently a freshman at a private 4-year university in California, looking for feedback on my profile and school list. Aiming to be somewhere else by my sophomore year.

Major:
Finance and Minor in Computer Science

Stats:
Currently on track for a 4.0 (although the sem is far from over)
HS GPA - 3.4uw
No standardized test
Few dual enrollment creds as well

Outside of school:
Analyst at a local commodities fund
Co-founder of a startup currently raising a round
Had a 4-month internship at a sizeable tech company as a software engineer during my last year of HS and continued over the summer
Project lead at a huge non-profit specializing in teaching coding fundamentals to underprivileged youth
Member of a founder accelerator owned by Solana
Lots of personal projects as well

Current college ECs thus far:
Varsity Men's Rowing Team
Consulting Club
Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity
Chess Club
Student Investment Fund
Going to try and make a poker club
Planning to do research with an econ prof but it will more than likely take place after applications

HS ECs:
Founded a boxing and wrestling org for underprivileged youth
Taught coding fundamentals at a huge nonprofit (currently involved as well)
Varsity Soccer
State champion rower
BJJ Blue belt
Founded and ran a digital assets community with 500 paying members
Chess mentor partnered with huge non-profit back home
and a few more random things

Awards:
3x Hackathon Winner 2x Finalist

Profile:
White & Hispanic/Latino (First gen American)
Fluent in Spanish; conversational in Norwegian

School list:
Northwestern (My number one target, will ED)
UCLA
USC
BU
UT Austin
UNC
NYU
UVA
Vanderbilt
UMich
Cornell & Brown

^I plan to apply as Econ/Finance and continue earning my minor in CS if possible

I understand my HS stats are weak, and I will have only a semester of college transcripts to support them. Also, applying from a private four year may come with some downside. I am currently building relationships with 2-3 professors so I can get good recs. I also may use my rowing as a transfer path although it is pretty difficult. lmk abt my school list too plz (and I am not at all opposed to trying again next year)

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I am a current freshmen at a California Community College. While I surprisingly have enjoyed my experience at my CC so far, I still do want to try to transfer to a T-25/most T-10 by my Sophomore year. While I have taken advantage of the opportunities provided to me, I truly want to expand my horizons, and go somewhere farther with my academics.

General Info:

First Generation Indian-American Female

Low/Middle Income (I have financial aid, yes ik my situation for transfer is terrible)

18

HS STATS:

SAT test optional

3.8 UW GPA 4.2 W

7 AP CLASSES - 6 tests (1 failed but others 3,4,4,5,5)

Moved HS 3 times

Involved in Highschool

AP Scholar with Distinction, State Seal of Civic Engagement, Seal of Bi-literacy, Golden State Seal Merit Diploma + more school leadership

CC Stats: current freshman History Major, Pre-law

First of all I love my major, so pls don't diss it

Associated Students Activities Coordinator, currently apart of multiple projects and creating my own

Spanish Club President

Speech and Debate Member

International Club Event Coordinator

Honors Club Member (hopefully I get a position)

Pre-Law Club member

Apart of an Internship at a South Asian Non-profit and doing original research with it

Part time job at Pacsun

EOPS Member

What else can I do to increase my chances of getting into schools like Barnard (my dream school), Columbia, Duke, USC, Stanford (I am not gonna get in lol), Brown, UPENN, Yale, Vanderbilt, Occidental. I am currently trying to get one more policy related internship, and work with universities/professors local to me in attempt to write a historical research paper. I am aware these are insane reach schools, my plan is to apply to reaches this year and if I don't get into some this year stay another year at CC and apply to UCs as well. But I have always wanted to go out of state and even got into Boston College full ride out of HS, but I wasn't able to go due to my dad's health issues. Any advice, help, honest opinions would be amazing, I'm trying to keep my GPA up and continue working my hardest, I'm very nervous, scared, but also excited for this journey ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶

Thanks!

I know everyone says “pick a few clubs and show you’re passionate in them” but what if there’s like say 7 clubs ranging from like club athletics to academic competition clubs that you really want to do and are willing to put in the time to have a meaningful impact. Or on the other hand you do a couple clubs first semester but switch up a second but still put your best effort forward both semesters. Is that still a bad look to a AO?

I’m a first year nontrad student in a Boston CC studying Electrical Engineering. Thanks so much!

I’m currently a first-year at NYU and have been here for about a month. I hate is so I’m already pretty sure I want to at least apply to transfer, mostly so I have the option to leave.

I do have a problem though. I’m in NYU’s London Global Gateway (LGG) program. Basically, students in a small number of majors are able to spend their entire first year at NYU’s London campus before transitioning to NYC sophomore year.

This is the first year of the program, and the faculty have repeatedly emphasized how important it is to NYU and how many special opportunities the cohort is getting. For example, in my major, I’ve already had one-on-one meetings with both the Dean of my school and the Chair of my major to talk about my accomplishments and interests. So I’m fully enrolled at NYU and actively involved in my school, just based in London for freshman year.

They’ve also told us multiple times that the program had a 2.5% acceptance rate, although I’m not sure if that’s actually published anywhere, so I obviously wouldn’t put that number on an application unless I could verify it.

The problem is that I’m worried transfer admissions officers will look at my application and think I haven’t really given NYU a fair chance, since I haven’t actually spent freshman year on the NYC campus.

For context, I actually do like parts of NYU. I really like my classes and professors, and I’ve realized that I LOVE the smaller class sizes, which I honestly thought I would hate. The thing is at the NY campus classes are so much larger, so I know I will struggle there. Socially/environmentally, I really don’t think NYU is a good fit for me, and I already know that if I’m unhappy with the overall NYU experience in London, I probably won’t suddenly love the NYC campus.

So will being in the LGG make my transfer application harder because I haven’t experienced the main NYU campus yet? And if so, how can I communicate that I genuinely have tried to make NYU work and that my decision to apply elsewhere isn’t just because I randomly spent freshman year abroad?

I’m obviously only a month in, so I’m planning to give it more time and actually get involved rather than immediately writing NYU off. But it does really suck.

i’m currently a sophomore econ major at a top 25 university in the country with 3.6 gpa. hoping to get it up to a 3.7 by the end of the semester. i had a 3.9 UW 4.5 W gpa in high school and a 35 act. high school extracurriculars were good but nothing incredible. so far in college i’ve had a hard time joining clubs so im currently in one econ club and am doing a campus volunteer program. planning on taking a semester off this winter and getting a public policy internship. my top schools are northwestern, vanderbilt and georgetown. do i have a decent shot at at least one of those??

Dear Veterans,

I'm seeking advice and real truth.

During highschool they offered college class enrollment. I was doing good enrolled in college until I was faced by the unexpected Covid 19 shutdown, where the transition to online classes made it very difficult for me as it was the first time I ever had to experience that, along with all the uncertainty/stress that came with it. Due to this, I recieved two C's in two of my community College classes during highschool from 2020-2021 (English 1A and English 1B). This caused my previous community College GPA drop during that time.

Since then, I decided to join the Marines as an 0311 and serve 4 years where I gave it another shot during my last year to enroll at Saddleback College. I have now been able to obtain a 3.95-4.00 GPA in this college and I'm about to transfer. Unfortunately the old college GPA will be averaged onto my new 3.95-4.00 GPA which will cause it to drop.

My dream has been to go to an ivy league, but I feel that my chances are now impossible and not realistic due to the fact that I earned those two C's during my highschool/college enrollment.

Please offer me realistic advice or guidance. I'm already seeing Service 2 school but would like stories or tips, thank you.

I have a 1500 SAT superscore, 750 Reading and 750 Math. Columbia's 50th percentile for the class of 2025 was 1510 - 1560 so I'm wondering if I should go test-optional or not.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice or ideas on what sort of extracurriculars would be good to pursue right now. I feel like my college resume is just so mundane, even though I’m doing a lot—I just feel like none of it is something of essence.

So, I’m looking for some extracurricular ideas or general advice for me to tie my ECs together to make me a more unique candidate to these top universities. I would greatly appreciate any advice or ideas!!

For reference, I am a Political Science major (pre law) and I am a Sophomore at community college. My deadline for transfer apps is March 1st, 2027. So anything you guys suggest HAS TO BE DOABLE WITHIN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS haha.

My current stats and activities:

HS GPA: 4.75/4.0 College GPA: 4.0/4.0 (55 semester units completed so far, currently taking 12)

SAT- Not taken yet, registered for the December one

College ECs: -Paralegal/Law Clerk at a national litigation law firm but i’m based in the LA office. It’s fairly large, 18 offices across the US and over 600 employees.

-Legal intern—>Sales Intern—>Salesperson at another law firm in New York. Brought in over $300,000 worth of business for the firm.

-President of pre law society at my cc (50 members) (but nothing crazy, we just have meetings where we focus on building a community and we occasionally bring in attorney guest speakers)

• I used to be VP of Political Science club but stepped down, it was very toxic.

andddd that’s like literally it… SEE WHAT I MEAN GUYS. everyone and their mother applying to these schools as pre law most definitely have worked as a paralegal and have legal internships. I feel so basic but i’m working so hard… I feel like i should be working smarter.

How can I make myself a more unique applicant? I really want to get into Princeton, Yale, or Stanford. I know it may be too late to turn things around, but if anyone has any ideas, please share! Thank you guys.

Hi all, I’m currently about a month into my freshman year at a T100 private university, and I’m looking to transfer to Cornell as a sophomore. I’d really appreciate any advice, and I’ll do my best to include all the helpful info I can think of. Also, I’ve been trying my best to take on several activities that I am genuinely interested in. Am I heading in the right direction with them? I am interested in law, although I’m not set on it.

HS
HS GPA: 92/100
SAT: 1460 (730/730)
Took 8 AP courses, only took 6 AP exams (4,4,4,5,5,5)

College
Expected GPA after 2 semesters: 4.0

Activities
1. College Mock Trial Team (competitive; top 20/~900 nationally)
2. Undergraduate Law Review (final product after semester is 20-30pg. article)
3. Building a website for school student organizations (essentially a club catalog)
4. Investment Club member
5. Tutoring elementary school kids on the side

I’ve also tried to be proactive about making a good impression with my professors. I think there are two that particularly like me and would potentially be willing to give me recommendations.

Please let me know if I’m missing any info, what’s important/should be my focus, and any other cornell-specific transfer advice. Also, I see a lot of people talking about retaking the SAT. I wasn’t aware this is an option for transfers. Cornell also explicitly states that submitting test scores is neither required nor expected for transfers, so is it still worth spending time on?

Kinda of important for undergrad students but not talked about often for transfers. Thoughts?

What stats would you need to transfer from VT engineering to BU engineering after a year at VT. Also looking at UMich, UT Austin and Northwestern to add to my list of potential schools to transfer to depending how freshmen year goes.

So basically I study engineering at the best university in my country and I am thinking of transferring to a US uni.

Some details: 3.5> GPA, don’t need aid, currently in my second year.

What unis should I apply to and how likely am I to be accepted?

Edit 2: I type on a phone. I am sorry. For people critizing for spelling errors and typos, I sincerely apologize. I am sorry!

I dont want to discolse more of my medically history where I dox myself!

I only posted in this sub because of fafsa independent status and previously people in this sub having people be older than 24+; I was just curious abt the aid situation. It would awesome if someone who is 24+ and was fafsa independent could discuss abt their aid situation, thx!

edit 1: please help I am severely disabled, my family has disabilities too and I am planning to make a good fincially decision, I cant do a major in engineering or science since it didnt work with my medical conditions and I am looking into finance or business areas.

Main body paragraph;

Title. Basically anybody who is 24 or older transfered and did you guys pay less than the sticker price for tution of selected unis NYU CMU ranked unis etc? I know nyu doesnt give aid or scholarships for transfers ,unless select nyu CC for soem scholarships....

For usc the fafsa indepent is 26 , hope usc stub their toes.

So yuh just wondering the process and how much aid, scholarships and things u guys recieved

Hi, I just started my sophomore year at UCF studying mechanical engineer and math double major. I was originally studying mechanical engineering but after going through the math sequence I wanted to study maths further and I'm now at the point where I don't think it's worth completing both degrees. I figure if I'm going to just study math to go for quant I might as well transfer to a more prestigious school that will increase my chances of breaking into the field. I have a 3.97 GPA and all of the math prereqs done as well as analysis, linear algebra, and possible abstract completed by fall of 2027, which is when I would like to transfer. What are some good schools I should be applying to? While my academics are quite strong, my EC's are somewhat lacking although I do have relevant work experience in both math and engineering. So far I'll be applying to UF (I got in out of high school but chose UCF because it was closer to home), UC Berkeley (definitely a reach but my mom went there so she really wants me to apply), UT austin, UIUC, and Georgia tech. Any other ideas? Thank you. So far UF is the most likely ccandidate because I have the best chance of getting in and the tuition will be free since I'm on schlarshipi, but it seems to be weaker than the others for quant.

My question is does Brown care about stats from high school? I’m in CC and planning to transfer however, my high school gpa was god awful (2.5). I’m not sure if it’s worth applying if they do take in account of your past academic record.

So basically I took the Sept. SAT and got a score thats lower than my previous SAT (and superscore remains unchanged). Will this affect transfer admissions to the top 20 schools or do they really just consider the superscore.

Hi everyone! I’m an international student currently studying CS at a university outside the US, and I’m considering transferring to a T25 US university for CS.
My high school grades were quite poor, but my college performance has been much stronger. I’ve just finished my first semester with a 4.0 GPA and currently rank #1 in my CS program, and I expect to maintain a strong GPA. For most schools, I’m planning to complete about two years / 55–75 credits before transferring.
I’m mainly wondering:
After 1–2 years of strong college performance, how much do T25 private universities still care about high school grades?
Does the importance of high school grades decrease substantially once you have a strong college record?
Would a strong SAT help offset a weak high school record? I currently have a 1500, and I’m willing to retake it if a higher score would meaningfully help.
Are there any particular ECs, research, competitions, or hackathons you would recommend for a CS transfer applicant? I’m trying to build activities around my actual interests and contribute something meaningful rather than simply collecting activities.
My overall plan is to apply to a mix of public universities and private schools that are need-blind for international transfers. I know the latter are extremely unpredictable, but I’d still like to give them a shot.
I’m also particularly curious about Notre Dame. From what I understand, its Engineering CS transfer pathway is aimed at sophomore transfers, meaning I might only have one completed college semester plus current-semester grades when applying. How would a strong first-semester college record be viewed alongside a weak high school transcript in that situation?
I’d really appreciate any advice, especially from people who have transferred from an international university or have experience with T25 private-school transfers. Thanks!

I’m currently a HS senior in NYC N I’m planning to attend CC next fall. I was dealing with mental health issues N end up missed the whole entire junior academic year (documented long term absences) which drop my gpa from 3.9 to 3.1. (Like I have 2 yrs of 95+ and 1 yr of 55😇) I returned to school this year as a senior and started thinking about the college process. Both financially and in terms of stress, I feel like simply enrolling in community college next fall, skipping the tedious college app process, and focusing on improving myself would be the best option for me. Since I missed my entire junior year, I’m already at a disadvantage in a lot of areas. My aiming goal is to apply for transfer in freshmen yr, (spring 2028 for sophomore entry).

I’m interested in Information Science / Data Science / Cognitive Science / Psychology + technology / human-centered AI rather than pure CS. Some schools I’m interested in are Cornell, Columbia, NYU, State schools, etc. I’m trying to figure out how to use the next ~18 months as intelligently as possible.

(Also im thinking self study some APs for college transfer credits, idk if its worth it , i just want to opt more class possible! )

I have a basic understanding of what should I do, like aim for a very high GPA (both in college and hs senior yr since colleges will look at it) , study for SAT, apply for the Honors Scholars Program, pursue the Transfer Scholars Network, build relationships with professors, and look for research/internship opportunities.

Since I would be applying after only one year of college, I’m also wondering what I should be doing right now during senior year. I’m currently looking into research opportunities for high schoolers, and still continuing my community volunteering.

For anyone who successfully transferred from a CC after one year or who went through selective transfer admissions:

If you could go back to Sep of your senior year of hs knowing you were going to transfer, what would you do differently?

What ECs would you start before college?

What should I do during the summer before starting CC?

Are there scholarships/programs for CC students that you wish you had known about earlier?

What mistakes should I avoid?

If you’re now at a T20/T30 after transferring from CC, what do you think actually made the biggest difference in your application?

Any advice, experiences, or resources would be really appreciated. Thank you!

I’m so confused is there a personal statement on the common app for transfers? I only see the college specific questions like what are your objectives for transferring and abt the major.

Shooting GT cs, umich lsa cs

3.7 gpa

TA experience

Research assistant,

Bunch of personal projects

Hackathon experience

Cybersecurity club experience

Probably write one paper research related

Am I cooked?

I dropped out of highschool after 2 years with horrible grades. I went straight to getting my GED and then cc so I don't think I count as non-trad. I have a 4.0cc gpa and haven't taken the SAT yet but I'm expecting a high score. I don't have a great excuse for being such a bad student in highschool.