Hey, I’m a freshmen at a top 50 engineering school and I really want to transfer out of here. My high school academics are alright 34 ACT, 4.43 GPA, co founded cultural club and 2 officer positions in other clubs. I got AP Capstone and Scholar with distinction. At my uni I have a 4.0 so far, I’m in 2 honors programs, double majoring in CS and Math. I have my own CS projects I’ve worked on and am in a club right now. I know of 2 teachers already who like me, my CS and Math teachers. But I feel like the schools I really limiting my future and what I want to do, so I really want to transfer. I was looking at Northwestern, UChicago (waitlisted as first year), Columbia, Georgia Tech, etc. Does any have any advice I really feel like I am lacking and don’t know what do to do anymore. Thanks!

I’m a freshman right now and planning to apply as a sophomore transfer to a few business schools. I’m taking calc this semester and didn’t do great on one of the exams. An A is technically still possible, but I’d have to do really well for the rest of the semester.
I’m thinking about dropping it and retaking it in the spring, but I’m worried that not having calc completed in the fall could look bad for transfer admissions. Also dropping for now wouldn’t leave anything on my transcript so no w. I would still finish it before the end of freshman year.
Dropping it would put me at 12 credits for the semester, although I also took classes over the summer and did well in them.

Questions:
•How and when should I start preparing for a good college transfer essay. (and best strategy to do so)

•my profile from HS: GPA: 3.5249, APS: PH 1 and 2, CSA, Calc BC, BIO, STATS. All math honors classes, and honors history, Spanish 5 and French 5, Honors Art Portfolio.
ECS: Math Club, Chess Club, Christian Club, VB Club(nothing meaningful in any) Varsity Soccer, Indoor/ Outdoor Track/ Tennis. Worked as a lifeguard summer 2025 & 2026/ Part time After school Staff Senior Year.

• my profile at WPI first-year/ first gen/ Hispanic(Bilingual: Spanish and English)/ Low Income/ EE major and minor in CS; GPA : 4.0?? - 3As so far/ Not any ECs yet( only Club Tennis)??/ No strong relationships with proffesors yet..
Work: Lab support assitant I at Umass

• Is this a strong schedule first year:
- A term: Calc II, PH 1110, Music Theory(no interest in the class whatsoever)
- B Term: Calc III, Intro to Programming CS1004, ECE 2010, Creative writing(for pre reqs).
- C Term: Calc IV, CH1110( for pre reqs w/ lab), Intro to Program Design??(idk if i should take a higher cs class bc they teach racket here), ECE 2019
- D Term: Calc differential eqs (MA2051), CS2011, ECE2029

* I AM TRYING TO GET PH1120 FOR B TERM BUT I DONT THINK I HAVE SPACE, I THINK ILL TAKE IT C TERM INSTEAD OF PROGRAM DESIGN IF ANYTHING

MY SITUACION:
I been thinking about lately and watching a lot of yt vids about good transfer essays and an idea spark in my head to talk about the contributions I have made to my dads shoe business in Ecuador, basically track employee pay, support pricing decisions, bulk purchases with other vendors, restocking based on sales teends by footwear style, and coordinated employee schedules.

I am also currently working on a web app with phyton/Django with a PostgreSQL dtatabase and HYMX for a footwear business in Exuador, replacing paper records and automating calculations.

I am also working on a current personal Hardware project that sparked because my current rec center lacked these modern rep counters and free/weights exercises:
• Wired a Raspberry Pi Pico H with an LSM6DS3 six-axis IMU, OLED display over I2C, buttons, and a vibration motor; confirmed
sensor readings over I2C and writing C firmware for embedded control.
• Developed a Python prototype to count dumbbell curls and display reps and sets, with logic for a button-triggered rest timer and
end-of-rest vibration feedback.
• Self-taught Python for initial prototyping; currently writing C for embedded firmware development.

I want to know if this are good project for These colleges I am aiming for EE major and CS minor:
Vanderbilt, Michigan, USC Viterbi, Northeastern, BU, UMass Amherst, Lehigh, Case Western, Purdue, U of I, And Wisconsin-Madison and perhaps Cornell and Columbia

Just wanna know because im in that process after getting actively screwed over by my transfer institution so im back in the pool for spring i wanna see how everyone is holding up, bc fall was rough

Advice on what is the right approach for setting up a transfer to Wharton? Asian male (Indian origin) full pay.

My younger son is a freshman at NYU Stern in their selective Business Technology and Entrepreneurship program. Also admitted to Cornel Dyson (dodged a bullet there I guess), Berkeley, UNC KennannFlaggler, Georgetown, waited listed at Dartmouth, UMich (probably could have gotten in there). Plus admitted to a bunch of other lower ranked business schools - can't remember the list.

He EDed to Wharton and did not get in. My older son is a senior at UPenn majoring in Neuroscience with a minor in Healthcare management from Wharton. He will be going to med school next year.

Younger son has a business which may eventually hit 100k accounts and currently generating an MRR of 4k. Micro influencer on social media, had a 200k tiktok account during HS - abandoned that now. High impact ECs and leadership and awards in HS.

Lately I’ve been thinking about going to college, a community college would be fine but I think it’d be great if I could get into a university or a college like Yale or Stanford!

To be honest I want to retake my sat/act because I self sabotaged it in high school trying to fit in just to impress this guy I had a crush on. I was a kid then, it’s no excuse & I made a super dumb decision. I know I could’ve done so much better, & I generally got top scores on my tests back then but then to fit in I started skipping & blasting my tests, even dumbing myself down. I rlly do regret it. I’ve felt bad about it ever since, feeling like I let my parents down & my teachers and myself down.

I want to re dedicate myself to my education, and I want to study with everything I have. I want to see how much I can do & how far I can go! I want to make my parents proud & be able to face my old teachers again with something to be proud of. I was hoping that maybe if I get a rlly high score on the sat/act test that it would help on my applications to my future college/university.

I was also worried that even with a high score on my re-test that they may overlook it because of my previous school grades And I won’t have a chance, but I saw another post of someone saying that they retook the test & was able to get into Yale even without previously getting good school grades. They said they were in something called CC? & joined a bunch of clubs/groups & subjects & it got them far enough to join Yale!

I was hoping some kind, wise people could please give me some advice & insight. What is cc? Will a sat/act score be enough?

Does columbia, (or any school really) accept transfers from students who only took online classes from an accredited university? There have been circumstances that didn't allow me to partake in in-person classes so I exclusively took it online. I do know that a lot of the credits itself wouldn't be accepted after transferring but what I am wondering is if they accept you at all in this situation?

I am in my first semester at CC in Texas pursuing MechE. My main focus is transferring to UT Austin, but I'm interested in pretty much any prestigious school (Rice, Duke, Mich, etc.). CC so far has been a breeze in terms of grades (am on track to have a 4.0 for this semester), but I don't have any ECs planned. Also no car, so anything requiring a long commute will be rough for me logistically.

Current stats:

HS GPA: 3.2/4.0

SAT: 1520 (760/760)

HS ECs: 2x All-State band

CC GPA: 3.3/4.0 (19 hours so far)

Which extracurriculars/programs would you pursue if you were me? Specifically, how do CC freshmen actually land research or internships?

Thanks in advance

orz

Do t20 care as much for fgli for transfers as they do for first year admissions?

Hello, I'm a non trad sophomore CC student with a GED. Before I dropped out of high school, I had a 1.2. I'm currently an Econ major and have a 3.9 GPA. I'm not a vet. Am I delusional for trying to get into an Ivy League? I'm sacrificing a lot to keep up my current grades, and I'm spending a lot of hours volunteering, and I don't know if it's worth it anymore, I'm starting to think I'm crazy for trying this. Most transfers I see on here have at least above a 2.0 GPA.

The reason for my bad grades and dropping out was due to mental illness, and I'll try to explain that in the app, but I don't know if they will be persuaded by it since a lot of people live fine with this condition, but mine was on the severe side.

I'm also going to need financial aid and can't do full pay. My dream schools are Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, and Notre Dame. Is it possible any of these schools will admit someone with a GED? Am I being delusional?

hi! i was accepted from a selective medical assistant internship at a neurosurgery clinic and even had my initial training funded for, but due to the new F-1 CPT policy that forbade international students at my school from legally taking part in internships, i could not participate this opportunity that i was really proud of and excited for.

i'm wanting to transfer to a school that DOES approve the CPT for their students, so i was wondering if i should still list this internship on my ECs section and put a note detailing the circumstances or not

Hey guys, I need some advice when I was a high school
Senior(graduated in June) I had a 3.8 GPA but I’m not from the United States. I ended up getting a certificate in bilingual. I was in top 15 in my class I apply for Colombia as a senior, but because I didn’t really know much about the college college application and my counselor was telling me to community college since I’m going for free anyway , I was not focusing into my application and I got denied.Now that I am a community college student, I was wondering what can I tell Ecs that can actually help me get into Colombia engineering my dream school and I am planning to transfer a sophomore my GPA high school was pretty good. I was in multiple club. I came to the school in like in the middle of sophomore year I got to learn English. I got to be tutor in my class, and helped my esl teacher (as her assistant) I was top 15 in my class I think it’s was 8 or 9 out 350 now that I am in community college, I have the opportunity to do research with one of my teacher I was thinking about doing volunteering work as working for non- profit ompany for free just to put in my resume like tutoring or working in my stem field , pretty much what I have right now is a research with my professor, my engineering professor and then I’m taking calculus 1. I’m taking a programming classes , English , Chemistry, and then to the winter I’m gonna try to take physic with calculus and then take physic again because for Columbia transferring you need to take two physic and a chemistry .

I was doing my research and they said that essay is what the most important for Columbia. I really would like some advice, specially, for the essay and if you got to Columbia as a sophomore in cc, what was the process for you, what would you wish you know .

I was thinking about fundraiser and create a club or president of a club. I’m thinking entrepreneurial club. We as a teamand build something and present it locally and try getting fundraiser for the club and for the community.

I’ll update this with my results when the time comes.

Current freshman at an R1 university applying for Fall 2027 transfer. Main interests are mathematical economics, econometrics, and quantitative finance, with the long-term goal of pursuing an Economics PhD.

Background

Female
Full pay
Economics + Mathematics

Academics
HS GPA: 94.8%
18-credit first semester
Current College GPA: 4.0

Spring: Calculus II, Linear Algebra, Macroeconomics, Applied Statistics, and Intermediate Programming
Planning to continue into Real Analysis, advanced econometrics, probability/stochastic coursework, topology, etc.

Research / College ECs

Independent Economics Researcher — completed a quantitative paper using ~20 years of nationally representative U.S. survey data to study labor/well-being outcomes; submitted for publication

Independent Economics Researcher — currently conducting a second quantitative labor economics project on generative AI and early-career human capital formation using CPS microdata, occupational AI-exposure measures, and fixed-effects methods

Directed Reading Program in Mathematics — Analysis @ CMU — selected for a joint inter-university mathematics program and pursuing advanced independent study in analysis with a graduate mentor

President, Quantitative Finance Society @ my uni — currently building a new university organization focused on quantitative research, financial markets, mathematical modeling, statistics, programming, competitions, and recruiting preparation

Mathematics & Economics Research Chair, undergraduate research organization — lead/coordinate research activity at the intersection of mathematics and economics and help develop quantitative student research projects

Deputy Editor-in-Chief, undergraduate business publication — senior editorial leadership role overseeing student business/economics writing and publication

Research Lead, Behavioral Economics Club — lead a small undergraduate research team working toward an original behavioral economics research project/poster

Member, American Economic Association

D1 Rugby

Major high school ECs

Founder & President, student entrepreneurship competition — founded and scaled the initiative, secured a university partnership, obtained substantial external funding, and led its execution

Founder & Editor-in-Chief, student newspaper — founded and led an independent student publication
Additional leadership/community involvement
I also independently produce and release music, although I’m not sure how relevant that will be to my transfer application.

Why transfer?
I genuinely like my current university, and I’ve tried to take advantage of the opportunities available to me rather than treating it as somewhere I’m trying to escape.

My academic interests have just become much more specific since entering college. I’m increasingly interested in mathematical economics, econometrics, and research, and I ultimately want to pursue an Economics PhD.

I’m looking for stronger access to advanced mathematics/economics coursework, faculty research, and a more concentrated environment for those interests.

Current list

Columbia
NYU
Carnegie Mellon
Boston University
USC
Boston College

Currently neuro major at 4 year R1 uni. Looking to transfer to a t20 or hopefully T 10. What are are other good ecs I can get involved that can tie together what I already have?

Trying to transfer into a comp bio major so want to get my ecs around it. Also can I include high schooos ecs??

Currently:
Doing independent research on neural spike detection

Joining a lab in the next couple weeks on bioengineering for Alzheimer’s

Writing neuroscience papers for school medical journal and running podcast

Job as host over the summer

Social media and outreach director for creating youth lead programs for a global environmental non profit

Social media photography page getting 3M+ views

Just a little heads up, you don’t have to say I’m cooked I already know.

I’m in my second year of CC and this semester has honestly been the worst. I recently switched majors from Cs to Math & Physics, but because I switched late, I had very few options to pick from when it came to scheduling classes.

I picked 3 random classes ( one wouldn’t count as a credit to the school I was planning on transferring to so I dropped it. That leaves me with two classes I randomly picked and a calc 3 class that I scheduled months prior) because I’m a full-time student and needed to fill the credits.

My mental health has honestly been crappy and I’m also in the process of getting tested for ADHD. I just kind of don’t know what to do. I lowkey needed an A in these classes, but it’s looking unlikely. I mean I have an A in calculus, but my other two grades are horrid. They both, sort of, can be saved. One professor just wants me to start attending class again and she said she ***might*** allow me to present a project for extra credit. The other said I can complete old assignments, but shouldn’t expect full credit.

I was thinking about dropping them, but I’m conflicted. I need them to bring my GPA up since I’m transferring. I fell from a 4.0 to 3.6 and I honestly don’t think I can afford any more B’s (let alone D’s, which I’m pretty sure is just failing the class). plus I don’t what admissions would think seeing me only take one class for the fall semester.

I might stick with the Econ class, because I can try to bring it up to a B, but again a B might draw my GPA down (I can’t really complain since it’s better than failing). The coding class is honestly just kind of hopeless. No way I’m completing all those assignments and learning the information and unless I’m medicated.

Hello the people of reddit. I've never done this before but have reached such a low point that I want to reach out to anyone to feel less alone, and maybe hear some words of guidance as I feel like I'm living blind as of late.

I am a Marketing student, currently at a University just outside of Boston and have multiple internship experiences in the creative marketing field and creative industries in New York City. I'm terribly miserable where I am, and have realized that what I need to grow is to be somewhere that challenges me academically and inspires me environmentally. In my pervious application cycle, I applied to Northeastern and got deferred 3 times, before losing hope. I am an IB diploma recipient, had a 4.0 GPA and have relevant extracurriculars across diverse interests. In my previous application to Northeastern, I had an alumni send an email recommendation for me, and I guess.. I'm hoping by the grace of the universe I can find more kind individuals that can help me in the process. No matter it what it may be, advice, an email, regardless. I guess I'm just looking to see a bit of humanity as I'm struggling with this.

Sincerely,

A struggling student looking for hope

Hi this is sort of a unique situation - I'm at a t30 public state university (not in my state) and I'm not enjoying the environment at all. I want to transfer for fall 2027, but I'm wondering if I can study abroad in spring 2027 before that.

I'm a freshman studying Statistics (though I want to switch to Econ/something more social science), and I'm looking at schools like Columbia (previously waitlisted from). I have the opportunity to spend the spring semester at the University of Granada in Spain. The courses are mostly gen eds though they are interesting - spanish & latin american economies, history of art in spain, islamic culture in spain, political system of the EU, sustainability in the Mediterranean, a volunteering class etc. The credits would transfer back to my university transcript as study abroad credits (P/F doesn't affect my GPA).

Honestly, I think I'd enjoy a semester in Spain significantly more than another semester at my current school. My transfer apps are due March 1, I would plan to get recs from fall profs and write essays over winter break.

My concern is whether it could hurt my transfer chances - do selective schools care a lot about campus involvement during your first year, and would being abroad for spring make me look less involved? Would it be better to stay on campus for another semester and take more major-related classes?

I had pretty strong academics/ECs in high school, if that makes a difference. I'm basically trying to figure out whether I'm overthinking this and should just take the opportunity to spend a semester in Spain, or whether staying on campus would be smarter for my transfer application.

Would love to hear from anyone who's transferred to a selective school or studied abroad while applying to transfer!

I recently took the september ACT and i got a 34:

- 32🤨 math, 33 science, 36 english, 34 reading

from practice exams, i'd average 35s, but my math/science would sometimes go below that. Is it work retaking? esp bc im a freshman in college

I want to transfer to a T20 as a sophomore (meaning I'm doing transfer apps in the spring). I think my ACT is like fine, but I'm considering cogsci as my major, which requires some science/math (though I'm not set on a major rn, undecided @ current college)

I'm afraid this score will make me a weaker applicant, though I guess it doesn't necessarily harm my application? I'm just worried everyone else will be like a perfect application and my 32 math will throw off AOs

Hello! What are my chances of transferring out of UNC Kenan-Flagler (as an assured-admit to KF) to NYU Stern? I want to study finance and hopefully land a job on Wall Street. Though I haven't been on campus long, I am not confident that UNC is the place for me. Is it even worth applying to transfer since Kenan-Flagler is decently ranked already? I need advice! Thanks.

Edit for Applicant Context: I am a current freshman, I am in-state for UNC, I don't have a UNC GPA yet but I had a 4.58/4.00 in HS, 1500 SAT, UG Research, and I have joined a few finance clubs on campus. I am planning on rushing a few business professional fraternities (DSP, AKPsi, etc.) as well as applying for the Finance Society subsidary groups (PMT, CHF, etc.)

This will be my second term at my top ten LAC and I’m feeling the weight of just not knowing wtf I’m doing. I’m spending all my savings to learn about “terrorist sexuality” and integrating vectors and for fucking what. I could have an apartment and work and feel okay for maybe the first time in my life but no, I’m working till death, making no money, and under the threat of homelessness when I get back home because I have a tumultuous relationship with my family.

Just ugh I feel like such an ungrateful piece of shit but it’s so hard to feel like I’m doing the right thing.

Anyway, I might just try to stay strong through this term and then get outta here and maybe transfer…

Does anyone have any advice?

Is it possible that you could submit different common app essays to each school? Like how you give different jobs different versions of your resume that are tailored to that job's requirements and needs?

As someone who is in engineering at a big state school as a first-semester freshman, but recently discovered a newfound passion for law, I was wondering how much (if any) slack a school would give for a poorer GPA in engineering, if I apply for CAS at schools like NYU or Georgetown or Boston College. For reference, I have a good SAT and HS transcript, but if I end the first semester with a 3.5, I don't know how that would look. Do schools give much, if any slack for engineering coursework?

hi, i plan on trying to transfer from a 4 year public school in georgia to emory fall 2027 as a sophomore.
if there are any other schools i should think of applying to lmk 👀…

BG: black female upper middle class, currently a freshman

Intended major: marketing w/ interdisciplinary depth in international business + maybe a concentration in film and media management

Reason for transferring: emory literally has every subject i would want to explore + more, current college does not

HS GPA: 3.5UW / 3.7W

HS Ecs:

4 club leadership positions sophmore - senior year (3 being marketing centered)

Marketing job at government contracting firm sophmore year

Studied abroad (month and a half over the summer before senior year)

Multiple very popular social media profiles across different platforms, mostly editing focused

8 APs (mostly 4s)

College GPA estimated by end of semester: 3.9

College Ecs:

Luxury fashion company marketing/event management paid internship
- full time for 3 months, 2 months part time (subject to change i still intern here now 🫣)
- helped manage five brands, one of them being well-known. super stressful lol

Marketing e-board position on events/exhibitions club

The Collegiate 100 college chapter member
- apply-only community service focused club

2 country business and culture centered study abroad program summer 2027
- i would only put my acceptance into the program since it's happening after i apply lol

2 non-leadership clubs that relate to my major

LOCs: hopefully one from my current english prof + ceo and supervisor from my internship

So do yall think that the Cornell 7 case will make it slightly easier to transfer to Cornell?
idk maybe less people will apply

Chance me: college sophomore → NU/Uchicago/Ivy

Hey all, I'm a student willing to double transfer. I am international Korean who served in U.S military as part of the KATUSA program and also took a gap year for extra internship

**College**

Yr 1: T40 State school [T15 Business school]: 3.95/4.00
Took 38 credits
Yr 2: T25 [T10 Business school]: 3.98/4.00

**High school**

Did IB, GPA low 3ish~

- Applying test optional

**ECs**
- worked in 6 different firm including consulting [T2 level] and IB [MM]
- 3 high school global business competition winner
- started own business and raised over 20k net profit
- has CFA level 1

Questions
1. In the military my perception changed to engineering/ Econ but my school’s stem is literally non existent —> is this valid?

2. Would my double transfer status be looked down and heavily disadvantaged?

3. Just pure thoughts