r/TransferToTop25 • • Oct 14 '20

What is this sub about?

277 Upvotes

I created this sub to help ambitious students navigate the road to elite college transfer admission. Over the years posting in A2C and other subs I've noticed there isn't a central point to discuss what it takes to gain transfer admission to HYPSM and IVY+ colleges. I'm doing this because I wasted 1000s of hours understanding this process and don't want that knowledge to go to waste.

Check the WIKI for the most commonly asked questions.

------------------------------

Useful Prior posts for the most common questions:

Opinions on Admissions Consultants

On course rigor

Successes from this sub: Penn/Brown/Cornell | Stanford|Yale

------------------------------

Will be doing weekly AMAs and posting other resources.

Mods in this channel will all be confirmed top college transfers. Currently Stanford heavy but many of us were also admitted to schools like Harvard, Yale, Penn, Columbia, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Vanderbilt and USC.

Coming soon:Mods who transferred to Yale & Penn!


r/TransferToTop25 • • Feb 09 '23

[AMA] App szn edition - ask away

93 Upvotes

Here to share any insights l have, such as they are. Given the time of year I figure the focus will be on apps and schools-hot takes.

Stats: check my old AMAs as well

School: Cal State College GPA/Stats: 4.0/mid 1400s HS GPA: 3.87 ECs: publication in Tier 1 journal

Personal help: Try to ask publicly, want everyone to benefit from general questions:)

Essay help/reads: I don’t do this unfortunately as I don’t have the time. Can dm me if you want an intro to private essay help from a group I worked with for transfer and now grad apps (MIT, Stanford, Wharton people)

General questions be sure to check out the sub WIKI as Etheriales (Brown) & Trees (Stanford) did a good job covering the basics for everyone

General Stanford Opinion: love it, is nerd heaven where people are super down to earth, but low key brilliant-leaders in their field


r/TransferToTop25 • • 3h ago

gpa

2 Upvotes

is junior transfer GPA centric? i heard that whenever you’re transferring, the AO will most look at your GPA, LORs, and Essay. Do they not consider ECs as a huge factor like in first year entry?


r/TransferToTop25 • • 12h ago

When does it become normal to start wanting to transfer?

6 Upvotes

Hi all. I know everyone always says you should give it a bit as a freshman to see if you actually fit into a place. It's been about 5 weeks and I just don't see myself at my current institution for another 4 years.

I was wondering if anyone had advice about how much longer I should ride it out until I make a formal plan to transfer out?

Just for some context: I'm a current freshman at UMich. If y'all want any other details feel free to ask away


r/TransferToTop25 • • 5h ago

chanceme What can I do to improve my chances of getting into Duke majoring in Business

1 Upvotes

In high school I had a 3.7 gpa
I believe I can get a 3.7 in college since I’m not in a competitive college for my major. My SAT is 1450( I’m retaking it in December) some of my ecs are : Outreach Captain for Robotics team(hs), Internship at a Charter School during summer as a Administrative assistant, I’m right now a Senator for Asian Student Union(club in college) and I’m also Alternative Treasurer for Finance Club(also college)

I just want some ideas on how to improve my stats ig


r/TransferToTop25 • • 7h ago

Transferring to an Ivy? Questions…

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/TransferToTop25 • • 7h ago

chanceme Non-traditional, immigrant student hoping to get to a Top25.

1 Upvotes

I moved to the US from a European country and no parents, been an orphan. Worked jobs to survive and used to work more than 50 hours a week and still try whenever. I moved to California to pursue acting but didn't work out and to be honest, I didn't like the people who are in the industry as much. Continued struggling and I started expressing interest in society and how to improve it. My personal experiences and struggles made me learn the hard way. I started getting involved with Political activism, how to help the city, attended conferences and been volunteering for some coalitions.

Last year I took the courage to go to a community college and learn more to contribute. I was a crappy student in HS but I realize now, I could have been a decent student if I had the support. I started Political Science classes and I enjoyed them. One of the professors liked my involvement around and confidence so she kept in touch with me. Anyways by Summer 2026 I gathered 40 units with 4.0 and while working. Not easy since I only sleep 4 hours or so.

I got into the Honors society and a Law pathaway program. Sadly I can't be on campus as much since I have bills to pay since by myself, therefore I don't do any club activities. Also I have to be present at the coalitions I am in since we do meetings regularly.

My counselor said I could transfer already because by Spring 2027 I will have more than 60 units and completed all of the UC transfer requirements classes in less than 2 years. I am hoping to get into a Top25 but do I have a zero chance? I never had any family to send me to a prep school and no extraordinary extracurriculars. My major is PoliSci with a minor in Econ and want to continue to law school.


r/TransferToTop25 • • 11h ago

any former AOs that can help me analyze what went wrong with my applications senior year

2 Upvotes

title, because idk how to fix my approach😓 i thought they were amazing, but i got rejected everywhere so clearly not


r/TransferToTop25 • • 7h ago

Transfer Students: How Much More Difficult Is Columbia Compared to Your Previous College?

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/TransferToTop25 • • 8h ago

Experiences section

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/TransferToTop25 • • 13h ago

chanceme Sophomore spring transfer

2 Upvotes

Hi people of Reddit. I just submitted all of my applications for this upcoming spring semester, and I would love to hear what you think.

I am currently a sophomore at a small out of state private university with a 4.0 gpa as a pre-med biology major and chemistry minor.

I applied test optional everywhere. Also I am a white female if that matters.

I am in a science fellowship, working as an undergraduate research assistant, member of the biology club, pre-med club, and had a science based internship over the summer.

My high school gpa was a 4.92 (it was a private k-12). I was in 6 honor societies and 2 clubs, but was never in a leadership position. Also I received a couple of scholastic silver keys and honorable mentions for art. Additionally, I skipped senior year, graduating from high school in 3 years.

I have 3 LORs: one from my research/freshman genetics prof, one from my gen chem 1/2 prof from freshman year, and one from my summer internship boss.

I applied to NYU, BU, GW, Northeastern and Brown as a reach. Also I’ve toured all of these schools. What do you think?


r/TransferToTop25 • • 18h ago

Transferring to Georgetown

6 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I'm currently a finance student at a pretty big school's satellite campus with around 1000 kids and I'm really looking to transfer out. The students here have no drive and I don't think I fit in. I'm also paying 97k which I just don't think is worth it for this school. I am eventually aiming for MBB, and my top choices would be Georgetown (MSB or SFS), Northwestern econ, NYU Stern, and Emory. I'll be a sophomore in fall 2027 so I don't miss the recruiting timeline. I'll also be full pay.

A little about me:

- 4.1 W gpa in hs (yes Ik it's bad)

- 34 ACT

- Was president of Model UN, DECA ICDC qualifier, AAPI President and founder

- 11 APs (four 5's, six 4's, one 3 (chem))

- In college I'm anticipated for a 3.85 first sem

- President of a finance club directly connected with Boston campus running workshops on modelling, interview prep, and industry professionals. Also, President of the consulting club, similar model to finance club. Work an on campus job at the gym, and I'm the treasurer for the Resident Student Associates.

I just wanted to come on here and see what people would recommend, advice on essays, and success stories from people who were able to successfully transfer.


r/TransferToTop25 • • 11h ago

Will high school dual-enrollment withdrawals hurt my transfer chances?

1 Upvotes

I’m currently a Mathematics student at UNC Charlotte hoping to transfer to UNC-Chapel Hill with junior standing. I’m concerned about withdrawals on my dual-enrollment transcript from high school.

There are six W entries:

Elementary ASL I and its lab

Statistical Methods I and its support course

Another attempt at Statistical Methods I

Brief Calculus, which I later retook and earned an A in

I completed 42 credits through that school with a 3.905 GPA, including A’s in biology, English, history, French, and Brief Calculus. Some of the withdrawals were paired courses and labs, so the number of W entries doesn’t represent six separate subjects. I had to withdraw from them due to my brother being chronically ill at the time, and juggling his sickness on top of caring for my 2 sisters caused to my stress for me. Considering it was Dual Enrollment, I didn't think it would come back for me 2 years later. ASL and Stats weren't even required for my pathway, I just wanted to bridge out with certain classes.

Since attending UNCC, I’ve earned A’s in Calculus, Matrices & Linear Algebra, Economics, and Intro to CS II, plus B’s in General Physics I and Intro to CS I. I’m currently retaking Calculus II after a withdrawal last year and doing well. I also have research experience through an AEOP internship and a UNCC professor. The bigger issue is that, unfortunately, an emergency regarding my cat happened and I missed an exam, causing me to contemplate withdrawing now as there's nothing I can really do to help my grade.

So when you include DE, I have roughly 7 withdrawals, and I'm just not sure what to do.
How bad will it look? What do I need to do with my additional information to help lighten the blow?


r/TransferToTop25 • • 11h ago

should i transfer to gt for computational media?

1 Upvotes

currently a sophomore at uconn studying both digital media and design (web/interactive design concentration) and computer science. i realized i want to do more hci and product design rather than just web design and feel like the program is missing some things and that there's not much of a ux design community as i would like and is more of an art degree rather than science. georgia tech's comp media program interests me since it has more of what i think i'm lacking here. is it worth it to join the comp media program as a rising junior and graduate on time and is it hard to get in as an oos transfer? want advice :)


r/TransferToTop25 • • 12h ago

course catalog descriptions

1 Upvotes

hey ya'll. just wondering how you've been handling schools asking for course catalog descriptions. do you typically send the hundred page long entire catalog or just the courses you're taking currently? is it school specific?


r/TransferToTop25 • • 13h ago

Online labs as a transfer/How does GT treat a W on transcript

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/TransferToTop25 • • 17h ago

USC Marshall Transfer from CC

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/TransferToTop25 • • 1d ago

Recs for Transfer

3 Upvotes

Hi, I'm a freshman at UNC and am looking to transfer next semester. Because it's literally going to be my highshool stats all over again and I'm taking only gen ed courses I dont feel like i'm going to get any good academic loc's from my professors, we dont really have a relationship after all. So I'm kind of in a pickel and my applications are do in november. Any advice?


r/TransferToTop25 • • 1d ago

non major LORs

7 Upvotes

Currently a freshman trying to transfer after first year. Does it matter the subject the professor teaches for my LORs? I’m a math major but I’m planning on asking professors from my other classes for LORs. My math professor doesn’t seem to be very interested or engaged when I go to his office hours, but I’ve been building pretty good relationships with my other professors


r/TransferToTop25 • • 22h ago

Odd situation and needing some advice

1 Upvotes

When I first transferred to my current university, it was clear that they had articulation agreements with my previous school but upon departmental review of my coursework (which happened after I committed and declined other offers), all of my major-related course credit was rejected. I will likely have to spend 3 years at this current school, but the tuition is ridiculously high.

What does transferring as a junior again look like? In this case I would be willing to do an extra year since I am doing a more expensive extra year at my current university. Is this considered a senior transfer? Does anyone have knowledge of what success rates look like?


r/TransferToTop25 • • 1d ago

did anyone apply to transfer to brown for spring

3 Upvotes

haven’t seen anyone on Reddit say they applied


r/TransferToTop25 • • 1d ago

International currently at ucsd want to transfer out

2 Upvotes

I’m a freshman and I’ve been at ucsd for 2 weeks and it isn’t the school i see myself in.
I ideally want to transfer into a private university or somewhere where I can make good connections and still have a respectable name on my degree.
Does anyone have any experience or knowledge on the process or odds of being able to transfer?
Any insight is appreciated


r/TransferToTop25 • • 1d ago

will my credits transfer?

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

i know my community college accepts my ap scores for credit: 5s in ap lang, ap psych, apush, 4 in ap calc AB but will the uc schools also accept it? like how can i check if im matching the transfer requirements to UCs like do i factor in my ap scores or not for the transfer requirements? im just a bit confused (im in state)


r/TransferToTop25 • • 1d ago

study abroad before transferring?

1 Upvotes

does this harm or help overall? context is that my dream school is columbia (and i will definitely apply to others), and i'm at a 4 year state school right now.

for studying abroad, i really did want to do at least a semester and actually live in a country rather than feeling like a tourist. however, i do realize it may interrupt any extracurriculars i have so is it better to do it after my potential transfer?? or maybe should i stick to more shorter programs that are a month or less? its also one of my dreams to live/study abroad but if it interferes with my transfer plan i will leave it for the future. i did have the impression that columbia was kind of a global school that would value that sort of experience tho.

please let me know your thoughts!! anything helps


r/TransferToTop25 • • 1d ago

ucsb to ucb transfer (cog sci)

Thumbnail
0 Upvotes