bconstant

Hi, I am currently attending Stonehill College in Easton MA and going to be applying for transfer admission to Colgate. My reason for transferring is that Stonehill is not challenging enough and it hurts my chances at being accepted in medical school.

College Record 1st semester:
Biology - A
Gen Chem - A
Calculus - A
Honors History - A-
Honors Literature - A-
Total GPA: 3.9
Next semester likely to have a 4.0

High School stats:
SAT 1300/1600 (650 in both)
uw GPA ~3.7, w GPA ~4.5
rank: 29/400+ students (top 8%)
All honors and AP courses
5 in AP bio and psych

Was asked to TA for both my biology and gen chem classes next year so my recommendations will likely be very good from those professors, had the highest grade in my chem class and 2nd highest in biology.

HS EC's:
various volunteer service / clubs.
member of Crohn's and Colitis Foundation fund raising committee
National Honor Society
Church Youth Group

College EC's
Premed society
Biology society

Also, throughout High School I dealt with severe Crohn's disease including becoming the 19th person to undergo a stem cell transplant for the disease and having surgery which caused me to miss a lot of school (60+ days junior and senior year each). Because of this I was at a disadvantage because I could not focus on my schoolwork as much as possible. I'm trying to convey this on my application as a reason for the lower than I would like HS stats. Now, after surgery I am healthy and able to focus myself fully on my studies.

Anyways, do I have a chance?

gellino

I would say your decent high school record, solid college record and extenuating circumstances would certainly give you a good chance, although transfer admissions sometimes have more to do with supply and demand than anything else.

ticklemepink

I don't do chances because everything is absolute crapshoot.

BUT I will tell you that if you get in Colgate and decide to go, be prepare for a MAJOR shock when it comes to the difficulty of the coursework. I also came from a great LAC with grade inflation and I was cruising in the courses during my first year. I know a couple of other transfers and needless to say, we haven't been too successful in seeing our old GPA again... ;( But the quality here is worth it. So think hard how much you want to be challenged- the curve in the chem department from what I've heard tends to average at C+/B-.

bluebayou

tickle:

What is the relative grade distribution in the humanities?

ticklemepink

How am I supposed to know? This isn't a large university where professors post grades in public.

icy9ff8

Why do you think that remaining at Stonehill College will hurt your chances for gaining admission into a medical school? Typically medical schools look primarily at GPA and MCAT score. A relative, who is a president of a medical school, told me that he and his admission staff look for a high GPA rather than a degree from a "name" or prestigious school. The MCAT was of equal importance as well. As an aside, this relative authored one of the most frequently used medical textbooks.