'A Second Freshman Year': Harvard’s Transfer Students

Hanna
Fri, 23 Feb 2018 04:37:38 +0000

“I think prestige pays a huge part in this decision for most, and in some cases it is the only consideration.”

You offer zero evidence to support these assertions, but even as a thought experiment, does it make sense that HY would accept such students? They have 25 or 50 or even 100 applicants for every transfer spot. How are you going to stand out in that kind of competition without an outstanding and well-supported explanation for the transfer? The recommendation letters, transcript, essay, and (where applicable) interview all have to match.

I make no statement about HY transfers to Penn etc. because I haven’t known or counseled any, and I’m not interested in offering speculation where I have no observation to rely on. The Penn transfer class in the fall of '97 did have one Stanford student.

@MaterS Yes, Harvard transfers who have the right connections are invited to join final clubs. I knew several who joined. The clubs are mainly people who know each other from high school or certain sports teams; if they know you and like you, they don’t care if you’re a transfer.