Am I academically competitive for schools in the Ivy league? (Sophomore Transfer)

Transfer Students
1

Sorry for the clickbait title, when I say Ivy league schools I mean any well-regarded school that is T30 or so. I don’t have a perfect academic transcript like many other students on CC. I’m wondering what schools I’m academically competitive for.

High school: Academically challenging public, however, probably not the hardest school out there
HS GPA: ~3.7 UW, ~3.9 W (Increasing rigor, consistent trend)
Took challenging STEM curriculum. Although these classes were offered, I didn’t take AP Lang or Lit, AP World or US history, or AP Physics C. I took all of the other AP classes though (7 in total).
ACT: 34C {32E, 35M, 33R, 36S}
SAT II: 790 Chemistry, 780 Math II

Senior Year:
Art Elective: A
AP Biology: B+
Honors English: B+
AP BC Calculus: B
AP Latin: A-
AP Psychology: A

Although my grades were not stellar senior year, especially compared to my previous high school years, I managed to get all 5’s on my AP exams (except Latin. Got a 2 but not reporting it lol). Also, I self-studied the AP Computer Science A exam since my school didn’t offer the class, and I received a 5 on it too.

College: Top 50 on USnews and is known for a rigorous engineering program
Major: Engineering
First Semester Freshman GPA: 3.92 {14 credits, 17 before the W}
Calculus 3: A-
Social Science First Year Seminar: A
Required First Year English Seminar: A
Advanced Java Programming: A
Advanced Statistics: W

I took a W because I bombed the first exam and it was worth a significant portion of my overall grade. Decided a W was better. Also, it gave me more time to focus on my other classes.

Second Semester Freshman (midterm report) GPA: 3.86 {19 credits}
Intro Chemistry w/ lab: A
Intro Physics w/ lab: A
Advanced Social Science course: A
Discrete Math: A
Advanced Statistics: B+ (can’t wrap my head around statistics)

I managed to get a perfect grade on one of my science midterms in a lecture of more than 200 students – my TA told me this rarely ever happens.

2

Your grades are fine but you need to be able to clearly articulate the need to transfer. I’m not sure what you gain from going to a T50 to a T30 and how you are going to say your rigorous engineering school can’t meet you academic needs?

3

@momofsenior1 Thank you for your response. Actually, there is a specific major, that my school doesn’t offer, that I’m very interested in at a T10 school. Its the only school I’m applying to as a transfer and its because of this program. Otherwise, I appreciate my school. Are my grades competitive for T10 engineering schools (not MIT or CalTech)? I’m trying to be as anonymous as possible.

4

I agree with @momofsenior1 in that you aren’t really gaining much academically or reputationally. Undergraduate engineering is really not that much different between t-5 and t-50. And the one area I’d say the Ivy League is not exceptional at is undergraduate engineering. If you want to be an engineer (not just major in it), your best bet are large state flagships with large engineering programs. Especially if you can get In-State tuition at any of the T-50 engineering programs (GaTech, PU, Michigan, Illinois, etc.)

5

Good, that’s a good reason! Yes, I think your college grades put you in the ball park.

6

I think your grades are great. You should be able to find a program you like.

7

you already have a transfer thread in the Penn sub-forum and multiple threads on teh same topic is a no-no.

But also note that you generally need a good academic reason to transfer, and I’m not sure that a prospective minor is all that compelling, particularly if you don’t have the EC’s for that minor (Digital Media?).

Otherwise, it looks like you are chasing prestige which is an auto-reject.

Good luck.