Chance me for Barnard & Ivies. Transfer, Fall 2025 [NY resident, 95 HS GPA, 1480 SAT, medical anthropology or animal science, pre-vet]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Hi, current college freshman intending on attempting transfer. My top top top choice is Barnard college, and I am additionally applying to Brown, Cornell, and UPenn. Any insight would be incredibly helpful, thanks

** General Info**

  • Pre-Veterinary
  • US Citizen
  • State/Location of residency: New York
  • Current Institution: Macaulay Honors College @ CUNY Hunter
  • 1480 SAT
  • HS GPA: 95/100 uw, 100/100 w
  • 9 APs: all 4 and 5
  • College GPA: none as of yet, but so far getting As on exams

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • Full Pay

Intended Major(s): Medical Anthropology, Animal Science (both not offered at current school)

Transfer Reason

  • Mainly bc my current school does not offer the majors I genuinely want to study
  • Lack of pre-veterinary opportunities. Was originally a pre-med student when I first started out and my current school would have been perfect, but I switched to pre-veterinary midway through

College Coursework (Transfer Applicants)

  • Cultural Anthro (what got me interested in studying anthro)
  • Gen Chem
  • Japanese
  • Macaulay Seminar

Awards

  • All from high school: Science Olympiad regional awards, research competition regional awards, AP Scholar with Distinction

Main College Extracurriculars

  • Research Assistant @ Grad School, youngest member of the lab, will be co-author of publication
  • Officer position in 2 school clubs
  • Substitute Teacher at Chinese school (ec from high school)
  • Neighborhood Dog Walker (side hustle for money, pre-veterinary ec)

HS Extracurriculars-- no leadership, pretty mediocre for ivies

  • Lots of volunteer teaching
  • Sci Oly
  • Research
  • Track
  • School band

Essays/LORs/Other

  • Cultural Anthro prof: will be strong, grew close with them
  • Macaulay prof: kinda iffy about it, prob will be average tbh
  • Additional recs (Chinese School Principal): will be strong, knew him since first grade
  • Additional recs (Research Lab prof): not so sure, but she offered to write one. used to be a professor at columbia, her husband and daughter are current professors at columbia/barnard

Schools

  • Barnard College (top choice) – EDed there in high school, got rejected
  • Brown
  • UPenn
  • Cornell
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This is a valid reason to transfer.

However, …

This list of schools are all reaches. They would all be reaches coming from high school. They are even higher reaches since you are trying to get there as a transfer student.

My understanding is that the required premed classes and the required pre-vet classes are the same, which suggests that you should still be on-track in terms of taking the right classes. However, there are some optional classes that will be different. For example, one daughter was pre-vet and took “lameness in horses” as one of her classes (this was apparently a very challenging class). She needed to take an undergraduate lab course. Any lab would do. She took a lab that involved research on the growth of baby cattle. This would not have been available at some universities.

Also, of course the clinical experience that you will want to get will involve very, very different patients compared to a premed student.

You are from New York. Some of the SUNY’s would be very good for a pre-vet student. UVM is also very good for pre-vet students, as are U.Mass and UNH and U.Maine. Both UVM and I think UNH have a CREAM program, which again provides very good experience for pre-vet students. With the CREAM program you take care of dairy cows. This includes cleaning up. However, it also includes drawing blood, administering medicine (cows apparently do not swallow pills, so you put the pill inside the cow), and helping baby cattle be born. The first baby that my daughter happened to pull out of a mother cow happened to be a boy, which was a bit of a disappointment to her since boy cattle do not in most cases have a long life, but that is part of being a veterinarian.

https://www.uvm.edu/cals/asci/cream

Does this mean that your parents will pay for a full 8 years of university with no debt? DVM programs are expensive. While being a veterinarian is a good career for a few people who are truly drawn to it, veterinarians do not make enough money to pay off the cost of the DVM program (even for those students who got a bachelor’s degree with no debt).

My daughter is currently in the fourth year of her DVM program. If all continues to go well she will be a veterinary doctor in May. She has reported that most of the students in her program are taking on way too much debt, and most do not want to talk about it. You want to minimize or if possible avoid debt for a full 8 years of university.

My daughter and I both think that her experience in veterinary situations, and the resulting references, were the most important thing that got her accepted to several very good DVM programs. You can get this experience while you are an undergraduate student, or after getting a bachelor’s degree before applying to DVM programs, or both (my daughter went with “both”). However, you do need this experience and starting soon is a good idea. Both large animal and small animal experience is valuable for a potential DVM.

One more thing that is worth saying: My daughter is currently in a very good DVM program (ranked top 5). She started the program when the COVID pandemic was still going on, so the opening reception was broadcast on zoom (assuming parents were not going to show up in person). They introduced each incoming student and said where each student had come from. Students starting at a very good highly ranked DVM programs come from a HUGE range of undergraduate universities. It was very rare to hear the same school mentioned twice. You do not need to attend an Ivy League university to get accepted to a very good DVM program.

However, you do need to get the animal experience, much of it in a veterinary environment, in order to get accepted to a DVM program. As such, if you want to shift to a major that your current school does not offer, and if you want to be well prepared to apply to DVM programs, then I think that you need to be applying to transfer to schools where acceptance is likely.

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It’s a bit early in your academic career to want a transfer and I think the schools will see that.

Try and see but if you really want out of CUNY, maybe add some safer schools. I’m guessing these will be tough but you never know.

Or you might be back. And pre med is advising and yes they have it it for vet . But it’s not imperative.

Good luck.

https://www.hunter.cuny.edu/prehealth/internships-scholarships-and-special-programs/veterinary/pre-veterinary-information

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hi, thanks so much for such a helpful response. yes, my schools are all reaches. That’s because Im not desperate to leave, but rather I would like to try for my dream schools just one more time.

While the schools I chose like barnard might be a strange choice for veterinary, it is because i have additional passions I wish to pursue in college, such as utilizing their research center for research on women. The schools I chose have these resources. What’s mostly lacking at my current school are these resources and weak support for pre-veterinary students. However, my program overall is great, and I can make do if I am unsuccessful with transfer. I would also not leave it for say SUNYs. Only my reaches.

Regarding my pay situation, it will taken care of by my parents. My current institution is a full ride, so we technically saved a full years of tuition so far. My parents too would absolutely love it if I get into my reaches, and would be more than happy to pay. We barely qualify for any aid, so I am going for full pay. As for vet school, that will be my responsibility.

It was also very nice hearing about your daughter’s experiences. I wish her the best of luck on her vet journey!

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I am only applying to the schools I would leave my current program for, which are all reaches because the macaulay program itself is great and I can make do if I can’t transfer out.

Regarding it being early, I think I’m fine (?) Many of my older friends started preparing in senior year of high school for transfer and a lot were successful when they applied transfer during their freshman years of college. I’m following the timeline they did.

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Does this mean that you applied to these dream schools as a high school senior and did not get accepted? Applying for sophomore year transfer, your high school record will still be used. You dont even have grades for one semester of college to send to these colleges, and definitely won’t have a complete freshman year GPA.

Have you spoken to an advisor at Macaulay to discuss course options for you. I agree, courses for premed and prevent are very similar.

I would also reach out to a vet in your area and see if you could do something at their office. Volunteer at an animal shelter (every city seems to have those). You don’t have to be a “prevet” Major in undergrad to apply to and get accepted to veterinary school. But you do need great grades.

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To reach schools like the ones you have listed?

Sure, apply and see. As you have stated, Macaulay will be fine if you don’t get accepted.

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Yes, I was unfortunately rejected. But not because of my grades I’m very certain, but more so my high school extracurriculars. But since college started I have been gaining so many leadership positions, scored a position in an animal study lab in a graduate school (as an undergrad freshman!), and have professors offering me to write letter of recs for transfer. I’m not a superstitious person, but everything is telling me to try again.

And so sorry for the confusion, the deadline is in March, I will have a full semester of college grades by the time I apply. I’m applying for fall transfer 2025

i am currently working up my courage to tell my Macaulay advisor about my transfer plans. She really did not like it when I inched around that idea last meeting and that got me a little scared of her.

As for building animal related extracurriculars, I am trying. I think I can get into an animal shelter as a volunteer later this year. I also don’t know if this counts, but my current research lab is studying live octopus, so I think that counts as an animal related experience (?)

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As noted above, these schools are all big reaches. If you want to apply, go ahead and give it a try. Note that for most one year transfers, your HS record is still taken into account by the college.

At the same time I would work to create a full experience at your current school – seek out friendships, create relationships with professors, get involved in ECs, etc.

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Yes, to those reach schools :slight_smile:

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Good!

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I understand that but your high school record will still be considered as well.

But apply and see…

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yes, of course. Hoping they take the big improvement in my college record as a good sign

14

Why would you need to discuss transfer options with your advisor. I would suggest you discuss your desire to be a veterinarian, and find out what courses you need to take at Macaulay.

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my advisor will eventually need to send out official documents to my schools, I’m not really planning on discussing transfer options, but she’s going to know I’m transferring

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Your majors may not be offered at your current school, but your school does have a strong pre-vet program with opportunities for animal research as well as summer internships and volunteer opportunities.

Apply and see what happens, but it seems your current school would certainly meet your goals. Are your parents able to help pay for vet school if you stay?

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mm I haven’t seen many (or any at all) pre-veterinary opportunities at my school. I went up to the pre health advisors, my macaulay advisor, and asked my peers and everything. Many of the professors I emailed that did animal research were either retired or their lab is remote. I only had one success, and that’s my current lab. Haven’t seen an animal related internship/volunteer opportunity at all, even when I scoured my schools website and my emails where they regularly send out opportunities. All the animal related things I currently have are of my own accord.

And I plan on paying for vet school myself

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I looked at the website.

It’s October of your first year and you already have a research position where you will be a co-author. That’s great!

You are also in NYC. If you start looking I am sure you can find additional opportunities.

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are you talking about that summer internship pdf? I def plan on applying to those for the summer but I’m mainly referring to finding stuff to do during the school year. But I can’t lie many of the opportunities on that pdf are way too far away for me. But if you are referring to something else, it would be great if you can refer me to that page as I must have missed it

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You will have a LOT of loans if you do this.

You are just a freshman and you already scored some opportunities at Macaulay.

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