Chance me! Pre-med athlete at T30 LAC looking to transfer T25 [first year, 3.6 HS GPA]

Chance Me / Match Me
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US Citizen, from PA, went to top public high school, recruited athlete at Franklin and Marshall College

No budget

Intended Major: Biochemistry

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.6
  • Weighted HS GPA: 3.8 (A+s are 98.5 and above, APs and honors weighted the same)
  • College GPA: 4.0 (definitely well on track to finish semester with 4.0)
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1500, retaking to push for around 1570 which is very realistic

List your HS coursework

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

  • English: AP Lang, AP Lit
  • Math: AP Calc AB, AP Stat
  • Science: AP Bio, AP Physics 1, AP Compsci A
  • History and social studies: AP Macro, AP World, APUSH
  • Language other than English: Spanish V

College Coursework (Transfer Applicants)
(Include college courses taken while in high school if not included above.)

  • General education course work: American History in True Crime (required connections course), Global Justice, Calc II
  • Major preparation course work: Gen Chem I

Awards
National Merit Commendation, High School Team MVP, 3-time scholar athlete, distinguished honor roll, Maximum merit scholarship for college

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

College: Volunteering at organization related to sport I play, apart of research team school assembled for paid education research (strong possibility of publication), computational chemistry research, collegiate athlete, social media analytics for student athlete leadership committee, medical records assistant for a location of a large cardiology private practice over the summer, working on public health research project with professor at another institution (possibility of being published or peer-reviewed before application deadline), finished online course to get certification in R programming

High School ECs: athlete, self-published a book as a sophomore, apart of the Germination Project, volunteering at organization related to sport I play, volunteer recreational basketball coach, sports editor of school newspaper

Essays/LORs/Other
Will be carefully and creatively crafted with a lot of help from an esteemed expert

Schools
Notre Dame
Vanderbilt
Northwestern
Penn
UNC Chapel Hill
Amherst
Villanova
UVA
NYU
Georgetown
Dartmouth
Georgia Tech
Emory
Boston College
Cornell
Johns Hopkins
Michigan
Stanford
WashU

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Why are you looking to transfer ?

So you are giving up your sport ?

Are you a first year ? Did you apply to any of these last year ? If so, did you get in?

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I am looking to transfer because I am seeking a larger school and a better academic fit. I am giving up my sport most likely (at least definitely not going down the transfer portal process) and I only applied to F&M as I got recruited. I am a first year

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Ok.

So make sure all the schools want first year. Some like Vandy and Cornell do.

One is in a city. One in the sticks.

Can you narrow your list ?

I wouldnā€™t take the SAT again. Youā€™re in a different place after high school.

Vandy admitted 553/2932.

Stanford 67 / 3285.

UVA 1218/3697 - but some will be pathway kids.

Two questions

  1. Why arenā€™t Penn State or Pitt on the list ?

  2. Donā€™t you think giving up a month in is a bit early to make this decision ? Most kids struggle - it takes time to find your footing. And putting Amherst on the list tells me you have other concerns - like pedigree - not fit and feel.

Whatā€™s really going on here ?

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Decision has been brewing for a while. Have visited most if not all of these schools and like them a lot. I do want an upgrade in pedigree, name recognition, and prestige. Definitely aware some schools here are heavy reaches here like Stanford and Ivies.

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Also Amherst is on the list because it keeps the option open of still being an athlete

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Youā€™re going to have to explain to each why you need a change - and I want pedigree isnā€™t the reason

Given the major, F&M is a superb choice and you will need grad school, so the pedigree doesnā€™t truly matter.

If the decision has been brewing, I wish you withdrew b4 starting. All your credits may not transfer.

Have you informed your coach?

Not all schools want first years so look up transfer requirements and look at section D of the Common Data Set for admit info.

Given the major, you might look at Brandeis which has a very high transfer rate - top notch in the major. But F&M excels in the sciences soā€¦

Good luck.

Not sure re taking the SAT will help since itā€™s post high school but Iā€™ll let others answer.

Letā€™s say you go 0 for - are you ok staying ?

I just donā€™t get a month in wanting to pull out.

You can go somewhere and be miserable as youā€™ll be there day after day, coming in with no social circle when others will have built one.

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Decision has been more about being able to play a sport in college for a year and then transfer to a school that I actually would like to be at. I have not informed my coach and will do so after the season. I have never been a fan of small liberal arts colleges, but unfortunately, this was what my recruitment was limited to. Doesnā€™t make sense to look at Brandeis because they are not really an academic upgrade and barely a difference in undergrad student population. I think thereā€™s absolutely zero chance that I donā€™t get into any of these schools, especially none of Nova, BC, UNC, UVA, UMich, NYU. I also really donā€™t like to ponder much about the worst-case scenario.

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What defines an academic upgrade ?

You see a U.S. News magazine article.

Brandeis is top notch for bio check which is why I mentioned it.

A school is not ā€˜betterā€™ because Us News says so.

Not sure why youā€™d want to play a sport for a year and I think you are making a mistake here so early but I wish you luck.

Again find those transfer friendly to a second year.

Not sure youā€™ll find better academics but you will find good academics - just like at F&M.

Best wishes.

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I think we can agree to disagree, I donā€™t really want to speak on my experience in the classroom here because it will probably make me sound like an absolute ass (which I probably already do sound like). Appreciate the responses though and I found your input helpful

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I think youā€™d have been 0 for last year and will be this year. Hope for your sake Iā€™m wrong but your HS GPA is low for these schools and will be used. Wait a year and it likely wonā€™t be.

No matter my opinion, the common data set section D is your friend. Use it. But the #s alone donā€™t show the entire story, especially at the publics who likely have auto transfer agreements.

Ps - Pitt is always a great choice in the sciences. Itā€™s rep is sparkling regardless of the US News rank.

Hereā€™s another rank for what itā€™s worth. Some less selective schools might surprise you.

And another list - top PHD feeders by major. Look on the right (per capita) - they donā€™t list biochem but bio and chem. Guess which school is a leader in both ?

Good luck whatever you decide and wherever you end up.

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Please donā€™t put this on your Amherst application.

I actually donā€™t think you will get much traction with this thread. Youā€™ve basically trashed the athletic recruitment process and there are a lot of parents out there who are familiar with the process who will echo @tsbna44 's sentiments. Frankly, if you were a high school senior and you had come here looking for low reaches, Franklin and Marshall would likely have come up in the conversation.

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Are these colleges going to be affordable for you?

This is a very very top heavy list of colleges. Apply and see, but keep that in mind.

In my opinion, retaking your SAT wonā€™t matter. The test is supposed to be taken by current high school students, not college students.

Please do not sever your relationship with your current college until you receive an affordable acceptance.

Did you apply to any of these other colleges as a high school senior? If soā€¦what happened? Or did you apply only to FM because if the athletic recruitment?

I agree with two things posted above.

  1. Itā€™s one month into your freshman year. You havenā€™t given this college a chanceā€¦at allā€¦

  2. What will be the reason for transferring that you put on these applications?

My adviceā€¦apply and see. Thatā€™s really all we can say. Some of these colleges accept very few transfer students.

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Thenā€¦take Amherst off of your new list.

Do you think you will get these opportunities anywhere you transfer? I thinkā€¦you are fortunate to have these.

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As a sophomore level transfer, your high school record will be important, and your 3.6 HS GPA will make it very unlikely to be admitted to your prestige upgrade schools.

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Some of the schools on your list accept 30-40% of transfer applicants, and others accept less than 10%. Iā€™d focus on those with higher transfer acceptance rates! I think that is mostly the public schools on your list.

FWIW I know someone with stats similar to yours (including HS GPA below 3.5 and first year in college GPA 4.0) who transferred to USC this year. I think your 4.0 will help for sure. Good luck.

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Yes, but the higher transfer rates of those public schools are often because of ā€œpathwayā€ students.

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As a pre-med student (going by your thread title), you are in an excellent choice school to be prepared for med school admissions. F&M has fantastic pre-med support and the student acceptance rate to med school is pretty high. Iā€™d say if you are doing as well as you say you are in your biochem major and you follow what your pre-med advisor recommends, then your shot at med school would be excellent coming from F&M. I donā€™t think a more ā€œprestigious pedigreeā€ school will make that much of a difference, as F&M is well known in the med school circles.

However, if you truly dislike the school and canā€™t see yourself being there for 3 more years then best of luck moving on. I also agree - rethink Amherst if you donā€™t like small LACs.

Info for F&M pre-med support: Pre-Medical

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My daughter attended one of the schools that you wish to transfer to. She was a biology major.

Within her first semester freshman year she was very involvedā€¦and it kept going. Research, clubs, volunteering, relationships etc.

She was not unique in her involvement- it was the norm.

My point is this: although students do transfer, you may be pretty far behind before you even beginā€¦especially for premed or related paths where things move quickly and relationships are established, etc.

I read through your extracurriculars and it looks like you are quite involved and successful at your current school. That involvementā€¦to meā€¦looks like the ā€œprestigeā€ that you appear to be seeking (publishing, etc). Why would you give this up and be put in a position where you will have to start again and reestablish yourself? You have that now!

I would give your current school more time- it has only been about 2 months. You suggest that your school is not an academic fit- it will get harder and I am quite sure that there are smart students there who continue on to medical school. Remember- you need to keep up your gpa.

It sounds like you are very successful already. Transferring might not be what you hope forā€¦unless it is for the right reasonsā€¦and not for a more ā€œprestigiousā€ name.

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Pedigree, name recognition, and prestige will not get you accepted to medical school.

And you are already at a very good school. Classes will get more demanding as you get further into the semester and into upper year classes.

One thing that I do not see mentioned here is budget. Medical school is expensive. Whether transferring will help your budget I do not know.

The SAT is intended for high school students. Retaking it as a university student is not going to help. However, 1500 is already excellent.

You want your essays to sound authentic as if they were written by a young student. It is possible that your esteemed expert might understand this however.

One daughter attended a small primarily undergraduate university in Canada ā€“ basically the Canadian equivalent of a liberal arts college. She found herself in small classes taught by full professors. She got to know her professors quite well. This led to research opportunities. This led to very good references from full professors who know her very well. The combination of good research experience plus strong references from people who know her well led to a good research job in the US, and then acceptance at a very good PhD program back here in the US. There is a case to be made for small schools.

I think that the worse case scenario is that you transfer and do not like wherever you end up. Getting accepted nowhere and staying where you are is really not that bad an outcome, and can still lead to your getting accepted to very good medical schools in the future.

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