Intended Major(s): English with emphasis in Creative Writing. Minor in Black/Africana/African-American Studies.
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
HS GPA: 2.4 W I think.
College GPA (for transfers): First university: 1.24 after three semesters. 1st semester at current community college I had 2 F’s and withdrew from a class before the 2nd semester started. Re-enrolled in community college in Spring 2023. Because of grade forgiveness policy I have a 3.89 now.
ACT/SAT Scores: My highest of the two was in October 2017. 30 cumulative. 26 Math. 25 Science. 34 English. 34 Reading.
Coursework
Because of my original plan to transfer to UVA/W&M my coursework matches the English major transfer guide provided by UVA.
1 History class. 2 English composition courses. My math course is only Quantitative Reasoning but I will be doing Statistics 1 in Spring 2024. 3 Environmental Science courses (took a different one Spring 2023 but am completing a sequence in Spring 2024). 3 major related classes will be completed by Spring 2024. Took 2 social science courses. Technically will have 5 foreign language courses completed by Spring 2024, but my community college did not accept my transfer credits when I completed foreign language at an advanced pace at my original university. Will finish the 4 course sequence for foreign language in Summer 2024.
Awards Dean’st List - Spring 2023, Summer 2023. Presidential Scholar - Fall 2023.
Extracurriculars
Retail job - 4 years. Food service job - 6 months (worked both jobs at the same time). Volunteer at local elementary school library. Do freelance makeup applications for clients. Mother was recently hospitalized for two months. Took care of my home and affairs solely. Since her release, I have been taking care of her.
I am currently applying to internships, community college writing contests, and my community college’s lit magazine. I don’t think results will come before I submit applications so this may be negligible.
Essays/LORs/Other
Essay is about how working at an all-female retail store improved my self confidence.
My LORs may include manager at my store who I’ve worked with throughout, my Oceanography professor who recommended I do the second course in sequence, and either of my English composition professors who have seen my essays/writing.
Cost Constraints / Budget
Previous EFC was <20k. Paid 30k incl. food+board at previous institution. Would prefer <30k.
Schools [I do not plan to apply to GMU or VCU as I’m not fond of them but I will if the application process doesn’t well].
Safety: George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth
Match: Agnes Scott, Hollins, Howard, Mount Holyoke, Spelman
I will be considered an independent since I will be 24. Since I work part time my personal income is <20k. I am nervous about how this will affect my chances at need aware schools. I am also highly terrified of how schools will perceive my previous grades even though I have been doing much better as of recently. Was told by a community college advisor that top schools only want students who have done well throughout their careers from high school to now. This application process has caused me immense stress and worry.
I also applied to the transfer WOW program for Williams. I got rejected however I did get the fee waiver and to talk with an AO. I wanted to know if that bodes well.
Congratulations on everything you have accomplished!
It’s harder to “chance” transfer applicants vs. first-year, in general, and even harder with an atypical profile like yours. There’s a lot for colleges to like, but as you say, the high-reach schools are tough admits that have plenty of applicants who have completely unblemished transcripts since birth. They might still bet on you. They might not. You already know this, which is why you have matches and safeties!
I know you already have a lot of applications, but have you considered McDaniel College in Maryland? They don’t guarantee full-need-met aid, but they meet >85% of need and give a lot of merit, even to transfers, so it might work financially. It’s quite diverse; their student population is >19% Black, and almost 5% are over age 25 (which is about double the nontraditional population at Williams, for example). The English department offers a Writing & Publishing major in addition to the English major, and has a literary magazine. There’s an Africana Studies minor as well. Transfer acceptance rate is over 80%, so it should be a safety admissions-wise; and getting to your budget seems possible too given these financial stats: McDaniel College Tuition and Costs - BigFuture College Search
Any reason you didn’t throw Bryn Mawr in there with the other women’s colleges?
Do you have enough credits to be considered a junior transfer, or are you a sophomore transfer? (I see this fall is only your second semester since you re-enrolled.) Is it an option to spend another year at CC before you transfer, if you don’t get the results you hope for this time? I think good results would be easier to predict if you had a longer period of consistency under your belt. But applying now may work out for you - fingers crossed!
Thank you for the reply! I am sadly ineligible for UVA and W&M’s transfer agreements due to my grades from Fall 2020. I looked into CNU before and disliked it, I believe it did not have the courses I was interested in. Also, CNU’s diversity leaves some to be desired. I will research the school again to see if it could be an option. The same went for JMU too haha.
I forgot to add that I do plan to enroll in grad school and/or law school. Grad school for sociology or law school for… a law degree lol.
Thank you for your kind words! And yes my profile is odd. I wish I had done more extracurriculars to round it out but I had some mental health issues that got in the way of certain things. Although I like every school on my list, I can’t lie and say I don’t like some schools more than others. However, I am impressed with Hollins and prepping myself to go there. I really like what I’ve seen from the school so far.
Funny enough I applied to McDaniel in high school but got rejected because of my GPA. I did research them again for transfer admission but for a silly reason, I took them off my list. Being more reasonable I will look into them again as I did like the school when applying in high school.
I did look into Bryn Mawr but I also took them off my list. I was not a fan of the Pennsylvania consortium schools - too much competitiveness and not enough collaboration. There was another reason I took Bryn Mawr off but it escapes me.
At the end of Spring 2024 I will have around 66-70 credits so I will be a junior transfer. I had a few courses from my first university and I took 12 credits during Summer 2023.
Look at Smith’s Ada Comstock program for non-traditional students. And Lesley’s Adult Learner program. There are many others but those are ones I know more about.
Law school won’t care which college you go to. Harvard is represented by 147 schools and last year even more than that….from schools with zero pedigree. Yale has a high amount too as I’m sure others do as well. Your age - if you’ve worked and ethnicity - will be positive factors at many law schools but you’ll require a strong test.
What kind of diversity do you seek ? If it’s overall African American population, CNU has a larger % than UVA. Look at the common data set section B2 of each. But overall UVA has a larger % of Caucasian students. Vassar and Skidmore, two examples btw, very small % of AA students. Far less than CNU. But overall more diverse.
CNU is essentially Virginias LAC which is why I mentioned.
In essence, you need a degree at a great cost. The where, I think, Is less important…especially if law is the goal.
Not sure about cost and offerings but Va had 5 HBCUs including Norfolk State and Va State. Would any work ? You have Spelman which is why I ask. You need a cost safety in case a meets need doesn’t come through so your dream is not derailed.
Also check aid for transfers at each school. This statement from Skidmore leads me to believe that they won’t assure aid for transfers. So triple check each. “Some need-based institutional grant assistance is available.”
Of course while you prefer under $30k, so we know if you qualify for need based aid ? Have you run an NPC at some of these that only offer need aid ?
Ah, okay - having an additional solid semester’s worth of summer coursework under your belt helps to show that your new level of performance is holding up consistently, so that’s good!
If you’re thinking you may want sociology grad school, make sure you research what grad programs are expecting in terms of undergrad coursework. You may need a stronger sociology background than your current plan implies.
Keep in mind also (as a backup option) that if you were to identify a public university in another state that would be a good fit and that would work financially if you were a resident, you are now old enough to move anywhere you want and establish residency; you’d just need to take a year off (work, save money) while the 12 months to become a resident elapses.
All students stand to benefit from selecting their potential transfer destinations with care, even those with consistently strong academic records. Williams, for example, accepted 1 out of 93 female transfer applicants in a recent year. Schools with acceptance rates in this vicinity would not seem to represent suitable choices for you (or, virtually, anyone). Their inclusion might lead you to miss realistic opportunities elsewhere, actually. Your counselor’s guidance seems as if it could be quite helpful, should you be receptive to it. You are fortunate in this regard. In any case, Holllins, for example, is a top school for the study of English literature, so you may get lucky.