I plan to major in International Relations or anything related to government or political science if I get accepted to either Dartmouth or Willams as a transfer after a year in my college. I know that the transfer would be very competitive, but I want to at least solidify my goal. Which one would be a better choice for me?
Also would 3.7 HS GPA, 2200 SAT, and stellar ECs, which my counselor in high school complemented as perfect for my preferred majors, while maintaining my college grades be enough to have a basis for being a competitive applicant?
Thanks!
No, you don’t pick between 2 schools until you have acceptances. Your goal should be a realistic list of schools and to look up all their transfer stats.
@BrownParent You are definitely right; I can’t pick between those two until I receive acceptances. But the transfer stats are so vague. Even though they say that those with HS GPA from 3.7 to 4.0 comprises 43% of accepted transfer students, I can’t say that I have 43% of probability to get accepted.
And actually I also want to know what exactly would my realistic lists of schools be. Any advice would be very appreciated.
I don’t think transfer stats are vague. They tell you how many applied and how many accepted. I think it is fair to assume that the closer to 4.0, the better for such selective colleges. As are really great letters of rec from your current college. And some significant involvement in the life of the school that you are currently in. Also a demonstration that you will outgrow your current college. Also what would really seal the deal is an academic reason why going to the target school makes sense. Such as a very famous department with a specialty that you have a demonstrated interest in, a library collection that will allow you to examine primary sources in your particular area of interest, etc.
So I would start researching your actual school instead of wasting time with this. Look at all the academics on offer, reach the department specialties, read the work being done by the profs read their bios and their online pages to see what research groups they are in or what papers they wrote and what journals those are in. See how you can be of service to the student body, do they need people on res life board, do they do community outreach to local youth, etc.
Assuming that you are accepted to both, Dartmouth seems to have an edge over Williams because it offers many exchange opportunities to foreign schools and I guess that might be helpful if you want to major in IR. GPA at Dartmouth also seems to be easier so it would also benefit you if you want to go to law school.
However, you don’t really know if you will be accepted until they release their decision so you don’t really need to think too much about it now…