<p>I recently scored a 1570 on the GRE (800 Quantitative, 770 Verbal, 6 Analytical Writing) and I have not even finished my fifth quarter at the University of California-Santa Cruz. Unfortunately- as the low prestige of the college I currently attend might suggest-I have had a consistent track record of scoring exceptionally high on standardized tests [SAT Reasoning Test: 2360(Writing:800 Math:760 Critical Reading:800); ACT Composite: 34(English/Writing Combined:36 Math:34 Reading:36 Science:30) while earning relatively low grades (College G.P.A.: 3.24; HS G.P.A.: 3.07). Assuming that I ace the classes I am currently taking, my G.P.A. next quarter will climb to a modest 3.33.
I have already received two outstanding recommendations one of which is from Carl E. Walsh who is extremely well-regarded in the economics community for propounding the “Walsh Contract” theory and for his prominent role at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (1985-). </p>
<p>Realistically do you think my high exceptional GRE score and outstanding recommendations are enough to catapult me into an upper-echelon school like Stanford, Princeton or Harvard?
If not, where should I aim?</p>
<p>Harvard and Princeton don’t accept transfers. Standford’s acceptance rate is around 1 or 2% I think? I don’t know if they would take your GRE score into account during the admissions process. You could submit your SAT scores, but I wouldn’t rely on them to get you into these ultra competitive schools…A 3.24 GPA, even with excellent recommendations, will be very weak at many T10 schools (recommendations are extremely important, though). I would apply as a junior transfer and try to raise your grades (assuming UCSC’s quarter system lines up with the semester system). I haven’t seen too many people on this forum with high test scores, and low GPA, so I’m not too sure how your application will be looked at. Unfortunately, the impression I get is that you just aren’t applying yourself. In your essay, I would focus on why there is such a big gap between your grades and your test scores. </p>
<p>Assuming you can significantly raise your grades, I would say you have a good shot at most of the top schools.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice man I really appreciate it, most of the gap between my achievement and my test scores is attributable to a debilitating case of ADHD. Sometimes I just have trouble keeping my eye on the prize. But for the past 3 quarters I have maintained a 3.93 GPA so I am definitely improving, and I am taking a heavy courseload as well. I appreciate the advice thanks again.
Do you think a 3.6/3.7 would cut it at Stanford/UC-Berkeley/USC? Assuming my essays are top-notch?</p>
<p>Stanford, probably not (unless you have some amazing ECs), UCB and USC very likely (I don’t know about USC, but I know UCB is very strict about completion of pre-reqs…talk to your adviser or check their website to see if you’re on track).</p>
<p>“Unfortunately- as the low prestige of the college I currently attend might suggest-I have had a consistent track record of scoring exceptionally high on standardized tests [SAT Reasoning Test: 2360(Writing:800 Math:760 Critical Reading:800); ACT Composite: 34(English/Writing Combined:36 Math:34 Reading:36 Science:30) while earning relatively low grades (College G.P.A.: 3.24; HS G.P.A.: 3.07).”</p>
<p>The “relatively low prestige” of your current university is not the cause of your “relatively low grades”. If you want to transfer you need to pull down a transfer-worthy GPA. ESPECIALLY if you are coming from a “low prestige” university. They key to those grades is in your post #3:</p>
<p>“Sometimes I just have trouble keeping my eye on the prize.” </p>
<p>You have to find a way to do this if you want to transfer, because this is what the whole game is about. High standardized test scores (especially on the tricky and rather intriguing PSAT/SAT/GRE) combined with lower-than-expected-for-your-smarts GPAs are indeed classic indicators of ADD. Your choices at this point really boil down to two: a) find a major field that is so intriguing that it holds your attention and choose a college with limited requirements in areas that don’t interest you, or b) visit the disability office on campus to get counseling on behavioral and/or medical strategies that will help you master the way your brain works so that you are able to function reasonably well in a more standard university environment.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with the way your brain works, it is just that the environment you are in is probably a very bad fit. There are other environments out there in the world where your brain’s style would be a true asset. The trick is to find them.</p>
<p>Not everyone with high test scores feels the need to work hard 24/7.
Having fun is important too.
Good luck and congrats on those awesome scores,
I think you deserve to get into the higher UC’s especially since you are smarter than most of the people at those schools.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! i really appreciate the advice, I never seriously considered contacting the DRC for my ADHD before this morning. Now that I have called them up I feel much more encouraged, I might be able to get people to take notes for me and extended time on tests! Life will be a hell of a lot easier! Thanks Mondo I wish that was the case, unfortunately I am an out-of-state student so the state of California dicked me like Richard Nixon haha. The good news is I am having a good time, and I am doing much better in school. Hopefully sometime soon I will be able to go somewhere intellectually stimulating enough to pay due attention to scholastic matters without losing sight of a broader happiness. Right now I am thinking about becoming a FOREX trader and hedge-fund manager, despite the fact the economy is getting crushed right now. The markets will soon abound with undervalued high-growth stocks and I want in!
I might just wait til’ i graduate UCSC to matriculate to a top business school, and I already have the GRE score I need… maybe I’ll take the MAT next ;-)</p>
<p>“Right now I am thinking about becoming a FOREX trader and hedge-fund manager”</p>
<p>you know, they usually make you work for a few years after you come out of harvard business as the valedictorian before they put you in a position to take in 50 mil a year…jesus christ</p>
<p>it may also be too late for you to transfer, or at the very least you may be at a further disadvantage so late in the game</p>
<p>your not going to be at all competitive for the ivies or even the schools directly below them, stay where you’re at and worry about trying to succeed in your current enviornment and try and get into a decent grad school</p>
<p>“College G.P.A.: 3.24”
“…enough to catapult me into an upper-echelon school like Stanford, Princeton or Harvard?”</p>
<p>I’m going to go ahead and say that your chances at Stanford and the ivies, with that GPA, is pretty much zero.</p>
<p>“I have already received two outstanding recommendations one of which is from Carl E. Walsh who is extremely well-regarded in the economics community”</p>
<p>Remember, the important thing about your recs is not WHO wrote them, but WHAT was written about you. </p>
<p>“Right now I am thinking about becoming a FOREX trader and hedge-fund manager”</p>
<p>Advice: Do a little bit more research about those fields of work.</p>
<p>I’m considering transferring universities within the coming years. The crisis is my GPA is horrifically low. I slacked off for a few of my courses, and had horrid professors for others, and now my GPA is a meager 2.3. I am highly ashamed of it. This semester I’m working much harder and should hopefully 4.0. I’m presently attending a liberal art school (Saint Bonaventure) with an all right reputation within the Northeast. I am, however, looking to transfer to a more respectable school on a high-echelon level, particularly Rice, UC Berkeley or Hamilton College. Pending I 4.0, or score slightly lower, for this year (my sophomore year), and first-semester Junior year, is there any chance for admission into more competitive schools? I do plan on retaking courses I scored poorly in, to increase my average in that course, thus raising my GPA - but I don’t have much time. Does anybody have any idea of approximately how high my GPA should be? I do know Hamilton College starts seriously considering admission around 3.4ish, but I don’t know about the other schools. I was admitted to Rice University in high school (I just could not afford it) but my GPA was also far higher than it is now. I graduated high school with a 3.8 average. Now I have a 2.3.</p>
<p>is that 2.3 with a full years worth of credits? </p>
<p>also</p>
<p>JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GET A 4.0 DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU WILL! i feel like a broken record, but if you got a 2.3 your first year getting a 4.0 the next two semesters does not fit your performance pattern…even if you do get a 4.0 the rest of the year, which is harder than you might want to believe, you’ll be left with what a 3.1? and you’ll be applying as a second semester junior? i really think you should be content with where you are at, the competitive schools you are referring to seem out of reach</p>
<p>What good would going to a premier school do for you anyways? It doesn’t seem like the classroom atmosphere is your thing, pretigous or not. Plus you already have completed the GRE. Is this really what you want?</p>
<p>BTW, Ghostsinthewall, many schools don’t allow grade subs unless you receive a D or an F. (and with a 2.3, this could be very well possible)</p>
<p>I am in a similar sort of situation, in that I have high GRE scores (V: 760, Q: 770 and W:6) but have a lower gpa (3.43). Nevertheless, I want to study the history of religions in South Asia in Graduate school. My major gpa from the University of Virginia (which was in South Asian studies) is 3.87 which should be high enough. My gpa was affected by low grades in unrelated courses; I had initially planned on majoring in Econ and Biology and those were the areas in which I scored poorly. Could anyone shed any light on how such a circumstance may be viewed by prospective grad school programs.
Thanks a bunch.</p>
<p>The best predictor of how you’ll do at your transfer is how you did at your current school No top college is going to take you now. </p>
<p>The best route to a hedge fund will be to do as well as you can in finishing college, work 3-5 years and do really well and apply to top MBA or quant programs (the later you can go to straight out of college).</p>
<p>religi,
Transferring refers to changing schools for UNDERGRADUATE studies. What you are asking about is applying to GRADUATE school. Please post your question by starting a new thread on the Graduate School subforum.</p>
<p>Moderators Note:</p>
<p>This thread is almost a year old and the OP is likely no longer around as they haven’t posted since 2008. </p>
<p>It’s great to Search for information in old threads, but please don’t dig them up and post on them. The result is that folks don’t realize they’re old and start responding to the OP. If you have a related question, please start a NEW thread of your own.</p>
