from CC to an Ivy

annikasorrensen
Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:52:37 +0000

You need to show something about yourself beyond a gpa. That can be an extensive work history. Having raised a family or taken care of a dependent. Deep commitments to church activities, music ministries, volunteer work. Having started your own harp building business. Maybe being really active in some sort of solo sport. Whatever. Most elite colleges (not just ivy league schools) want to see a well-rounded or at least highly engaged person.

In other words, it simply isn’t that impressive to admission committees to see a transfer applicant who has good grades but apparently does nothing outside of school work. Ditch the tv set or gaming console (or whatever is sucking up your free time right now) and go do something a bit more interesting for awhile if you want to have a well rounded transfer app!

Generally FA from the elite colleges and quite a few of the ivies are pretty strong for families under 30K. You probably would have close to all tuition covered, though expect to have to make some contributions in forms of Stafford Loans and also 5K - 10K a year from cash sources such as savings and summer job and/or work study. However, there are some elites that will not offer a good enough FA package, especially to transfer students. I guess in the end all you can do is apply and wait and see.