How do I fare at Northwestern/other top schools?

Transfer Students
1

Demographics

From a midwest state (not a state with a strong flagship)

Current freshman looking to transfer for sophomore year in Fall '26

Majoring in economics/finance, interested in consulting/venture capital/economic policy

HS Stats

~3.7 UW GPA / 3.94 W GPA

-8 APs (three 5s, three 4s, one 3, didn’t take the other one)

Test optional for schools that require (31 ACT for schools requiring)

HS Extracurriculars include:

-Paid internship at Fortune 500 IT/telecoms company

-Unpaid internship at startup education/tech company

-VP of DECA

-VP of Investment Club

-Link Crew Commissioner

There are more, but these are the most impactful ones I will mention

College Stats

Dual major in finance and economics

4.0 GPA / 16 credits taken 1st semester

In honors college

Extracurriculars include:

-Legislative internship at my state’s House of Representatives

-Part of a selective venture capital fund

-Assistant Marketing Director at my school’s consulting organization

-Undergraduate research revolving around economic impacts of renewable development on rural counties

-Recruitment team for my social fraternity

I’m applying to only private unis for their stronger aid (I have run the Net Price Calculator on all of them and they are very generous):

Northwestern (will do Early Decision here), Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, UPenn, Duke, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Emory, USC

How do I fare? Additionally, am I being unrealistic with the schools I am applying to? If I do not get into any/commit to any, I will not be reapplying next year (simply due to how far behind I would be for credits and for recruiting).

2

Did you apply to these last year ?

So you have one semester under your belt ?

Your hs record will matter. I’m not seeing an in at any - this early after starting. If you were in hs, you wouldn’t get in (I don’t think).

If you don’t get in, you’ve already accomplished so much - legislative internship, party of a venture capital fund. Most kids at top schools will not do of these - so you will have success in life regardless of your school. I’m sure your current school is solid. Is there not a solid Midwest flagship ?Successful kids come from everywhere.

What is your major ? Economics and finance aren’t the same. Half your list doesn’t have finance. It could impact how long you’d have remaining.

As examples of difficulty, Brown admitted 215 of 2987 transfer apps. Emory 396 of 2445. NW 484 of 4045.

I wish you luck - you never know if you don’t try but I’m not seeing it. But apply and see.

Best of luck.

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3

Is there such a thing as early decision for transfer students? I had not heard of this.

Partly no and partly yes.

I do not see any point in transferring unless the school that you would be transferring to is a significant improvement over where you are now. It could be an improvement in terms of affordability, or in terms of education quality (this one seems unlikely), or in terms of opportunities. Unless a school is a big improvement in one way or another, it would make more sense to stay where you are. As such, if you are going to apply to transfer, then you might as well apply to reaches.

However…

Exactly. You are applying with only one semester of university classes. This means that your high school record will be quite important. While your high school record is very good, I do not see it as being likely to be “Northwestern, Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, …” good.

To me succeeding in transferring seems unlikely.

Looking for good internship opportunities where you are seems like a good plan.

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4

For NU there is:

Northwestern offers transfer applicants two pathways to join our community: Early Decision (ED) Transfer and Regular Decision (RD) Transfer. By applying Early Decision, you commit to enroll at Northwestern and withdraw your applications from other schools if you are admitted.

For students who apply for financial aid, the financial aid offer will be exactly the same whether you apply ED or RD.

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5

Slight wrinkle, I vaguely recall seeing that NU may be need-aware for transfers.

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6

Reason for transferring ? This is important.

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7

Correct - but if the NPC was checked, should be ok - or are you suggesting they don’t meet 100% of need on transfers ? Other than AI, I don’t see on their website that they state that they will meet it. OP might want to confirm before applying ED. Fair point you bring up if that’s what you are making.

“Transfer applicants who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible to apply for financial aid in the form of grants, loans and part-time employment.

Financial aid is awarded on the basis of need but is dependent upon availability of funds.”

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No, I don’t have any reason to think they wouldn’t meet need for admitted students.

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Ok. I actually can’t find that they do so you got me thinking :slight_smile:

They say this below so I wondered but hopefully they do. If someone needs too much, maybe they just turn em down. Hopefully. It’s suck to show $60k of need on the NPC but get offered 30k due to avail of funds. It’s prob worth a call from OP just in case (to clarify) b4 they ED.

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10

Hello. Thank you for your input. Sorry for not clarifying, but I am a dual major in both economics and finance. For places that offer a finance major, I will do that. For places without an undergraduate business school (which is a lot of my list), I will major in economics. The only schools in this list I applied to last year were Northwestern and USC.

11

I still go back to - you have one semester of college and a 31 ACT.

You can say - I’ll go TO. But those schools have high test taken rates - but maybe Vandy at 51% will be your best bet. They have a high transfer rate. They say they are need blind, even for transfers, so that might be your best bet.

I can’t imagine you’re not at a solid school - Iowa, Kansas, Mizzou, etc. are all solid but if you’re destined to take it up a notch, you might want to expand your list going down a tier.

If you are taking your shot and you won’t next year so you can survive where you are, go ahead.

Maybe you’ll do great!!!

Good luck.

12

There are multiple reasons for my desire to transfer. I do enjoy my current school, and if I were to get rejected from every school (which is the likely outcome), I would be fine staying at my school. However, I am very interested in consulting, venture capital, and economic policy. I understand these fields aren’t too similar to each other, but my school really does not put an emphasis on consulting or economic policy. The venture capital scene at my school is okay, but obviously nowhere near the level of SF/NY/Boston/Chicago. Additionally, recruiting for consulting will be quite a bit more difficult if I am not at one of these schools. Other reasons include more academic freedom (I truly want a more interdisciplinary approach to my curriculum) and simply wanting to move based on location. My ideal place to work is East Coast/Chicago. Access to networks from bigger cities is pretty important for me.

Overall, I completely agree that my school will not stop me from finding success in my life. However, I do want a change and genuinely want to leave my home state. I think it will allow me to prosper even more.

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13

Yes, my plan is to go TO for the schools that do not require it. Vanderbilt is one of the schools I am looking at the most. I will shoot my shot, and if I don’t get in, I am content with staying where I am.

Thanks so much!

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14

There’s lots of consultants. What kind of consultants? Many schools get consultants hired - but they come in all shapes and duties. Have you run NPCs on schools like Babson and Bentley? How about a W&L?

Where you go to school won’t necessarily impact where you end up. That’s not a good reason. Kids get to everywhere from everywhere. Mine is in CA from Alabama and in Denver from Charleston.

If you genuinely want to leave, I wish you luck but you need to expand your list.

Syracuse, U Miami, Brandeis. UNC has a Consulting emphasis program in their b school. Many schools have consulting clubs, etc doing projects. Does yours? Every year UCB hits me up - did a few weeks ago.

The issue is - there’s so many kinds of consultants and so many firms but you probably think McKiney, BCG, Bain, etc. Then the other thing is grad school - many come with MBAs. But there are lots of companies that hire consultants (Booz Allen offered my nephew a job last year with an accounting degree from UNLV - he’s not a recent grad). Tech companies hire consultants - Microsoft, SAP, etc. Financial services / banks do. Insurance companies do. Firms like PWC and KPMG do.

I think the field is far wider than you think. But so are the majors desired. Ga Tech does well but I imagine a lot of CS people.

I think it’s great to go after your list. Just wondering, if you truly want out, is it worth while going deeper? But I do appreciate your current strategy - you’ll try and see and if not stay…it’s just you say you want out…so how badly.

Good luck.

15

When I say consulting, I say it like most people my age do (McKinsey, BCG, Bain). It may be naive and limiting, and I understand that. But I truly do like the idea of consulting. I totally agree that where I go won’t impact where I end up. I also am aware that I sound very typical with my desire to get into MBB. However, it is not my only interest in consulting. I’m also quite interested in boutique consulting firms that focus on specializations/niche issues.

You’re most definitely right in that the field is far wider than I think. I just have not explored the avenues that could satisfy my interests while also allowing me to make a good salary. There is a consulting organization at my school, and I’m in it. However, the network is quite fragmented as the organization took a hiatus due to COVID. It has never really recovered, and there isn’t really a pipeline to management consulting at my school.

Additionally, one of the things about my school is that most grads tend to stay in the state for work. My desire is to move to/work on the East Coast or in Chicago/LA. I understand that I don’t have to follow the path that many do, but I am feeling as if it would be easier to transfer than to be picky about my job prospects. Maybe that is also an assumption I am getting wrong.

Honestly, I do think if I remain at my current school I will be fine. I think I can find happiness and prosperity here. However, I do want to give transferring a try. I think optionality is always a strength.

Thanks for responding

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16

One thing you might look into is access that transfer students have into the competitive consulting and/or other business-y clubs at each of your schools. At some schools, transfers basically are shut out of those clubs…meaning they apply and have no chance to be accepted. Just something to think about/research.

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17

Yes, this is definitely something I was worried about when thinking about transferring. Many business/consulting clubs are already selective enough on their own, but transferring may make it more difficult. I’ve done some research, and many of my schools have pretty competitive consulting clubs, but there are many business clubs that are less competitive, and I can have a shot at those. My first choice, Northwestern, has multiple consulting clubs and they seem to all be quite reputable. It is something I am definitely considering with my schools and will weigh in if I have to make a decision.

I’ve also come to terms with the fact that if I do not get into any of my schools this year, I will not reapply next year simply because recruiting is heavy in sophomore year, and transferring during that period would not only leave me behind socially and academically but also professionally.

Thanks for the response

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