non traditional transfer students:

EwePilgrim
Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:09:44 +0000

Hi! I’m also a nontrad student looking to transfer schools after taking a health-related education gap. I was wondering if someone could chance me for a transfer to several schools. Any help would be so appreciated!

For my background, I was a good student through high school, achieving a 3.75 GPA and graduating with an International Baccalaureate diploma and bilingual honors. My SATs are lackluster at 2050, but my subject tests clock in at 800 for French and 780 for Spanish. I applied to several schools, and eventually matriculated at a top school in Canada. However, after experiencing a traumatic event near the time of my high school graduation, I found it difficult to succeed at university. I suffered from PTSD, anxiety disorders, depression, depersonalization disorder, and at the height of my troubles I exhibited suicidal behavior. This, of course, took a pretty disastrous toll on my academic abilities…

By the end of my second year at university, I finally swallowed my pride (and my 1.89 GPA…) and decided to withdraw from school to recover and reassess my plans. I came home and took classes at an extension/continuing studies school in my area. I’m now into my second year back home, and I’ve got a 3.7 cum GPA. Most importantly though, I’m finally feeling healthier and happier, and I’ve learned how to cope with the fallout of the trauma. Now, I’m trying to head back to finish my undergraduate degree, though I’m applying to several different schools that I believe will provide either a) better opportunities in my area of academic interest (East Asian Studies), or b) a strong mental health support system (just in case).

I’m currently applying to Wellesley, Smith, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Vassar, Tufts, BU, Hamilton and Wesleyan. I understand that these are all pretty long shots with my background, but I hope my application will attract the interest of admissions officers in one of two regards.


I come from a very multinational background. My mom is Filipina-Spanish and my dad is German. I speak fluent English and French, conversational Spanish, and am currently studying Japanese and Mandarin (I spent last summer in Beijing on a Mandarin language exchange). I grew up living abroad (Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo), which really framed my outlook on the world from an early age.
Hopefully, admissions officers at women’s colleges will be more understanding of my history with sexual assault - and they will be able to see how it allowed me to grow as a person. I started volunteering with a sexual assault center as a support group facilitator, and am excited to join in schools groups related to peer education and counseling surrounding sexual assault and partner violence - and if those groups don’t exist, I’d love to create them myself!


Besides these two facets, I look forward to two glowing recommendations from professors I have been able to get to know, and have been told that I interview rather well. Since I am within visiting distance from all of these schools, I am planning on interviewing with all of those willing to meet with me, and will be otherwise visiting all the rest.

Any feedback about the schools I’m applying to (if you go, how do you like it?), my chances of being accepted (crossing fingers!!), or stories from others who have had similar experiences would be awesome! Also, if anyone has suggestions for other schools I could look into, that would also be welcome.