<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I’m applying to four top tier schools (HYSC) as a transfer student from top 20 schools (from US News perspective).
I know the chance is very slim, but it doesn’t hurt to try. And all those schools offer concentrations that fit my interest more than the school I’ll be attending this fall. But before then, I gotta ask abut SAT and apps… (By the way, I know GPA and recommendations are the most important. I’ll try my best to get 4.0… I have a great adviser of my life, my brother, who’s graduating from a top-ranked liberal arts school with near-perfect GPA (just 0.01~3 difference), and he’s willing to assist me when I’m having trouble with my academic life)</p>
<p>I got 32 on ACT last year, and the reading and science sections were quite low (Reading Math Science English: 30 34 30 34). I struggled with science passage for reading section as well, so I’m thinking about taking SAT this fall. If I get 2250+, would that make a difference? 32 in SAT is 2140. It’s low for HYS and C, but I also heard standardized scores aren’t that important for transfer applicants… Would it be better to focus on the essays and extracurriculars?</p>
<p>Second question is, how far should I go with the future plan? One common advice I got from the forums was to clarify my future academic and career plan well, but I don’t know how far I should go. Should I mention names of the courses I want to take or names of professors? I do have a generic direction of what I want to study, but I do not know that specific. But somehow people say tell it specifically, and I don’t know what’s the standard of being “specific”. Are there any people who have applied for these schools or applied to schools of same caliber? What kind of things did you mention about the school and how far?</p>
<p>Oh, I think I now have the third question. If I don’t have any internship or volunteering experience, would that hurt my application a lot? I’m doing some stuff related to my major interest on my own time, but not involved in any kind of “substantial” group activity. I know this question sound silly (first, I shouldn’t volunteer just for the college app, but I just can’t stop thinking about it), but I’d appreciate if you shed any light about this. </p>
<p>Also, when school asks what my career plan is, would it look distracted if what I want for my career is not directly related to my major? My major is what I truly wanna learn in college for my own curiosity (humanities) while I want to go to law school for my career. I know at least H and Y doesn’t like someone who’s all over the place, at least from my experience last year</p>
<p>. Sorry for the silly questions. These last two are really horrible, but I’ll wait for answers no matter what. Thanks again!</p>