<p>“This happens all the time in freshman admissions.”</p>
<p>Yeah, but it doesn’t happen so much in transfer admissions. The reason is that high school grades combined with SAT scores are only a moderate predictor of college success, but past college success is a fantastic predictor of future college success. If you are already at a 4-year residential university and making a 3.9+ with good activities, you are practically guaranteed to shine at the new campus, too. </p>
<p>Another way to look at it is that every high school in the world produces a top 10% aiming for college every year. But every 4-year college produces a top 10% in the freshman and sophomore classes, and almost all of them decide to stay where they are. (After all, they are doing great there.) So unless you’re HYSM, you can’t fill your whole transfer class with highly involved 3.9+ students. If you’re Northwestern or Wash U, you’re dipping into the 3.7s, who are still great students and terrific bets for your institution.</p>
<p>The sample size is pretty small, but I’ve never seen an involved 3.9+ applicant without a black mark on the record who didn’t get into at least one school at the Northwestern/Chicago/Georgetown/Cornell level. I’m sure it has happened, but it just isn’t like freshman admissions. You’re in very, very good shape as a transfer applicant if you can pull out that kind of GPA.</p>