I want to be a mathematics major and eventually go to graduate school. Staying at my current school for this would be a dead end. So I am going to apply to schools with top 50 math programs. Some may be a reach, but I feel like I would regret not applying (even if I am rejected). My cumulative GPA is 3.05 but will be 4.0 after this semester (academic renewal). I have straight A’s in every undergrad math class available for non-math majors (Calcs, DE, LinAlg, Discrete, Prob&stat). I tutored those courses last semester, and did pretty well in a math competition (top 10 in the region). I am considering applying to these schools:
Carnegie Mellon
Cornell
Stanford
Princeton
Brown
Columbia
UPenn
I’m going to be blunt. What are my chances of getting into these schools? Do you think I am wasting my money?
Approval of the renewal will show up on the transcript. Grades will still be visible, but my current college will not factor them into my GPA, and many schools (like UCLA, UCB) honor that decision by not taking those grades into account. Thanks for the reply.
Unfortunately, I think Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Stanford, Princeton, Brown, Columbia and UPenn will see those grades. If your 4.0 is only based off of one semester, I am not sure if that is enough of a track record. Please understand that there will be students applying to those schools that they will have to turn down because they don’t have enough space who have 4.0s without academic renewal.
Thanks for the insight. The 4.0 is based off of 3 semesters (spring, summer, fall) totaling 45 semester credit hours. I trust your opinion; do you think it will be a waste of money to apply to these schools?
I think it would help if people know the “dead-end” school you are at. You might be expecting more of these programs than they actually offer. Plus, it might be A LOT harder than the school you’re at.
Agree with @a20171 - It is really hard to tell without knowing schools and even course work. I think it would be harder to transfer from a CC to one of the schools you mentioned than someone with a 4.0 from a state flagship. They will also look at your course rigor and see what classes make up that 4.0. If graduate schools is your ultimately goal maybe you need to think of a progression like CC to State Flagship to Top Grad Program.
These schools have low transfer rates and more qualified applicants than they can accommodate. Statistically speaking your odds are low but you will never know unless you try. Just have realistic expectations. If you get in wonderful but if you don’t say you tried and embrace the opportunities you do have.
It’s hard for me to say if it is a waste of money. I really don’t think it is because it is one of those things you will never know until you try but the $500 means something different to everyone. If the $500 was your grocery money for the month, I might feel differently. Maybe pick a few that are the most realistic. Please also look into the cost of these schools before you apply and if you can afford them. It would be a waste to apply to something you have a low shot at getting into and on top of that couldn’t afford it if you did.
You did a great job of turning things around, You will do well where ever you go.
For someone who had stumbled so badly at first, why do you want to put yourself through the pressure cooker of a top 10 school other than for prestige? Could you even handle it?
@TomSrOfBoston
Q: Why do you want this and could you even handle it?
A: Because of my situation, I don’t believe the first round is a good indication of academic competence. To help elucidate this, I’ll post some of my coursework below. In the past year I have been able to go from little mathematical understanding to straight A’s in every math course available to me, as well as being relevant in competitions. I’m working on getting original research published this spring/summer. To me, this would show evidence that I am capable of handling a relatively large volume of information within a short period of time.
Spring 2017
Calculus II: A
Calculus III: A
Linear Algebra: A
Calc-based Probability & Stats: A
Summer 2017:
Differential Equations: A
Discrete Math: A
C++ Programming II: A
Calc-based Physics I + lab: A
Fall 2017:
Macroeconomics: A
Microeconomics: A
Piano Practicum: A
General Chemistry I + lab: A
Total semester hours: 45
You may be able to tell I ran out of math classes to take after the summer at the CC I attended, so I tutored math and entered a competition in the fall.
@123Mom456
I really appreciate your thoughtful reply. It’s encouraging that you believe going from an average state school to a top grad program in math is possible. I was planning on changing majors if this didn’t work out, but I may re-evaluate that.
I don’t get the dead end reference. I pulled up the course catalog and there are more advanced math classes than you can take during 4 years, and I bet you could also take grad school classes with permission. Did you repeat any of those math classes? Where are your gen ed classes?
I think you’re unlikely to get into any of those schools, but go ahead and apply and see. You won’t know if you don’t try.
You say ‘top-50’ but you list all ‘top-20’, many of whom take single digit % of transfer applications.
If you are seriously transferring to get a better math program (and not just for a fancier name), then you should have some programs in the 20s/30s/40s- BC or BU, WPI, many state flagships, etc.
Your school list is so top heavy that it is very possible to not get into ANY of the schools listed. I agree with @collegemom3717; I think that you should replace some of these reaches with other exceptional math programs.
My personal best guess is that for undergrad you should aim somewhere between where you are now and where you might want to go to graduate school.
I did my undergrad in Math and my Master’s degree in Operations Research (not exactly Math, but closely related). My Master’s was at a highly ranked school which is on your short list of “top math schools”. There were students there who had done their undergrad all over the place. The only school that I can remember multiple students had come from was Rutgers, but there were students there from many other in-state public flagships (definitely including U.Michigan and UNC and many others that I can’t remember).
You can get into a school from your short list for a Master’s or PhD if you do your undergrad at a university that is sort of half way between where you are now and where you want to go. You will of course need very good grades, and a general absence of excessive debt.
Have you done anything exceptional that will stand out on your transfer application beyond the improved grades? I applied to and was accepted by 6 of the above. The consistent theme in my transfer cohort was people had exceptional EC’s along with the grades, and/or held high grades at top schools and had family members with close ties to the university as donors/alumni.
Exceptional EC’s include a gentleman who sought asylum from Cuba by flying to Mexico City and declaring himself at the US border. He spoke zero English prior to obtaining a job at Home Depot. From there he learned English while putting himself through CC locally earning a 4.0. Another of my group transferred from Yale with a 3.9 and has parents who are both alumni of our present institution. They also happen to have a family net worth in excess of 10 figures and have donated significant amounts. Another of our group was a former Navy SEAL who earned a 3.9 at SDSU before transferring in.
I share these stories simply to give some insight into the types of folks that are admitted, and to frame the types of ECs that are expected beyond simply having good grades.