Initial apologies if I’m in the wrong thread; first-time poster. Also, fair warning - in my efforts to get some advice I accidentally wrote an entire novel about the past year of my life. There’s a brief summary labelled “TL;DR” underneath.
CC, I screwed up - big time. I won’t pretend to blame the abstract concept of “senioritis” (or the American high school’s near 24-7 discussion on college applications, as annoying as it was) on how admissions ended up, but I will say that I got complacent, bitter, and downright stupid during my application process.
I was a solid A/B student for most of my high school life, and I like to think of myself as a very knowledgeable and varied person who reflects this in their grades, and while I wasn’t too “extra” when it came to extracurriculars, I had plenty of experience and a few awards in science fairs, a vice presidency in my school’s history honors society chapter, and a little bit of musical theater/choir to top it all off. My grades were mostly solid for high school, and I consistently made top-twenty (admittedly in my senior year by the skin of my teeth) for all four years, but by senior year I got idiotic and overconfident. I finished Calculus I with something to the tune of a D, my half-hearted SATs netted me a 1210 and a 1240 and while mathematics has never entirely been my strong suit, the Rutgers School of Arts & Sciences (which I had initially just accepted admission to while being waitlisted to Engineering) placement exams put me in pre-calculus - preventing me from taking on the computer science and STEM courses I actually wanted to start off in.
My initial plan was to just spend this year, along with this summer, taking all the prerequisites needed to apply for the RU School of Engineering, but there’s a little bit of a problem:
I’m closeted transgender.
I’m not looking for your opinions on gender identity/expression or your sympathies and I’m not looking to use my identity to give me an edge in admissions (if such a thing is even possible), but I felt this was necessary to mention given the gravity of the situation.
I live relatively close to campus, and due to financial and recent family health issues (as in getting-rushed-to-the-emergency-room health issues), I have decided to commute rather than dorm. But I’m unhappy with a lot of things and downright terrified for my own safety in others. I love my family dearly, but they are also very strong in the beliefs that they grew up with. Dorming at a college within New Jersey would feel a bit too “close to home”, and they are very clingy people that try to be involved with every single little thing I get into, and I don’t want to play a “balancing act” between who I am and who they think I am.
My heart isn’t at Rutgers. I don’t feel like I’m being held to the level of academic rigor I’m capable of, and I’m being made to take almost exclusively “fluff” classes in order to even get a chance of entering into my desired school and major. Both MIT (an institution I’ve been completely head-over-heels with since age eight) and Northeastern are schools that I have previously applied to and have been rejected from.
So. Here’s my dilemma. I want to transfer out to Northeastern or MIT. I want to fix myself and my academic record to really reflect what I can do, which is so much more than a 1240 and substandard calculus final. What do institutions like NEU/MIT look for in transfer applicants, and how can I make up for the shortcomings in my current body of work?
Not looking for chances unless someone reputable can actually back up their figures. Also not looking for what I should’ve done in senior year - I’m talking about right now.
TL;DR: Trans student with good record got lazy HS senior year and on the SAT, placed into safety school and very far from major. Want to transfer out to MIT/Northeastern for both safety and to achieve what I’m genuinely capable of, but need guidance, college admissions counselor/tutor recommendations, and ideas of what makes a solid transfer student.