What are my chances?What should I add? [international transfer student]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Uc berkley Haas,uchicago,babson college,columbia

Hey I am a transfer international student with low chances of getting admitted becouse of the acceptance rates.I come from Brazil and here we dont focus so much in gpa or Ecs.For this reason I never took Ecs serious but I have good grades.

1550 SAT 35 AcT ,should I take AP exams?

I am in a brazilian university where my grades are excelent but I have had not so good grades the first semester,im in the 3 semester .

These are my Ecs:

Tennis (need a bit of traning for college)

Poker professional

Mergers e Aquisitions internship

Research for finance with professor

Financial club member

Volunteering to help other students enter university in Brazil

Educational Youtube channel with 5 k subscribers

Maybe start a startup(this one is hard to achieve)

Essay

 I am 24 years and I have had some personal problems like the loss of a parent and mental issue.However since I entered university I have a had a change in my mentality and i m willing to put in dedication into  my Ecs ,as well as grades .

 I have had a lot of personal experiences and have become more mature and responsable.

For my essay I would choose to write about my personal challenges and how I overcame them ,as well as my abilities.

  last question:Could I use the mental issues or loss of a parent as an excuse for my bad grades in the first semester?Will it help if my present grades are good?could I add the fact that I was ranked among 50students that entered the best school in Brazil?
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You should change your username

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What is your budget? How much can you afford per year? That’s what you need to figure out firstly.

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Transferring into U.Chicago or Columbia as an undergraduate transfer student is very difficult. They take very few transfer students. UC Berkeley takes somewhat more transfer students, but most of them come from community colleges in California under specific agreements between community colleges and public universities in California. Babson would appear to be your best chance to transfer as an undergraduate student.

Another option is to complete your bachelor’s degree where you already are, and then consider getting a master’s degree in the USA. It is entirely normal in North America (both the USA and Canada) to get an undergraduate degree from one university and a graduate degree from a different university. For anyone who gets any graduate degree, changing universities is in fact more common compared to staying at the same university.

Now that you have started university there is no point in taking AP exams. AP exams are intended for high school students.

As others have said, your budget will matter. University is expensive in the USA. Columbia and Chicago meet full need for all undergraduate students, but are need-aware for international students. Thus if you need financial aid your chances will be even lower (and they are already low). UC Berkeley has almost no aid for out of state students, including international students, and is expensive (except for students from California). I do not know as much about Babson, although my understanding is that some financial aid is possible but is very limited and is not assured for international students.

I do know multiple students who got their bachelor’s degree in one country, and they got (or are currently getting) a graduate degree in a different country. This is not all that unusual. Most of the students I happen to have known who did this got their last degree in the USA, even if their first degree was somewhere else.

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Thank you for responding.I searched about the transfer rates,but you are telling me diferent.For columbia the transfer rate I found was 10 %,for uchicago 9%,umichigan 35%,uc berkeley 25% but doesnt acount for HAas.And there is Cornell 17% as well.For internationals I assume the rate is even lower.I will compete as full pay.But the question I was intended to make was about my profile and if I am able to be at those 9% or even 6 % fofr a international transfer

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For some universities even the transfer rate is above the freshman rate,like Columbia

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I am full pay

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This might help for schools that are need aware for transfer students, which I think includes Chicago and Columbia and Babson, and of course this also makes UC Berkeley possible to afford if you get accepted.

Yes this is correct.

One thing that I forgot to mention in my earlier post is that I am pretty sure that Cornell has some agreements with community colleges in New York which also inflates their transfer acceptance rate a bit.

Regardless, I think that all that you can do is to apply and see what happens. If you don’t get in, then be aware that you will have other chances such as graduate programs if you are ever interested in a graduate degree. I still think that Babson is your best chance for an acceptance, although apparently it is also quite selective with a freshman acceptance rate under 20%.

One thing that might be worth mentioning: Transfer rates are typically higher at the top universities in Canada, such as McGill, Toronto, and UBC. One issue here is just that these schools are fairly large relative to the size of the country that they are in. McGill and Toronto do have reputations for tough classes and grade deflation.

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AP exams are intended for high school students. You test scores are also largely irrelevant as they are also intended for high school students.

You are contradicting yourself here. Are your grades good or not?

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As I said ,I am not contradicting myself.My grades are good but my furst semster wasnt as good.Should I add something?Or make it more interesting?Like ecs or stuff.This is my question.What about my essay?

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UC Berkeley transfer rate for HAAS was 5% and they do not consider ACT test scores for admission purposes. UC Berkeley accepts only Junior level transfers with a minimum 60 semester/90 quarter units and completion of the required General Education and Major pre-requisite courses prior to matriculation. AP exams may help fulfill some of the GE required courses but will not give you a bump for admissions.

The overall International Transfer admit rate for 2025 was 26% but this includes International Transfers currently attending a California Community college.

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What would you recomend that I have a bump on my admissions for transfer?Like playing a good sport,having a job in the field,stariting a small startup,having a small youtube channel?Besides good grades

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Cornell’s transfer acceptance rate is currently around 9%. And as @DadTwoGirls correctly points out, this number is inflated due to transfer agreements with NY community colleges. The agreement with the state’s CC’s also inflates Berkeley’s acceptance rate.

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  1. Get good grades.
  2. Apply to universities for which acceptance is more likely.
  3. Get your bachelor’s degree where you are, get some work experience, and then apply to master’s degree programs.

At this point I do not think that extracurricular activities matter. Basically it is too late to start anything, and what you have already done is what it is. Work experience can matter, but will take time to gain. References will matter. Good work experience can help with getting good references.

Starting a company is going to take a long time, and is something that you should only do if you have a good reason that is not related to university admissions.

There is one other issue that has not been talked about on this thread but that might be worth mentioning for any international student thinking of studying in the USA: Do not expect to stay in the US after graduating. If you do come to the US to study, then you need to assume that you will be required to return to your home country after graduation. Immigration to the US has been iffy for a very long time, and has become a hot political issue here. You should not assume that common sense or basic sanity is in any way related to politics (neither in the US nor anywhere else).

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I will be applying only for 2027.2026 I will continue my undergraduate studies here.This is why I am asking what Ecs could help me since I will have have 15 months to prepare or a bit more

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In addition to this, Cornell also offers a transfer option to a number of students that were not admitted as freshmen.

OP, if you really are interested in transferring to a U.S. school, you need to expand your list. The ones you’ve mentioned are probably not viable options for you.

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I know the transfer rate is crazy but would having excellent grades ,good references and excellent ecs help me distinguish me from the rest?

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And which Ecs should I add?

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In terms of admissions to graduate programs, I have seen multiple examples (myself included) where very good relevant experience appeared to be very helpful to a student’s chances. Examples I have seen included: Biomedical research for someone applying to a biomedical PhD program; Experience in veterinary medicine and with large animals for someone applying for a DVM; Experience applying math to nuclear physics research problems for someone applying to a master’s in applied math; Experience in a medical environment for someone applying to a master’s degree in nursing or public health; Experience in a range of musical events and a range of musical instruments for someone applying to a PhD in music. In the same sense, business experience would be helpful for someone applying for a business-related graduate program (such as an MBA). There appears to be a theme here: Note the word “relevant”. For graduate programs it can be very helpful to have experience that is specifically related to whatever graduate program you are applying to.

Thus it is not clear to me that general broad ECs matter for graduate programs, but experience that is related to whatever graduate program you are applying to does seem to matter quite a bit. Of course this can help both in terms of having the experience, and in terms of getting good references. At least in the cases that I am familiar with the quality of a student’s references did seem to be important.

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But doing undergraduate transfer ,even though you have mentioned its dificult, I still wanna give a try 2027.Havinh these experiences like tennis,volunteering or poker is worth mentioning?