I’m a transfer student from a California Community College, and I’m currently trying to find top-tier schools that are generous with accepting transfers.
My Stats:
GPA: 3.93 (B in Gen Chem 1, in my first semester.)
EC’s: 8/10; tutored low-income students, co-founded a charity, volunteer at a hospital etc.
Letters of Recommendation: Really good (like an 8.5/10); I got one from my OChem professor, and one from my Zoology professor.
Major: Biology (I’m pre-med, so I’m looking at schools that would give me the best shot of getting into medical school.)
I have already applied to: UCLA, UC Berkeley, UCSD, UC Davis, UCM, UCR and USC.
I haven’t applied to any Ivies because I know that I’m not THAT good of a student, and they don’t really accept transfer students (especially not ones out of Community College.)
Also, I’m not looking to add any safeties to my list, because I think UCM, UCR and UC Davis should do.
Ivy-wise, Cornell does accept quite a few CC transfers - not that it’s necessarily a better option for you than the UC’s, but it could be an option. (And being African-American would help you there, whereas it won’t at UC’s) However, going to an ivy or other tippy-top-tier school won’t give you any particular edge as far as med school admissions - that’s all about your grades, MCAT scores, and relevant experience. So a lot of the question is, what experience are you looking to have for your remaining undergrad years? Do you prefer to stay in CA, or would you enjoy the chance to go somewhere else? Also, what financial category of school will get you through with the lowest debt? (Because you don’t want to go into med school with a pile of student loans from undergrad.) UC’s would be more advantageous for some students, whereas a full-need-met private U would be a better deal for others… so it’s important to know how you’re positioned in that regard. You can get a great education in so many places, and you’re a strong applicant who could have many options… so it’s important to narrow down both what your preferences are and where the best financial value lies given your economic profile.
@aquapt Thanks for the reply!
I would honestly love to leave CA, and experience a different environment.
I’m very low-income, so I’m looking at schools that give very generous financial aid; schools that tend to be top-tier, private colleges. Of course, UC Merced and UCR also offer great financial aid, especially if I can get some kind of scholarship.
Well, there are the few elite OOS flagships that do meet need - UMichigan does for low-income students, and Chapel Hill and UVA both do. (I am not 100% sure whether this is any different for transfer applicants, so double-check that.)
I do feel as if there is tension between your criteria here. Because on the one hand it can be more advantageous to go to a larger school that has a bigger cohort of incoming transfer students and more predictable odds of getting a spot. But on the other hand smaller schools can be more premed-friendly in terms of being supportive/collaborative. The problem with transferring into small schools is that you never know how many transfers they’ll be able to take in a given year. (My D’s LAC has had several recent years where they refunded the app fees because they didn’t have space and didn’t even read the applications.) But it can be worth just casting a wide net and seeing what happens, if you want a small top-tier school.
Medium-sized full-need-met schools that take a decent number of transfer students and are good for premed include Emory, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Wesleyan, U of Richmond, Case Western Reserve, and U of Rochester. A lot (maybe all?) of these schools have higher admit rates for transfers than for freshmen. Tufts and Rice are a little tougher (10% and 14% transfer admit rates respectively) but the acceptance rate is still in the double digits and they are great premed schools with excellent financial aid. Among larger private U’s, Cornell takes many, as previously mentioned, and also USC, although that doesn’t tick the “getting out of CA” box.
Run the Net Price Calculators on some of these schools and see how they look compared to the UC’s. I’m sure you’ll do great with the UC’s, and that would be a fine plan, but it’s good to explore your options and see if there are other possibilities that improve on that baseline.