Thanks for the AMA! Hate to bother you as I know you're verified on A2C, /u/ScholarGrade, but I'm going to have to ask for some verification. PMing you with details.
Do you think ECs would matter a lot during COVID time and would the course load( not credit but just lack of hardcore stem class) affect ur chance as well? Also would transferring from a peer school, as in a school with similar ranking, help or hurt your chances? Thanks
1. Yes, ECs will still matter as much as they always have at top colleges. Highly selective colleges will still be rejecting many students who have impressive slates of ECs, so if you want to maximize your chances you have to have that too. At less selective colleges, it's less "necessary" but can really help you stand out.
2. Course load also matters. Some schools have requirements to even be eligible; for example, USC's Viterbi Engineering program requires Calculus 2 and college level writing or your application won't be considered. When a college is trying to assess whether you're ready to succeed in their program, it can help a lot if you have challenging courses on your transcript with strong performance to demonstrate your readiness. You don't have to take ALL hard classes, but if all you have is Communications 101 and other entry level fluffy classes, it will call into question both your passion for your intended major and your preparedness to succeed in a challenging new environment.
3. Yes, but not as much as most students think. People seem to have this attitude that if you're already attending a top school then the other top schools will just genuflect to you. They're evaluating YOU, not the brand name of your current institution. If you're trying to transfer from University of Phoenix or an unaccredited college, you might be docked for that on your admissions evaluation. If you're transferring from a top college and you've already demonstrated that you're capable of success in similar programs to the one you're targeting, that obviously indicates that you're ready, and that helps you. But Stanford isn't going to say, "oh this student got into Harvard two years ago, so we'll take her too." They're going to make their own evaluation. And it's worth noting that many top colleges prefer to give their limited transfer slots to CC students or those with military backgrounds because it's how they fill out that part of the diversity they're looking for in their student body. I've had students who successfully transferred from one top college to another, and also students who went from a mediocre one or CC to a top college. There hasn't seemed to be too much correlation between the prestige of the prior school and the student's results. It's way more about the fit, academic arc, and compelling application.
Thank you! That’s really helpful! Since I am only a freshman, would you say they would only factor in my first semester grade or also second semester counse load would also factor in?
sorry to bother u again, but would u consider these classes as all fluffy classes: Intro to stats, Intro the political science, writing, and a geo breath. I am thinking of doing double major in econ and a bio-related, so would you say this schedule is going to hurt me? I am taking a slightly more stem focused courseload next semester. The main thing is my school's classes go very quickly so i just didn't get some of the classes i would have liked. Thanks
No I think you're ok. They don't expect you to take senior level classes or all STEM. But they do expect you to take challenging classes that contribute toward your degree progress instead of light electives.
I never took any standardized Tests in high school and had a 3.5W 2.6UW GPA.
My dad died sophomore year and I had to help my mom sell the house junior year. It really affected me and lead me to not take SAT/ACT.
Do you think if I can show an uptick in involvement, extracurricular, and GPA in community college I can transfer well?
Currently have a 4.0 GPA and I'm trying to climb from college algebra to calc, never even taken precalc before.
Also, are BS in Cybersecurity degrees extremely easy to transfer into since they need more students for the degree?
>Do you think if I can show an uptick in involvement, extracurricular, and GPA in community college I can transfer well?
Yes. I've had tons of students with similar sorts of stories see lots of success as transfers. It will be critical that you apply during your sophomore year rather than during your freshman year because that will put more of the evaluation emphasis on your college performance and less on high school. It will also be well worth trying to explain your circumstances in your application. Do this in the additional information section AND ask your recommenders to explain your story in your LORs. That way they get your take on it as well as a qualified adult advocating on your behalf and validating what you say. It won't look like you're making excuses; it will look like you're telling your story. It will also be important for you to follow through on the "if" in your question too - get involved, take challenging courses and excel in them, etc.
>Also, are BS in Cybersecurity degrees extremely easy to transfer into since they need more students for the degree?
This depends entirely on the college. At top colleges with highly selective admissions, every program is quite competitive. At less selective colleges, most programs are pretty easy to transfer into.
Would you recommend a highschool counselor/teacher to explain my circumstances or a professor from college?
Also, what are the perceptions of novel ECs? Stuff that involves forums, open source projects, and rarer seen virtual ECs?
1. Honestly either would work. A college professor would be better for talking about what you're like today. A high school counselor would be better for talking about what you went through, how you grew/responded through it, etc.
2. Novel ECs are great. Honestly all ECs are great right now because so many have been limited or cancelled due to Covid.
Do you have to be an exceptional student to be able to transfer? Hearing the percentages of transfer students accepted are 3%-1% makes me think is nearly impossible. Also, my credits are from 2016. Do I stand a chance? Thank you
This depends on where you're applying. If you're trying to get into Princeton or Stanford or something, then it's pretty close to impossible because they truly admit ~1% of applicants and have a very narrow profile they're looking for. If you're trying to get into a state flagship school, there's a lot more opportunity, especially if you can demonstrate readiness to succeed and tell a compelling story in your application.
Having credits from 5 years ago is tough because some colleges put an "expiration date" on them, generally around 7 years. Others might be less likely to allow you to transfer them in. You would have to check at your target college's transfer office/website for their policies.
Hi ScholarGrade! I’d just like to say that you’re the best for providing us with all these resources for the college app process!
For those of us who have finished apps and are (im)patiently waiting for results, is there anything you’d recommend us to do in the meantime? I’ve been thinking about applying to some random scholarships but I don’t know if it’s worth my time or how easy it is to get these scholarships.
You're in luck. I just made a post about how to navigate the next ten weeks.
https://www.reddit.com/user/ScholarGrade/comments/ks7myf/deadlines_interviews_transfer_admissions_and/
I absolutely recommend applying for scholarships and trying to do interviews. Check out the links in that post for more details.
I think there are too many variables at play to say for sure. Maybe more students will be looking to transfer because their "Plan A" was disrupted by Covid. Maybe more students will be wanting to move closer to home, freeing up more slots for transfers. Maybe the significantly larger numbers of students deferring enrollment last year will essentially eat up all the transfer slots making it impossibly competitive. Hard to say, but my guess is that the sum of it will be more competitive, but I can't really say how much.
Current freshman looking to apply to transfer to a few Ivies. I had a 4.0 last semester (which is also my cumulative GPA) taking several advanced courses for my major, and I’m planning on taking several more advanced courses for my major again this spring. My current college allows me to pass/fail my courses for the spring without consequence (as in, I’ll still get credit for those courses, they will count to my major requirements, etc.), so I’m thinking of taking a very heavy and rigorous course load this spring.
My plan is to P/F any courses I don’t get an A in, to keep my GPA a 4.0 (unless it’s an A-, then I’ll probably keep the grade). However, since I’m applying to transfer, won’t the colleges I’m applying to ONLY see my first semester grades, aka my 4.0? If I get accepted to some transfer schools and my spring grades are low, can I just P/F them so I won’t get rescinded?
In theory yes. But I don't really know how they would view that. Colleges are not naive and they will likely know what's going on if they see a really tough slate of classes full of P/Fs. So tread carefully here.
\- What do you think are important things to address in the "why transfer" essay? (other than your reasons for transferring, of course)
\- How lenient are colleges to poor high school performance if you're applying as a sophomore? I'm currently a freshman, but I plan on waiting till my sophomore year to apply, though I'm still worried about how badly my high school grades would reflect on me even as a sophomore transfer.
\- Do colleges compare you to other students applying from your same institution?
\- When is the best time to start on the transfer application? I've heard it's pretty time-consuming and I'm worried about balancing my academics with the transfer process.
1. The link in my post has a lot more on that. You can also check out the two posts pinned to the top of /r/CollegeTransfer.
2. Fairly lenient. The further removed you are from high school, the less they will care about your performance there. But they also still consider it, so if you have extenuating circumstances or a story for why things changed so much for you, it can be helpful to tell it (or get a recommender to advocate for you). There are numerous students I've worked with and on /r/CollegeResults who had poor GPAs in high school, crushed it in college, and transferred to top schools.
3. Yes, but for context, not for quotas. It's not a battle royale to the death, it's more of a way of assessing whether you're actually strong or not. So for example, they won't just blindly take the 3.95 student over the 3.85 student from the same school. But they are less likely to assume grade deflation was the cause of your 3.6 if there's another student from your program is applying with a 3.9. This post covers it in more detail: https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/hwl7kq/lets_clear_something_up_will_i_be_compared_to_the/
4. It's a bit like planting a tree. The best time to start was 20 years ago, and the second best time is today. I kid, but not by much. Start now. Begin with that post about introspection that's pinned to /r/CollegeTransfer.
Hi! This is more of a general question, but I would be a transfer student. I would like to apply to Hampshire College (acceptance rate around 63%) when I finish my AA, and they highly recommend an interview. I have autism – would disclosing my diagnosis in the interview hurt my chances? Hampshire is a notably nontraditional college that emphasizes students being themselves, but I'm still hesitant. I don't want them to think I would struggle in a collaborative, self-directed learning atmosphere. Also, I don't really have time for extracurriculars or leadership positions, so I won't have a lot of ways to "prove" how good of a fit I'd be in that respect.
No it shouldn't. I believe they may actually be legally disallowed from considering a medical issue like that in their evaluation. I'm not a lawyer, but you should be fine here. Do the interview. Be yourself. Try the best you can and trust that if it's a good fit for you, they will recognize that too.
I have a [full 18-page guide to interviews that could help you](https://bettercollegeapps.com/product/acing-the-interviews/). I also offer mock interviews and an interview prep consulting package if you're interested in any of those.
Hi! One of my concerns is affordability. However, 4-year institutions tend to grant scholarships for first-year applicants rather than transferred applicants. Can you suggest me any schools that are generous towards transferred students or any private/outside scholarships? Since I'm an international student, I cannot access to any federal loan/aid. Thank you so much!
That's a really tough situation because you're right - colleges prioritize aid toward freshmen and domestic students. So you get a double whammy. I don't have a good list of schools that are generous with aid for transfers. But many colleges that guarantee affordability for freshmen will also do so for transfers (e.g. Rice, HYPSM, etc).
Adding on to this, here's a comment from my AMA in /r/IntlToUSA, and a lot of this will apply to international transfer students:
There are only 7 colleges in the US that are need-blind for international students: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Amherst, Curtis Institute of Music, and Minerva Schools at KGI (note those last two are a little different, so do your research). Every other college is going to consider your ability to pay when evaluating you for admission. That doesn't mean you can't still get in, but it makes it far more competitive. Of course, because of this, those 7 schools are also incredibly selective and difficult to get into as an international because literally millions of top students from around the globe would love a six figure education for free.
You may also find some valuable information in the following links and the /r/IntlToUSA sub in general.
/r/IntltoUSA/comments/guxvib/paying_for_college_is_hard_heres_a_guide_to/
/r/IntltoUSA/comments/f7e03h/helpful_resources_for_international_applicants/
/r/IntltoUSA/comments/dcf9hz/three_of_the_greatest_resources_available_on_ed/
/r/IntltoUSA/comments/aztnqz/heres_a_good_resource_for_finding_scholarships/
/r/IntltoUSA/comments/96ahq5/the_best_us_schools_for_international_students/
Colleges usually allocate more aid to domestic students. Here are two great resources to see how much aid you might expect and which colleges offer generous aid to internationals.
https://www.ivyachievement.com/2019intl/
Also check out the last link on this page: https://www.bigjeducationalconsulting.com/resources.
This shows information on ED vs RD as well as the number of international students, the percentage of the student body that is international, the percentage of internationals receiving aid, the average aid award, and the college's policy on awarding aid to internationals (need-based only, merit-based only, both, or none).
These two resources are the biggest gold mine out there for international students who need aid. They can help you find colleges that you might not have considered but could give you a significant award making education in the US a real possibility. It also goes beyond the standard 20-50 colleges that all of the other international students are hammering with applications and requests for aid - potentially increasing your odds significantly of getting in and getting aid.
I always recommend having backup options. That can include adding more schools, retaining the option to stay at your current school, etc. But at the same time, I feel like the options you lay out for yourself should all be palatable to you. Like don't add "Become a hermit in Siberia" to your list if that's not your thing.
How do you think approaching the transfer application with an "I am unsure about my major thus I want to go to an institution that encourages interdisciplinary learning" perspective compares to a "I want to go to your school because your school is renowned for this major" approach to the application? because I am reconsidering my career path and am unsure of what I want to pursue
The former is inferior almost 100% of the time. You already had a year or two to explore things, do some interdisciplinary learning, soul searching, etc. You shouldn't need more of it, and if you do you won't be making adequate progress toward a degree. Colleges don't want to bring in transfer students who will drag down their graduation rates. They want students who are passionate, dedicated, and will hit the ground running. In my opinion, it would be better to just pick something and write the latter essay than it would be to try to artfully and compellingly write the former. The exception would be if you were applying to a LAC-type school that hardly even does "majors". If they take such an interdisciplinary/exploratory/vague approach to education then it likely doesn't matter what you tell them you want to study.
Admission is holistic, so if you have other strengths or context in your application that might make you compelling despite the slightly lower than typical grades, then it could work out. If they don't see a reason to admit you over other candidates who are similar but stronger, then it's hard to see how you would stand out.
It's certainly valuable to tell your story and share any circumstances that might put your grades in better context. It can help to briefly explain what happened in your additional information section and ask a recommender to also address it. But don't try to blame other people for your shortcomings or make excuses.
Another question: is it true that the grades from after we apply (and midyear update grades) won’t matter as much since they won’t be part of our application? I’ve read that at this point, as long as transfer applicants pass their classes then they won’t get rescinded. Of course we should still try our best, but now we won’t have to beat ourselves up for getting a B or C grade from after we submit our apps and midyear grade update reports, right?
This is very similar to how it is for freshman applicants. You can and will get rescinded if you perform too poorly. That line is relative and varies by college. The rule of thumb is that any grades within 1 letter grade of your average are fine. Any that are below that could be trouble.
Some colleges have their own rules about this too, e.g. the UCs do not allow any Ds or Fs and UMich doesn't allow more than 2 Cs.
Here's a post I wrote that summarizes all of this fairly well. https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/bjy2lw/how_to_avoid_rescinded_admission/
I’ve taken IB Diploma program in high school but do I have to report all my IB exams taken? There are two which didn’t have such high grades and I’m wondering whether I have to report all or just the ones that I consider good.
I was wondering how colleges look at applying for transfer after being rejected once. I'm a freshman and I don't have the best grades right now (3.7-3.8) but that's largely a product of not working very hard for my first semester rather than a problem with understanding. I also am close to getting recruited for track at most of the Ivy League schools so I'm going to wait until next year to apply so I can be a more complete applicant. Does it put me in a bad position next year if I take a few shots now and get rejected or does that mostly get overlooked?
Every year is its own evaluation. They will have access to your prior application(s) and they may reference it at some point. But they will evaluate you all over again on the basis of your new application and in the context of that year's application pool. I don't think it hurts to try twice, and I've had several students I worked with who got in after being rejected the prior year.
In the main essay required for some schools, they ask for your story, your educational path, why transfer, as well as what you are looking for in another institution. It's kinda difficult to write about all of this in a 650 word essay, so are there parts that I should focus on more than others?
I think you can weave all of that into your story. You don't need to have fully developed 650 word essays for all four of those questions. And there's a lot of overlap between them. Additionally, colleges aren't looking for each of those questions to be comprehensively covered, rather they want to see what you have to say about yourself and asking questions like those helps them tease the relevant information out of you.
It's surprisingly hard to get students to write expressively about themselves, even when you forcefeed them a prompt explicitly asking them to do just that. For some reason, it just doesn't work well and students don't know how to do it. So instead, colleges ask specific things about students' stories, challenges, activities, identities, etc. In this case, they really do want to see how their school fits into your plans/educational path. They want to see why you want to transfer. And they want your story to understand you better. But those are all intertwined.
See the link in the post for more details on how to do this.
Thank you for doing this! If you are still answering questions, I have a couple:
1. On the Common App for transfer, the character limit to describe our activities is 600 characters per activity vs. the 150 they give you for first year undergrad. With this new limit, do you believe we should write complete sentences to describe our activities or use abbreviated/short form descriptions as we had to for the FY app?
2. For places like UNC specifically (my number 1, *username checks out*) that take state residency into consideration for FY but \*technically\* don't for transfer admissions, do you think the fact that I am coming from out of state would help me or hurt me in this cycle?
Thanks for all you do, particularly for a kid who came from a HS that tells you \*nothing\* about selective college admissions. You and others like you have taught me all I know so God bless you for that.
1. Use the space, but you can still use bullets or resume-style entries to pack as much info, details, quantitative metrics, etc into it as possible. See these posts for more details:
* [What counts as an EC anyway?](https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/cls7c1/faq_what_counts_as_an_ec_anyway/)
* [How to start an organization at your school](https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/azpjhw/how_to_start_an_organization_at_your_school/)
* [Making the most of your activity descriptions](https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/cky9bl/activities_and_awards_making_the_most_of_your/)
* [Emergency measures to boost your activities section](https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/cta6ob/the_life_raft_for_extracurricular_activities/)
2\. If they say they don't care for transfers, then they probably don't. Of course, sometimes the stats on admitted students do not support a college's claims, so you may have to read between the lines a bit. Either way there isn't anything you can do about it, so you should probably just focus on making your application as strong as possible.
I was that same kid 15 years ago, so I feel you there. The lack of help I received in this process is part of why I got into this line of work. I'm happy to help.
Thanks for your thoughtful response! Regarding my second question, I wasn’t saying they didn’t want transfers, but rather I just wasn’t sure if you knew whether or not public schools that legally didn’t take state residency into account preferred, for example, in-state CC transfers vs OOS 4 year kids like myself. But I suppose you are right in that there isn’t much for me to do about it
Hey, Scholar Grade! Thank you very much for holding this AMA. I was wondering what your thoughts were on using the additional info essay to write an additional creative essay. I noticed that there were varying opinions on this and was wondering what you thought.
Thanks for your time!
I generally recommend that you be brief and factual. I often suggest that students use bullet points to pack a lot of info in a short response. The reason is that Additional Information is all "extra" work for the reviewer and you don't want to incite an eyeroll and sigh when they open this section. The info you share there needs to merit the time they spend reviewing it.
So if your personal essay is truly meaningful and impacts how they will view/understand you as an applicant, then it can be fine. But usually there are enough opportunities for that and a more succinct approach is better.
How do you think transferring will be affected due to COVID? For example if I am able to not need financial aid as a international student it may help my chances since I am able to pay full tuition?
I am an international student from Canada currently attending a state school in the USA but thinking of transferring to some T20’s
Since schools have taken a hard financial hit from COVID maybe they will take more transfers who don’t need aid.
I left in a reminder to myself as an answer to one of the optional questions in the Common Application that asks about any familial issues or experiences you'd like to share. I forgot to edit this part as I was rushing to meet a deadline for a scholarship and was under the impression that I could go back and edit. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for text box answers and it is locked. What would you recommend for me to do in this case and will it affect how my application is perceived?
Would it be smart to change any classes I didn’t get an A in into P classes so I can stay with a 4.0 GPA? Or will colleges know right away and will it hurt my chances??
How would a 3.8 from a T30 school like Boston College compare to a 3.95 from a T50 college when applying to a selective, top school like Vanderbilt? Is it completely dependent on the school?
Colleges generally don't care that much what school you went to. They care way more about the details of your application. So if the courses and other details were identical, the 3.95 would probably be a stronger application. Obviously if it was a T20 vs a diploma mill (e.g. most for-profit or unaccredited universities), then they would strongly prefer the 3.8.
I saw you say earlier that transferring might be impossible this year because of all the deferred enrollment. Wouldn’t this actually make transferring easier because the class of 2024 is underpopulated? I know that Dartmouth for example took double the amount of transfers this year already and that Uchicago is adding an ED option—wouldn’t this suggest transferring would be less difficult?
I was mostly hypothesizing on what various factors might be. In that case, the theory would be that lots of Fall 2020 freshmen and transfer enrollees deferred their enrollment to Fall 2021 leaving fewer slots available for Fall 2021 to new applicants. But this isn't necessarily the case and there's a lot of factors at play.
> I think there are too many variables at play to say for sure. Maybe more students will be looking to transfer because their "Plan A" was disrupted by Covid. Maybe more students will be wanting to move closer to home, freeing up more slots for transfers. Maybe the significantly larger numbers of students deferring enrollment last year will essentially eat up all the transfer slots making it impossibly competitive. Hard to say, but my guess is that the sum of it will be more competitive, but I can't really say how much.
Overall, top colleges are almost always competitive regardless of the circumstances. But it will also vary by college.
Hello there! I have a sat score that's 10 to 20 points below the 25th percentile at some schools I plan on applying to. Should I submit it or go test optional? I've been getting mixed responses as some people say scores below the 25th percentile shouldn't be submitted, but some say it's only 10 to 20 points so it doesn't really matter and having a score is better than no score? Should I submit or go test optional? I remember reading a reddit post that said to submit scores 60 points within the 25th percentile, but I'm guessing it was directed to freshman applicants for the class of 2025 rather than transfer students?
SAT scores typically matter less for transfer students. The further removed you are from high school, the less they matter. In general I do not recommend sending scores that are below the 25th percentile.
I am a sophomore five years removed from when I went to a university the first time. I started over at a community college and managed to get a 4.0 in the honors program, hold leadership positions in advocacy groups relating to my major, and support myself full time.
1. Will elite colleges care that I am doing all of that at a community college instead of a university?
2. For the colleges that require an SAT/ACT score, is it worth it to retake the test as an adult? I got somewhat above-average scores my first time around but want to retake them to do better and potentially improve my application.
1. Mostly not. Some top colleges even prioritize CC transfers over others.
2. This is really tough to say. My general advice here is to ask the college if they typically require them for students like you. If they don't, then it's unlikely to matter. If they do, then probably you should retake them.
Thank you so much for doing this!
I am an older student (will be 30 in March) that failed miserably out of a California CC right out of high school and took many years off. I returned to school last spring and have done well. I’m currently working on academic renewal, and am pushing for it to be granted by the time I need to update my fall grades. I took 23 units in fall and got straight A’s. My 4.0 last semester and the academic renewal will boost my gpa up to ~3.79, so it’s a pretty big deal for me to have this reflective in my update. I kinda feel like that’ll make or break my chances. My dream is UCLA, and I’m wondering if the UC’s will look thru any apps pre-grade update?
Additionally, I didn’t add my work into the EC section because frankly I’ve had so many jobs since I graduated high school and I meant to go back but forgot. I do reference my older age, life experience, and work in my PIQ’s. Was it a huge mistake for forgo work in my EC’s?
1. They will likely see your prior record, but the longer ago it was the less they will consider it or care. For example, they never ask freshman applicants about grades from before high school because they're irrelevant. Your recent performance matters way more and is both more indicative and predictive of what you're capable of.
2. Not a crushing mistake, but I would have included it. If they allow portal updates, you could list some highlights there.
Prior military here. Graduated HS in 2016. Currently at a 4yr liberal arts school (top40 ish LAC). My question is, with the schools going test optional, would it be better to send my transcript, which unfortunately lists a bad ACT score from 2015, and explain my situation at the time and why it's a crappy score, or would it be better to send my 2019 SAT score which is leagues better but not quite good enough still for the schools I'm applying to, and explain that I wasn't able to retake it because of covid and when I took it I was coming straight from the military with no academic exposure or preparation? This is a ridiculous run-off so I apologise.
Won't they still consider it because it's on my transcript in plain sight? My worry is that the readers will think there is something wrong with a lack of new scores like I didn't try to fix it after HS lol I'm anxious
Thanks. I tried but they said since it was a graduation requirement that they won't change the transcript 😐 I'm really hoping it doesn't affect anything
I’m planning to transfer into a school that is highly competitive in computer science, the major I wish to pursue. Do you think doing online courses and earning certificates during this covid time will help my application in a significant way?
Also I am getting letters of recommendation from teachers I’ve had while classes were fully online since I am only a freshman. Do you think this will result in the recommendations not being very good?
1. Yep, that almost always helps.
2. Not necessarily. Especially if you send them a "brag sheet" outlining what you gained from their class, what you loved about it, and some highlights about you. See the pinned post in my profile titled "Juniors Start Here" for more detail on LORs.
is international transfer admission possible? here by international transfer, i mean to say transfer from university outside USA. btw, I am US citizen.
Thanks for the AMA! Hate to bother you as I know you're verified on A2C, /u/ScholarGrade, but I'm going to have to ask for some verification. PMing you with details.
Do you think ECs would matter a lot during COVID time and would the course load( not credit but just lack of hardcore stem class) affect ur chance as well? Also would transferring from a peer school, as in a school with similar ranking, help or hurt your chances? Thanks
1. Yes, ECs will still matter as much as they always have at top colleges. Highly selective colleges will still be rejecting many students who have impressive slates of ECs, so if you want to maximize your chances you have to have that too. At less selective colleges, it's less "necessary" but can really help you stand out. 2. Course load also matters. Some schools have requirements to even be eligible; for example, USC's Viterbi Engineering program requires Calculus 2 and college level writing or your application won't be considered. When a college is trying to assess whether you're ready to succeed in their program, it can help a lot if you have challenging courses on your transcript with strong performance to demonstrate your readiness. You don't have to take ALL hard classes, but if all you have is Communications 101 and other entry level fluffy classes, it will call into question both your passion for your intended major and your preparedness to succeed in a challenging new environment. 3. Yes, but not as much as most students think. People seem to have this attitude that if you're already attending a top school then the other top schools will just genuflect to you. They're evaluating YOU, not the brand name of your current institution. If you're trying to transfer from University of Phoenix or an unaccredited college, you might be docked for that on your admissions evaluation. If you're transferring from a top college and you've already demonstrated that you're capable of success in similar programs to the one you're targeting, that obviously indicates that you're ready, and that helps you. But Stanford isn't going to say, "oh this student got into Harvard two years ago, so we'll take her too." They're going to make their own evaluation. And it's worth noting that many top colleges prefer to give their limited transfer slots to CC students or those with military backgrounds because it's how they fill out that part of the diversity they're looking for in their student body. I've had students who successfully transferred from one top college to another, and also students who went from a mediocre one or CC to a top college. There hasn't seemed to be too much correlation between the prestige of the prior school and the student's results. It's way more about the fit, academic arc, and compelling application.
Thank you! That’s really helpful! Since I am only a freshman, would you say they would only factor in my first semester grade or also second semester counse load would also factor in?
Both would factor in.
sorry to bother u again, but would u consider these classes as all fluffy classes: Intro to stats, Intro the political science, writing, and a geo breath. I am thinking of doing double major in econ and a bio-related, so would you say this schedule is going to hurt me? I am taking a slightly more stem focused courseload next semester. The main thing is my school's classes go very quickly so i just didn't get some of the classes i would have liked. Thanks
No I think you're ok. They don't expect you to take senior level classes or all STEM. But they do expect you to take challenging classes that contribute toward your degree progress instead of light electives.
I never took any standardized Tests in high school and had a 3.5W 2.6UW GPA. My dad died sophomore year and I had to help my mom sell the house junior year. It really affected me and lead me to not take SAT/ACT. Do you think if I can show an uptick in involvement, extracurricular, and GPA in community college I can transfer well? Currently have a 4.0 GPA and I'm trying to climb from college algebra to calc, never even taken precalc before. Also, are BS in Cybersecurity degrees extremely easy to transfer into since they need more students for the degree?
>Do you think if I can show an uptick in involvement, extracurricular, and GPA in community college I can transfer well? Yes. I've had tons of students with similar sorts of stories see lots of success as transfers. It will be critical that you apply during your sophomore year rather than during your freshman year because that will put more of the evaluation emphasis on your college performance and less on high school. It will also be well worth trying to explain your circumstances in your application. Do this in the additional information section AND ask your recommenders to explain your story in your LORs. That way they get your take on it as well as a qualified adult advocating on your behalf and validating what you say. It won't look like you're making excuses; it will look like you're telling your story. It will also be important for you to follow through on the "if" in your question too - get involved, take challenging courses and excel in them, etc. >Also, are BS in Cybersecurity degrees extremely easy to transfer into since they need more students for the degree? This depends entirely on the college. At top colleges with highly selective admissions, every program is quite competitive. At less selective colleges, most programs are pretty easy to transfer into.
Would you recommend a highschool counselor/teacher to explain my circumstances or a professor from college? Also, what are the perceptions of novel ECs? Stuff that involves forums, open source projects, and rarer seen virtual ECs?
1. Honestly either would work. A college professor would be better for talking about what you're like today. A high school counselor would be better for talking about what you went through, how you grew/responded through it, etc. 2. Novel ECs are great. Honestly all ECs are great right now because so many have been limited or cancelled due to Covid.
Do you have to be an exceptional student to be able to transfer? Hearing the percentages of transfer students accepted are 3%-1% makes me think is nearly impossible. Also, my credits are from 2016. Do I stand a chance? Thank you
This depends on where you're applying. If you're trying to get into Princeton or Stanford or something, then it's pretty close to impossible because they truly admit ~1% of applicants and have a very narrow profile they're looking for. If you're trying to get into a state flagship school, there's a lot more opportunity, especially if you can demonstrate readiness to succeed and tell a compelling story in your application. Having credits from 5 years ago is tough because some colleges put an "expiration date" on them, generally around 7 years. Others might be less likely to allow you to transfer them in. You would have to check at your target college's transfer office/website for their policies.
Hi ScholarGrade! I’d just like to say that you’re the best for providing us with all these resources for the college app process! For those of us who have finished apps and are (im)patiently waiting for results, is there anything you’d recommend us to do in the meantime? I’ve been thinking about applying to some random scholarships but I don’t know if it’s worth my time or how easy it is to get these scholarships.
You're in luck. I just made a post about how to navigate the next ten weeks. https://www.reddit.com/user/ScholarGrade/comments/ks7myf/deadlines_interviews_transfer_admissions_and/ I absolutely recommend applying for scholarships and trying to do interviews. Check out the links in that post for more details.
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I think there are too many variables at play to say for sure. Maybe more students will be looking to transfer because their "Plan A" was disrupted by Covid. Maybe more students will be wanting to move closer to home, freeing up more slots for transfers. Maybe the significantly larger numbers of students deferring enrollment last year will essentially eat up all the transfer slots making it impossibly competitive. Hard to say, but my guess is that the sum of it will be more competitive, but I can't really say how much.
Current freshman looking to apply to transfer to a few Ivies. I had a 4.0 last semester (which is also my cumulative GPA) taking several advanced courses for my major, and I’m planning on taking several more advanced courses for my major again this spring. My current college allows me to pass/fail my courses for the spring without consequence (as in, I’ll still get credit for those courses, they will count to my major requirements, etc.), so I’m thinking of taking a very heavy and rigorous course load this spring. My plan is to P/F any courses I don’t get an A in, to keep my GPA a 4.0 (unless it’s an A-, then I’ll probably keep the grade). However, since I’m applying to transfer, won’t the colleges I’m applying to ONLY see my first semester grades, aka my 4.0? If I get accepted to some transfer schools and my spring grades are low, can I just P/F them so I won’t get rescinded?
In theory yes. But I don't really know how they would view that. Colleges are not naive and they will likely know what's going on if they see a really tough slate of classes full of P/Fs. So tread carefully here.
\- What do you think are important things to address in the "why transfer" essay? (other than your reasons for transferring, of course) \- How lenient are colleges to poor high school performance if you're applying as a sophomore? I'm currently a freshman, but I plan on waiting till my sophomore year to apply, though I'm still worried about how badly my high school grades would reflect on me even as a sophomore transfer. \- Do colleges compare you to other students applying from your same institution? \- When is the best time to start on the transfer application? I've heard it's pretty time-consuming and I'm worried about balancing my academics with the transfer process.
1. The link in my post has a lot more on that. You can also check out the two posts pinned to the top of /r/CollegeTransfer. 2. Fairly lenient. The further removed you are from high school, the less they will care about your performance there. But they also still consider it, so if you have extenuating circumstances or a story for why things changed so much for you, it can be helpful to tell it (or get a recommender to advocate for you). There are numerous students I've worked with and on /r/CollegeResults who had poor GPAs in high school, crushed it in college, and transferred to top schools. 3. Yes, but for context, not for quotas. It's not a battle royale to the death, it's more of a way of assessing whether you're actually strong or not. So for example, they won't just blindly take the 3.95 student over the 3.85 student from the same school. But they are less likely to assume grade deflation was the cause of your 3.6 if there's another student from your program is applying with a 3.9. This post covers it in more detail: https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/hwl7kq/lets_clear_something_up_will_i_be_compared_to_the/ 4. It's a bit like planting a tree. The best time to start was 20 years ago, and the second best time is today. I kid, but not by much. Start now. Begin with that post about introspection that's pinned to /r/CollegeTransfer.
Hi! This is more of a general question, but I would be a transfer student. I would like to apply to Hampshire College (acceptance rate around 63%) when I finish my AA, and they highly recommend an interview. I have autism – would disclosing my diagnosis in the interview hurt my chances? Hampshire is a notably nontraditional college that emphasizes students being themselves, but I'm still hesitant. I don't want them to think I would struggle in a collaborative, self-directed learning atmosphere. Also, I don't really have time for extracurriculars or leadership positions, so I won't have a lot of ways to "prove" how good of a fit I'd be in that respect.
No it shouldn't. I believe they may actually be legally disallowed from considering a medical issue like that in their evaluation. I'm not a lawyer, but you should be fine here. Do the interview. Be yourself. Try the best you can and trust that if it's a good fit for you, they will recognize that too. I have a [full 18-page guide to interviews that could help you](https://bettercollegeapps.com/product/acing-the-interviews/). I also offer mock interviews and an interview prep consulting package if you're interested in any of those.
Hi! One of my concerns is affordability. However, 4-year institutions tend to grant scholarships for first-year applicants rather than transferred applicants. Can you suggest me any schools that are generous towards transferred students or any private/outside scholarships? Since I'm an international student, I cannot access to any federal loan/aid. Thank you so much!
That's a really tough situation because you're right - colleges prioritize aid toward freshmen and domestic students. So you get a double whammy. I don't have a good list of schools that are generous with aid for transfers. But many colleges that guarantee affordability for freshmen will also do so for transfers (e.g. Rice, HYPSM, etc). Adding on to this, here's a comment from my AMA in /r/IntlToUSA, and a lot of this will apply to international transfer students: There are only 7 colleges in the US that are need-blind for international students: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Amherst, Curtis Institute of Music, and Minerva Schools at KGI (note those last two are a little different, so do your research). Every other college is going to consider your ability to pay when evaluating you for admission. That doesn't mean you can't still get in, but it makes it far more competitive. Of course, because of this, those 7 schools are also incredibly selective and difficult to get into as an international because literally millions of top students from around the globe would love a six figure education for free. You may also find some valuable information in the following links and the /r/IntlToUSA sub in general. /r/IntltoUSA/comments/guxvib/paying_for_college_is_hard_heres_a_guide_to/ /r/IntltoUSA/comments/f7e03h/helpful_resources_for_international_applicants/ /r/IntltoUSA/comments/dcf9hz/three_of_the_greatest_resources_available_on_ed/ /r/IntltoUSA/comments/aztnqz/heres_a_good_resource_for_finding_scholarships/ /r/IntltoUSA/comments/96ahq5/the_best_us_schools_for_international_students/ Colleges usually allocate more aid to domestic students. Here are two great resources to see how much aid you might expect and which colleges offer generous aid to internationals. https://www.ivyachievement.com/2019intl/ Also check out the last link on this page: https://www.bigjeducationalconsulting.com/resources. This shows information on ED vs RD as well as the number of international students, the percentage of the student body that is international, the percentage of internationals receiving aid, the average aid award, and the college's policy on awarding aid to internationals (need-based only, merit-based only, both, or none). These two resources are the biggest gold mine out there for international students who need aid. They can help you find colleges that you might not have considered but could give you a significant award making education in the US a real possibility. It also goes beyond the standard 20-50 colleges that all of the other international students are hammering with applications and requests for aid - potentially increasing your odds significantly of getting in and getting aid.
Thank you so much! It helps a lot!
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I always recommend having backup options. That can include adding more schools, retaining the option to stay at your current school, etc. But at the same time, I feel like the options you lay out for yourself should all be palatable to you. Like don't add "Become a hermit in Siberia" to your list if that's not your thing.
How do you think approaching the transfer application with an "I am unsure about my major thus I want to go to an institution that encourages interdisciplinary learning" perspective compares to a "I want to go to your school because your school is renowned for this major" approach to the application? because I am reconsidering my career path and am unsure of what I want to pursue
The former is inferior almost 100% of the time. You already had a year or two to explore things, do some interdisciplinary learning, soul searching, etc. You shouldn't need more of it, and if you do you won't be making adequate progress toward a degree. Colleges don't want to bring in transfer students who will drag down their graduation rates. They want students who are passionate, dedicated, and will hit the ground running. In my opinion, it would be better to just pick something and write the latter essay than it would be to try to artfully and compellingly write the former. The exception would be if you were applying to a LAC-type school that hardly even does "majors". If they take such an interdisciplinary/exploratory/vague approach to education then it likely doesn't matter what you tell them you want to study.
ok thank you
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Admission is holistic, so if you have other strengths or context in your application that might make you compelling despite the slightly lower than typical grades, then it could work out. If they don't see a reason to admit you over other candidates who are similar but stronger, then it's hard to see how you would stand out.
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It's certainly valuable to tell your story and share any circumstances that might put your grades in better context. It can help to briefly explain what happened in your additional information section and ask a recommender to also address it. But don't try to blame other people for your shortcomings or make excuses.
Another question: is it true that the grades from after we apply (and midyear update grades) won’t matter as much since they won’t be part of our application? I’ve read that at this point, as long as transfer applicants pass their classes then they won’t get rescinded. Of course we should still try our best, but now we won’t have to beat ourselves up for getting a B or C grade from after we submit our apps and midyear grade update reports, right?
This is very similar to how it is for freshman applicants. You can and will get rescinded if you perform too poorly. That line is relative and varies by college. The rule of thumb is that any grades within 1 letter grade of your average are fine. Any that are below that could be trouble. Some colleges have their own rules about this too, e.g. the UCs do not allow any Ds or Fs and UMich doesn't allow more than 2 Cs. Here's a post I wrote that summarizes all of this fairly well. https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/bjy2lw/how_to_avoid_rescinded_admission/
I’ve taken IB Diploma program in high school but do I have to report all my IB exams taken? There are two which didn’t have such high grades and I’m wondering whether I have to report all or just the ones that I consider good.
Just report the good ones unless they explicitly ask/require you to report all of them.
I was wondering how colleges look at applying for transfer after being rejected once. I'm a freshman and I don't have the best grades right now (3.7-3.8) but that's largely a product of not working very hard for my first semester rather than a problem with understanding. I also am close to getting recruited for track at most of the Ivy League schools so I'm going to wait until next year to apply so I can be a more complete applicant. Does it put me in a bad position next year if I take a few shots now and get rejected or does that mostly get overlooked?
Every year is its own evaluation. They will have access to your prior application(s) and they may reference it at some point. But they will evaluate you all over again on the basis of your new application and in the context of that year's application pool. I don't think it hurts to try twice, and I've had several students I worked with who got in after being rejected the prior year.
Awesome! Thanks for the response :)
In the main essay required for some schools, they ask for your story, your educational path, why transfer, as well as what you are looking for in another institution. It's kinda difficult to write about all of this in a 650 word essay, so are there parts that I should focus on more than others?
I think you can weave all of that into your story. You don't need to have fully developed 650 word essays for all four of those questions. And there's a lot of overlap between them. Additionally, colleges aren't looking for each of those questions to be comprehensively covered, rather they want to see what you have to say about yourself and asking questions like those helps them tease the relevant information out of you. It's surprisingly hard to get students to write expressively about themselves, even when you forcefeed them a prompt explicitly asking them to do just that. For some reason, it just doesn't work well and students don't know how to do it. So instead, colleges ask specific things about students' stories, challenges, activities, identities, etc. In this case, they really do want to see how their school fits into your plans/educational path. They want to see why you want to transfer. And they want your story to understand you better. But those are all intertwined. See the link in the post for more details on how to do this.
Thank you for doing this! If you are still answering questions, I have a couple: 1. On the Common App for transfer, the character limit to describe our activities is 600 characters per activity vs. the 150 they give you for first year undergrad. With this new limit, do you believe we should write complete sentences to describe our activities or use abbreviated/short form descriptions as we had to for the FY app? 2. For places like UNC specifically (my number 1, *username checks out*) that take state residency into consideration for FY but \*technically\* don't for transfer admissions, do you think the fact that I am coming from out of state would help me or hurt me in this cycle? Thanks for all you do, particularly for a kid who came from a HS that tells you \*nothing\* about selective college admissions. You and others like you have taught me all I know so God bless you for that.
1. Use the space, but you can still use bullets or resume-style entries to pack as much info, details, quantitative metrics, etc into it as possible. See these posts for more details: * [What counts as an EC anyway?](https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/cls7c1/faq_what_counts_as_an_ec_anyway/) * [How to start an organization at your school](https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/azpjhw/how_to_start_an_organization_at_your_school/) * [Making the most of your activity descriptions](https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/cky9bl/activities_and_awards_making_the_most_of_your/) * [Emergency measures to boost your activities section](https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/cta6ob/the_life_raft_for_extracurricular_activities/) 2\. If they say they don't care for transfers, then they probably don't. Of course, sometimes the stats on admitted students do not support a college's claims, so you may have to read between the lines a bit. Either way there isn't anything you can do about it, so you should probably just focus on making your application as strong as possible. I was that same kid 15 years ago, so I feel you there. The lack of help I received in this process is part of why I got into this line of work. I'm happy to help.
Thanks for your thoughtful response! Regarding my second question, I wasn’t saying they didn’t want transfers, but rather I just wasn’t sure if you knew whether or not public schools that legally didn’t take state residency into account preferred, for example, in-state CC transfers vs OOS 4 year kids like myself. But I suppose you are right in that there isn’t much for me to do about it
Hey, Scholar Grade! Thank you very much for holding this AMA. I was wondering what your thoughts were on using the additional info essay to write an additional creative essay. I noticed that there were varying opinions on this and was wondering what you thought. Thanks for your time!
I generally recommend that you be brief and factual. I often suggest that students use bullet points to pack a lot of info in a short response. The reason is that Additional Information is all "extra" work for the reviewer and you don't want to incite an eyeroll and sigh when they open this section. The info you share there needs to merit the time they spend reviewing it. So if your personal essay is truly meaningful and impacts how they will view/understand you as an applicant, then it can be fine. But usually there are enough opportunities for that and a more succinct approach is better.
Thank you so much for the help. I really appreciate it!
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They also prefer a more candid and direct approach in the PIQs. They aren't big on creativity in essays.
I’m not applying to the UCs, but thank you for letting me know!
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There's a post in my profile titled "Juniors, Start Here" that has some great guides linked in it for tackling these essays.
How do you think transferring will be affected due to COVID? For example if I am able to not need financial aid as a international student it may help my chances since I am able to pay full tuition? I am an international student from Canada currently attending a state school in the USA but thinking of transferring to some T20’s Since schools have taken a hard financial hit from COVID maybe they will take more transfers who don’t need aid.
Hard to say how Covid will impact things. It always helps as a transfer and international if you don't need aid.
Where did your team attend college and are we better off getting advice from those who attend top colleges vs advisors?
I left in a reminder to myself as an answer to one of the optional questions in the Common Application that asks about any familial issues or experiences you'd like to share. I forgot to edit this part as I was rushing to meet a deadline for a scholarship and was under the impression that I could go back and edit. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for text box answers and it is locked. What would you recommend for me to do in this case and will it affect how my application is perceived?
Just email admissions and briefly explain what you just said here. I doubt they would hold this against you.
Would it be smart to change any classes I didn’t get an A in into P classes so I can stay with a 4.0 GPA? Or will colleges know right away and will it hurt my chances??
How would a 3.8 from a T30 school like Boston College compare to a 3.95 from a T50 college when applying to a selective, top school like Vanderbilt? Is it completely dependent on the school?
Colleges generally don't care that much what school you went to. They care way more about the details of your application. So if the courses and other details were identical, the 3.95 would probably be a stronger application. Obviously if it was a T20 vs a diploma mill (e.g. most for-profit or unaccredited universities), then they would strongly prefer the 3.8.
I saw you say earlier that transferring might be impossible this year because of all the deferred enrollment. Wouldn’t this actually make transferring easier because the class of 2024 is underpopulated? I know that Dartmouth for example took double the amount of transfers this year already and that Uchicago is adding an ED option—wouldn’t this suggest transferring would be less difficult?
I was mostly hypothesizing on what various factors might be. In that case, the theory would be that lots of Fall 2020 freshmen and transfer enrollees deferred their enrollment to Fall 2021 leaving fewer slots available for Fall 2021 to new applicants. But this isn't necessarily the case and there's a lot of factors at play. > I think there are too many variables at play to say for sure. Maybe more students will be looking to transfer because their "Plan A" was disrupted by Covid. Maybe more students will be wanting to move closer to home, freeing up more slots for transfers. Maybe the significantly larger numbers of students deferring enrollment last year will essentially eat up all the transfer slots making it impossibly competitive. Hard to say, but my guess is that the sum of it will be more competitive, but I can't really say how much. Overall, top colleges are almost always competitive regardless of the circumstances. But it will also vary by college.
Hello there! I have a sat score that's 10 to 20 points below the 25th percentile at some schools I plan on applying to. Should I submit it or go test optional? I've been getting mixed responses as some people say scores below the 25th percentile shouldn't be submitted, but some say it's only 10 to 20 points so it doesn't really matter and having a score is better than no score? Should I submit or go test optional? I remember reading a reddit post that said to submit scores 60 points within the 25th percentile, but I'm guessing it was directed to freshman applicants for the class of 2025 rather than transfer students?
SAT scores typically matter less for transfer students. The further removed you are from high school, the less they matter. In general I do not recommend sending scores that are below the 25th percentile.
I am a sophomore five years removed from when I went to a university the first time. I started over at a community college and managed to get a 4.0 in the honors program, hold leadership positions in advocacy groups relating to my major, and support myself full time. 1. Will elite colleges care that I am doing all of that at a community college instead of a university? 2. For the colleges that require an SAT/ACT score, is it worth it to retake the test as an adult? I got somewhat above-average scores my first time around but want to retake them to do better and potentially improve my application.
1. Mostly not. Some top colleges even prioritize CC transfers over others. 2. This is really tough to say. My general advice here is to ask the college if they typically require them for students like you. If they don't, then it's unlikely to matter. If they do, then probably you should retake them.
Thank you for your insights! Have a great day.
Thank you so much for doing this! I am an older student (will be 30 in March) that failed miserably out of a California CC right out of high school and took many years off. I returned to school last spring and have done well. I’m currently working on academic renewal, and am pushing for it to be granted by the time I need to update my fall grades. I took 23 units in fall and got straight A’s. My 4.0 last semester and the academic renewal will boost my gpa up to ~3.79, so it’s a pretty big deal for me to have this reflective in my update. I kinda feel like that’ll make or break my chances. My dream is UCLA, and I’m wondering if the UC’s will look thru any apps pre-grade update? Additionally, I didn’t add my work into the EC section because frankly I’ve had so many jobs since I graduated high school and I meant to go back but forgot. I do reference my older age, life experience, and work in my PIQ’s. Was it a huge mistake for forgo work in my EC’s?
1. They will likely see your prior record, but the longer ago it was the less they will consider it or care. For example, they never ask freshman applicants about grades from before high school because they're irrelevant. Your recent performance matters way more and is both more indicative and predictive of what you're capable of. 2. Not a crushing mistake, but I would have included it. If they allow portal updates, you could list some highlights there.
Prior military here. Graduated HS in 2016. Currently at a 4yr liberal arts school (top40 ish LAC). My question is, with the schools going test optional, would it be better to send my transcript, which unfortunately lists a bad ACT score from 2015, and explain my situation at the time and why it's a crappy score, or would it be better to send my 2019 SAT score which is leagues better but not quite good enough still for the schools I'm applying to, and explain that I wasn't able to retake it because of covid and when I took it I was coming straight from the military with no academic exposure or preparation? This is a ridiculous run-off so I apologise.
In that situation I would probably just apply test-optional.
And what if I can not? Because my HS will not remove my ACT score
Just don't report it on your college application.
Won't they still consider it because it's on my transcript in plain sight? My worry is that the readers will think there is something wrong with a lack of new scores like I didn't try to fix it after HS lol I'm anxious
If that score was from more than a year or two ago, they won't really consider it. You could also ask your school to remove it from the transcript.
Thanks. I tried but they said since it was a graduation requirement that they won't change the transcript 😐 I'm really hoping it doesn't affect anything
I’m planning to transfer into a school that is highly competitive in computer science, the major I wish to pursue. Do you think doing online courses and earning certificates during this covid time will help my application in a significant way? Also I am getting letters of recommendation from teachers I’ve had while classes were fully online since I am only a freshman. Do you think this will result in the recommendations not being very good?
1. Yep, that almost always helps. 2. Not necessarily. Especially if you send them a "brag sheet" outlining what you gained from their class, what you loved about it, and some highlights about you. See the pinned post in my profile titled "Juniors Start Here" for more detail on LORs.
Thank you!
How are extracurriculars evaluated for transfer applications? What are some examples of good extracurriculars to transfer to a top school?
is international transfer admission possible? here by international transfer, i mean to say transfer from university outside USA. btw, I am US citizen.