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I'm currently a freshman at Cornell University and am interested in transferring to a school below the arctic circle. The schools that I am considering are Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Harvard; however, as they all have rather low acceptance rates, I figured that it would be best to get some advice on whether I have a chance.

I am currently taking a 15 credit course load, and all my classes are at the 200 level. After taking my first preliminary exams (and a lot of prospective hard work), I am expecting a straight A average for my first semester. My SAT scores are 800 in verbal and 800 in mathematics. In high school I had a GPA slightly under 4.0, and my school did not compute class rank. I have participated in a number of extracurricular activities: newspaper editor, all-state musician, good AIME score, and I am trilingual.

Anyone think I can make it? After coming here on the suggestion of another, I've discovered that Cornell has far too many engineers and biologists for my tastes (I intend on majoring in philosophy and mathematics.) Will my record here have any weight, or is Cornell truly the ass end of the Ivy League?

By Candi136 (Candi136) on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 12:27 am: Edit

I think if u work hard u'll make it

By Clamstrap (Clamstrap) on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 - 05:14 pm: Edit

Any more advice? Should I take more SAT IIs? Should I learn to juggle?

By Clamstrap (Clamstrap) on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 - 05:20 pm: Edit

Addendum:

My reason for transfer is that Cornell is swarming with engineers and biologists, whereas I'm more interested in philosophy and pure math. In other words, I'm looking to be part of a school of arts and sciences and not part of an arts and sciences minority in a surprisingly technical school.

By Ay_Caramba (Ay_Caramba) on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 - 07:19 pm: Edit

I didn't think that Princeton took transfers... in fact, from their site:
"Because of larger than expected first-year enrollments, coupled with a very low rate of attrition, there will be no transfer admission process until the fall of 2006, at the earliest."

By Malicemizer9 (Malicemizer9) on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 - 10:43 pm: Edit

Cornell the ass end?

Hell no.

Our degrees do us well.

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Thursday, October 07, 2004 - 03:28 am: Edit

I can understand your wanting to leave Cornell because of its location, but your reason seems a little weird. You want to transfer out because Cornell isn't all about traditional majors?

And don't worry about how you will be perceived. Doing well at Cornell is harder than doing well at any other Ivy League.

At any rate, transfering into Princeton is impossible since they do not accept transfers.

I would say your chances at the other three aren't good either. Last year:

Yale had over 750 applicants and they accepted 30. That's a 4% acceptance rate.

Harvard had over 1,000 applicants and they accepted 50. That's a 5% acceptance rate.

Columbia also had over 1,000 applicants and they accepted fewer than 90. That's an 8% acceptance rate.

By Lfill (Lfill) on Thursday, October 07, 2004 - 10:11 am: Edit

The successful transferd into ivys, in my experience, have very compelling reasons for the transfer. One young man I know who recently got into Yale, did so because he wanted to do research in an area that a Yale professor is leading in and he enlisted the professors support. I think it takes a real connection, and an unusual reason. It's not a matter of getting a 4.0 at another school and saying now I qualify for Harvard. So my advise is to have a really strong reason and get a prof behind you,

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Thursday, October 07, 2004 - 11:15 am: Edit

Excellent point Lfill. This explains why Penn and Cornell are easier to transfer into. They have more untraditional majors (like Business, Agriculture, Hotel Admin, ILR etc...) so students who transfer into them usually have good cause. But for a Math major, I really cannot imagine what good reason he can offer.

By Malicemizer9 (Malicemizer9) on Thursday, October 07, 2004 - 03:35 pm: Edit

Cornell isn't that easy to transfer into. Arts and Sci accepted 120 of some 980 applications.

By Clamstrap (Clamstrap) on Thursday, October 07, 2004 - 03:41 pm: Edit

Malicemizer9: No disrespect was meant by my remark: I was echoing some comments I have heard about how easy it is to get into Cornell as a - poor? - attempt at humor. In truth, I am impressed by the quality of the students and faculty at Cornell.

Ay_Caramba: I recently found the same comment on Princeton's site; they aren't accepting transfers.

Alexandre: I'm more worried about how the students perceive themselves than how others will perceive me or the weather. Although the classes are challenging and the students accomplished, there is a sense of apathy among the arts and sciences students, especially those who aren't in scientific subjects. Also, the points about difficulty and purpose for transfer are well taken.

It seems that the consensus is that my chances are not good at the schools I have listed. Does anyone have suggestions on other schools that might be interested in taking a transfer student who is interested in philosophy?

By Journkid (Journkid) on Thursday, October 07, 2004 - 08:11 pm: Edit

Princeton doesn't take transfers.

By Clamstrap (Clamstrap) on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 04:28 am: Edit

So -

Is Princeton accepting transfers?

(Bump.)

By Madjoy (Madjoy) on Saturday, October 09, 2004 - 07:32 am: Edit

Hmm.
Well, I'm a high school student, so I may not really know what I'm talking about...

But I disagree with other people - your reason DOES seem very good to me. You want more of a liberal arts experience, more of a philosophical bent - that requires genuine intellectual curiosity, and that's something top schools like to see.

I would consider some small liberal arts schools - that sounds like the kind of atmosphere you are going for. Top schools include Swarthmore, Williams, Amhearst - you might want to check them out. I don't know if they do transfers, either. And then there's Bowdoin, Pomona, and other schools of a pretty similar caliber.

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Saturday, October 09, 2004 - 08:48 am: Edit

Madjoy, wanting to tranfer because one's school does not have strong departments in her/his desired major or because the intellectual rigor is lacking is perfectly reasonable and legitimate.

However, Cornell is extrmely strong in the OP's desired fields of study. Cornell is ranked in the top 5 in English and in the top 10 in Mathematics and Philosophy. You have some of the most intellectually hungry individuals in the the country attending those programs at Cornell. His using that as a reason for leaving Cornell will not ring true.

Let me give you good reasons for transfering:

1) Current school does not offer a partiuclar major one wishes to study. For example, a student transfers from Brown or Amherst to Penn or MIT in order to study Business (Brown and Amherst to not offer Business as a major).

2) Current schools offers desired major, but the recources and faculty leave much to be desired. For example, a student at Yale transfers to Stanford or Cornell to study Engineering (Yale has a weak department of Engineering).

3) Personal responsibilities (to family or finances). For example, heaven forbid there should be a death in one's family, or a dramatic reduction in family income.

Those are major reasons that can allow a transfer candidate to make a compelling case for consideration.

Of course, he is free to try, but it will be an uphill fight.

By Slipper2002 (Slipper2002) on Saturday, October 09, 2004 - 06:12 pm: Edit

You have great reasons for transferring and should have luck at most places, I think you will get into Columbia, and perhaps even HY. IT is true, Princeton does not accept transfers. I actually really wanted to transfer there, until I found out I couldn't. I also recommend looking into Dartmouth. My roommate was a tranfer phil major and loved it! I transferred there, and chose it over some other ivies (including H), because I found transferring there to be relatively seamless, i.e. from the first second you can be incorporated into the university culture because of the size, orientation, and special things like sophomore summer where you meet your entire class. Also, people are very liberal arts minded, which stimulates a very intellectual environment. Finally, the special things, such as grants and scholarships plus professors willing to work with you on research and thesis projects was the clincher. I never even thought about the place when I was in high school, but after visiting I realized how amazing a place it was to study. My two cents, obviously I loved the place, but even from an unbiased perspective I think its very worth looking into. Also look into Brown.