Penn’s transfer acceptance rate has hovered around 8% for the past few years. Especially when attempting to transfer into top tier schools, it’s important to keep in mind that 1) they’re only replacing the small percentage of students who left and 2) acceptance rates are low across the board. And if you were out of range to apply right out of high school, one year of good grades in college won’t do much to help because the evaluation process includes high school performance. If you’re serious about transferring and think Penn is the place for you, keep reading. We’ll detail the three required writing supplements, but be sure to check for additional requirements for special programs.
Transferring to Harvard University
We all know how hard it is to get into Harvard as a freshman. Anyone who went there will be sure to tell you twice! And getting in as a transfer is basically impossible. We don’t tell you this to break your spirit, we tell you this because if you’re going to apply, you should go into the process knowing that you have a 1% chance of getting in. There have been years when they don’t let anyone in.
Transferring to Yale University
If you’re considering applying to Yale as a transfer, you’ve come to the right place. This blog post will go over the writing supplements, but make sure that you’re checking for any additional requirements in place for specific programs. We would be remiss not to mention that Yale’s transfer acceptance rates are tragically low because very few students leave Yale (aka a high retention rate) so they aren’t accepting many new students. Yale’s transfer acceptance rate has been below 2.5% for the past few years. If you’re up for the challenge, keep reading.
Transferring to Columbia University
Columbia, the Ivy League school in New York City, is known for many things. It’s competitive, intense, and a hot spot for renowned professors and scholars. All of this means that it’s a great school, but the transfer acceptance rate is around 6%. Before you begin, make sure you’re within range and accepting of the fact that your chances of getting in are quite low. Let’s break down their supplement:
Transferring Colleges to a School with no Supplement
We have written a lot about the transfer process and the importance of writing stellar supplements. And if you come across a transfer school that doesn’t have one, you might feel like you’ve hit the jackpot. Well, you haven’t. We know that transfer acceptance rates are low, and we also know how easy it is to apply to schools that don’t have supplements. So how do you make yourself stand out to their admissions teams? You write one anyway.
The Best Transfer Essay of 2019
We’ve written a lot about the creative process as it relates to writing college essays. You have to ask yourself hard-hitting questions, get vulnerable, and show a side of yourself you might not initially feel comfortable broadcasting to a team of admissions counselors. This advice applies to all essays, but there’s an additional task at hand when it comes to writing a transfer essay. Along with all of the above, you must also make a case for yourself as to WHY you want to transfer, and why the school you’re applying to is the only place in the world where you can find what you need.
When Should I Transfer Colleges?
It’s undoubtedly one of the busiest times of the year for high school seniors, but if you’re currently in college and you’re considering transferring, it’s also time for you to get that process started. You might be thinking --“but I thought transfer applications aren’t usually due until March.” You’re right, but there are tons of materials to gather, and even more essays to write, and it isn’t ideal to be bogged down with all of that extra work while you’re trying to keep your grades up and hopefully do something fun for spring break.
Transferring Colleges After Freshman Year
We have written a lot about the process of deciding whether or not you should transfer. The truth is that you might have a million reasons for wanting to transfer, but only some of them are worth writing about in your transfer application. This blog post will go into the process of transferring once you’ve decided that you want to leave your current school. We've broken the process out into three steps:
How To Transfer Colleges as a Freshman
While it’s true that transferring colleges is common, there is a major misconception floating around about the process. A lot of people think that transferring is easy, and that if you want to end up at Harvard, you can start out at a state school and transfer in your sophomore year. This is very much not the case.
8 Tips for Writing Transfer Essays
This post includes tips for both writing transfer essays and the intense prep work it requires to transfer. We’ve written a lot about the transferring process, and it’s important to keep in mind that transferring isn’t as easy as most people think. And you need a better reason than simply wanting to trade up. But if you’re reading this, you might already have your reasons for wanting to transfer. If you’re unsure but want more information and/or validation, read our “Should I Transfer” post.
How to Transfer to Cornell
We recently wrote a blog post on transferring into an Ivy League school and Cornell was a very clear outlier. When looking at the transfer acceptance rate chart from the post linked above, you might think “I want to go to a better school, Cornell is an Ivy, I’m going to apply there!” But in the grand scheme of things, an acceptance rate below 20% is not high. It’s only high when compared to the rest of the Ivy League schools. And it turns out there’s a reason for that figure, explained below:
Transfer Essays That Worked
The transfer essay prompt is going to be “why do you want to transfer.” There are a few important key points you are going to want hit. In many of our past blog posts, we have stressed the need to use the essay to expand upon a personality characteristic that is not expressed elsewhere in your application.
How to Write Your Common App Transfer Essay
The good thing about writing a common app transfer essay is that you’re already familiar with the process. You’ve already made a common app account, filled out all of the logistical sections, and hit submit. The even better news is that this time around you’re asked a much more direct question. You have 650 words to explain why you want to transfer and what you hope to achieve. The objective is incredibly clear and the question leaves a lot less room for interpretation.
The Best Transfer Essay of 2018: Hurricanes
The transfer process is a lot like applying to college the first time. You need transcripts and teacher recommendations; there are far more supplements than you’d like, and the all-important college essay is still mandatory. So, in many ways, it’s the same. However, transfer essays are pulling double duty. In addition to showing schools that you are a great student, a community member worth coveting, and an overall stellar human being, you need to answer one more question: Why? Why are you looking to transfer? Why is where you are now not good enough?
How to Pick Transfer Schools
How to Write the Harvard Transfer Application
So you want to transfer to Harvard. Welcome to a very large number group, with a very low success rate. By very low, we mean minuscule. Harvard accepts less than 1% of transfer applicants on average, and some years they don’t accept anyone. Seriously. That’s a 0-1% acceptance rate. Does that mean you shouldn’t try? Not at all. We’re all about beating slim odds, but first, you have to accept that no matter how hard you work, or how great your grades are, or how many times you’ve walked on the moon, or how many Disney shows you starred in, you’re not getting in. Accept it, embrace it, and then try anyways.