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I go to a T60 school. Just got grades back for first semester. Lowest grade A-, highest A+, overall GPA 4.021. Transferring has been in the back of my mind for a while now. Just wondered if anyone had some advice as to when is a good time to start seriously putting plans into motion and what schools I should realistically be aiming for. Thanks in advance for the help!

I talked to my profs from first semester about LORs in March (asking for advice, and then when the topic comes up, ask if they'd be willing to write one), then followed up to let them know I was definitely applying. The actual apps aren't due until around July but its good to get that part out of the way. You can ask for the deans cert and official transcript after second semester grades.

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Thanks for all of the advice. I'm gonna focus on keeping my grades up in the spring semester and I'll talk to my professors in Feb or so about LORs to get the ball rolling as soon as I can. Appreciate the info!

I had a good first semester as well, at a similarly ranked school, and was gung ho on transferring. Then I attained a very good 1L summer associate position (good as in regionally good) and got complacent- ie I did not talk to professors about LOR at that time. Then, after an even better 2 semester, I reconsidered and looked back into transferring. This was bad b/c I missed a lot of the application deadlines. The California T14 schools deadlines, for instance, fall much earlier than some of the others.... so keep that in the back of your head. I would suggest making the preparations earlier rather than later, but waiting until later might still work out (it did for me).

Ask your professors this week for LORs. This will give your professors lots of time to write them. You don't want to flirt with deadlines. The most important thing this semester is 1. your GPA, 2. your GPA, and 3. (you can tell where I'm going with this). Get all the transfer crap taken care of and out of the way so you can focus solely on raising hell on your exams again. Congrats on the success last semester, but you have to make sure you repeat.

Also remember that GULC and Chicago have early action programs requiring only your fall semester grades. You might want to look into those.

If you really want to transfer, pepper the t14. Start with GULC's EA, pay the deposit if you get in, (I would suggest not applying to UChicago ED unless you know you want Chicago...even then I'd consider applying up.) Then after 2d semester, apply to every one of the schools that you'd realistically go to. It's expensive, but not much compared to the overall cost of tuition anyway.

I applied to a bunch of schools, but I regretted not applying to the few that I decided to skip out on for various reasons not having to do with not being willing to go there.

Also, focus on grades...don't worry too much about letters of rec. Don't wait until last minute, but they write these letters often, and it shouldn't take them long to adapt one to you.

UnfrozenCaveman wrote:Also, focus on grades...don't worry too much about letters of rec. Don't wait until last minute, but they write these letters often, and it shouldn't take them long to adapt one to you.

I would disagree with this. It may not take long for them to write it, but you don't know how long they'll sit on it. Especially if you plan to apply EA/ED, get LORs now. One of my profs "lost" my request, and didn't get one out until almost 2 months after I asked for it.

Thanks again for all the advice. Agree that grades are #1, #2, and #3 in importance this semester to keep the possibility of transferring alive, but also don't want to slack on getting the LORs and other transfer requirements locked down. I had a prof. first semester that I really connected with outside of class who I'd really like an LOR from, so I'll try to track them down this week. Wasn't sure about asking this early because 1) didn't want to look like that person who counted their chickens before they hatched; and 2) didn't want word getting around to my current profs. that I was thinking about transferring.

On a related note, let's say I keep my grades up next semester and get into a few T14 schools. I'm on a fairly large scholarship at my current school and they'd probably bump it up to full tuition + stipend to stay (I know I'd be paying sticker at whatever new school I transfer to). If that scenario plays out, what's the consensus on course of action?

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I disagree w/ what some others have said. I think you should apply UChi ED.

You're at a low enough ranked school that getting into HYS is going to be pretty damn hard. Even w/ a repeat performance, the odds are against you. Therefore, CCN is probably one of the better outcomes for you. Unless you hate Chicago, you might as well lock yourself into one of them now and eliminate the risk of not getting into any of them after spring grades.

How much of a boost is UChi ED for transfer decisions? I just don't like being locked in, and with those sorts of grades, you'd most likely get in to at least an equivalent school.