The Cornell Transfer Option (TO for short) is offered to students as an alternative path for entry to Cornell. It’s half deferral, half transfer, and they’re basically saying “we think you’ve got the goods, we just want you to prove it.”
If you’ve chosen to accept your TO, heck yeah, we love it. We’ve never seen one of our students not get into Cornell after successfully completing all the requirements, so we know that this is doable. The trick is a) understanding all the requirements (it can be confusing!) and b) making sure you do everything in your power to have a successful first year of college. We generally encourage going to a college that you’d be happy at if you didn’t get into Cornell, but many, many students choose to go to community college for a year to save money while getting their prereqs out of the way.
What are my requirements?
Each major has their own set list of prereqs, which can be found here and here. In the CALS transfer database, you’ll be able to put in the school you’ll be attending and your potential major, and it’ll pop out the classes there that meet the requirements:
They also encourage you to look at the Courses of Study bulletin when it comes to building out the rest of your schedule. When in doubt, reach out to Cornell to double-check your classes and make sure you’re on the right path. They offered you this because they think you deserve to be there, so use them as a resource! You’re not annoying them, we promise.
This is going to be the most important part. While we’ve never seen a student not get in while using the TO, we have read (on the depths of Reddit, so take that with a grain of salt) about students not getting in for two reasons: either not taking the correct classes, or doing very poorly with their first-year grades. For most CALS transfer option majors, you’ll be required to maintain a 3.0 GPA, except for biological sciences, which requires a 3.5.
Is there anything else I should do?
If you’re taking our advice and going to a school you’d be happy at no matter what happens, then we’re going to give you the advice we give prospective transfer students in general.
1) Get plugged in
No person is an island. There is no reason to sit, sulk, and isolate yourself from your college community just because you don’t see it as a long-term option. Join clubs. Talk to professors. Pursue summer research opportunities.
2) Get plugged in!!!!
We say it twice because it’s important. One of the best things for you (and the TO) is to foster good relationships with your professors. Rec letters don’t just materialize out of thin air, you know. Clubs and extracurricular involvement will also play a role in your TO. If you’ve done nothing to expand your knowledge and engagement with your chosen field, that’s just setting yourself up for failure come next year.
3) Ace (and we mean ace) those classes
This should be a given. You’ll need a 3.0 (or 3.5 for biological sciences), but we think you can aim for better than a B average. Especially if Cornell thinks you’re cut out for ‘em. This isn’t just for the sake of your transfer option, but also for your academic foundation.
4) Give yourself options
Maybe you crushed your first year, and you wonder what other possibilities are out there. We think it’s okay (and actively encourage you) to throw a few other apps out into the ether and see what comes back.
5) Prepare for the TO essay
We’ll go more in-depth on this one in a later blog post, but start doing research now to make it easier down the road. Start looking at upper-level classes, professors, and academic opportunities you’re excited about at Cornell. Write ‘em down! Muse on them! Why do they seem cool? How are they going to help you for the future? Heck, while you’re at it, write down a 5 and 10-year plan. Make a vision board! Anything that helps you visualize your future and see your path to Cornell and beyond is worth it.
We hope we’ve given you some ideas and tools to make the most of your TO. The tl;dr for the impatient scrollers is this:
Take the right classes (seriously, scroll back up and click the links)
Get great grades
Plug into your community (clubs and professors, people!)
Start researching to prep for the TO essay
You’ve got this. Again, for the 3rd time, we’ve never had a student not get into Cornell if they were offered the TO. That means this is yours to lose, and we think you’re gonna be just fine.
Got a Transfer Option from Cornell? Need help? Reach out today.