<p>I've been a long time lurker on these forums, but today I needed to post my own question.</p>
<p>I really want to attend an ivy league school, I don't care what it takes I want to make it happen.</p>
<p>Following my freshman year I was accepted into the U of Montana-Missoula. I had a track/xc scholarship, but ended up hating the school.</p>
<p>I just finished my freshman year at U of Montana with a 3.78 (on the Dean's list both fall and spring semester). </p>
<p>A few weeks ago I applied and was accepted to the Liberal Arts college at the U of Minnesota, however I still would like to try to get into an ivy league or private university.</p>
<p>ACT score = 28, with a 10 out of a possible 12 on the writing portion.
AP Spanish and AP English scores = 4.
3.85GPA in HS, graduated top 10%</p>
<p>Hold school record in the 800m, head track captain for 2 years.
Ran XC for 4 years (varsity), head xc captain for 3 years.</p>
<p>etc, etc...</p>
<p>Do I have a chance at Ivies or should I just stick with Minnesota?</p>
<p>It’s too early to tell given that you have no college record, but your ACT score is very weak. Check out the Transfer 101 thread by Andale regarding the importance of test scores for sophomore and junior transfers, respectively. Also, check the stats of matriculating frosh/transfers at each school to get an idea of where you stand and what you need to focus on.</p>
<p>IMHO, immerse yourself in the life and culture of UM and just see what happens. Don’t even think about transferring until you’ve had some experience there and given it an earnest chance. Honestly, the most successful transfers make the most of their schools and make a solid name for themselves there before moving on, and you can’t do that if you’ve got transferitis (i.e., senioritis, but for transfers).</p>
<p>How fast are you? If you’re a 1:55, 4:00, 15:00, 32:00 kind of guy, you should contact the coaches at the ivy leagues. I’m not sure how they handle transfer athletes, but I would guess that it would give you an edge. Your ACT is low for ivies, but get those college grades up, and if you transfer junior year, it won’t matter much anyways. </p>
<p>Whoops! I definitely misread. So you’re a rising sophomore at UM who was just admitted to UMn as a sophomore? I say stay where you are if the Ivy League is your objective.</p>
<p>I’d say Cornell, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth and Penn.
But it really depends on the whole package, not just your GPA. (essays, recs and ec’s)</p>
<p>Also, why only the Ivys? I think people get too hung up on getting into an Ivy, they forget about the other great schools not in the Ivy League.</p>
<p>Honestly the Ivies are incredibly hard to transfer into. With another strong year under your belt I would look at WashU, Rice, Northwestern, Emory, and other great non-Ivy schools.</p>
<p>Thank you guys so much for the information, I tend to get hung up on the ivies because of the prestige.</p>
<p>I’d like to think with my grades and track abilities I could go somewhere I would be proud to graduate from.</p>
<p>Brown seems like my favorite, I am just afraid my standardized scores aren’t what Brown expects. However, I would be an asset to the track team there.</p>