Advice for a prospective transfer?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone!
I’m currently a student at George Mason U.
I started off as a business major, but I’m switching to CS.
I like the school, and I’ve grown used to it, but for some reason I feel like I should transfer to a more selective and prestigious school. Primarily because in the classes I’ve taken so far, I’ve noticed my classmates (and I hate to sound arrogant) are usually far below me in terms of academics, but obviously there are a few who are really bright students. Maybe the lazy ones are the ones who drop out after freshman year? The school’s prestige in the area is also not very good. With Georgetown and UVa (and GWU, UMD, etc.) it feels like generally the school is looked down upon. Which I know isn’t really that important, but it kinda messes with my excitement about going to school here.
Anyway, I know for some majors school prestige is everything. But is it for CS? Would transferring be my best chance at having a good career?
If I do end up applying to transfer, I’d go for schools with a strong CS department but also a strong focus on liberal arts/humanities. My top choices would be schools like Brown, Columbia, Northwestern (which I know are very unlikely to accept me even being a great candidate, I have a near-perfect GPA and SAT), as well as others like USC and NYU.
Finances are not a problem (I won’t need FA). However, I’m a bit worried that some stuff I wanted to do during college might become more difficult, like studying abroad. And also internships.

What do you think? Would you make transferring a priority if you were in my shoes? Would you even try?

Thanks!

2

Also, I’m not in GM honors because I had weak SAT scores when I was admitted. Retook recently.

3

There is a good chance that colleges won’t consider your updated SAT scores since that test is designed for HSers. You’ll need to check. I think you’re getting way ahead of yourself. I think the competition in CS may be higher than in business at GMU.

4

I’d say stay at GM. Transferring is a hassle, you might lose some credits, and start all over socially.

CS is a great major, and one of the few where, really, your school doesn’t matter. It’s what you know. (Plenty of Google programmers didn’t go to prestigious schools!) As a standout at GM, you might enjoy closer ties with the faculty as well as better research/internship opportunities - all of which will lead to a good job.

And in the meantime, you can enjoy being at a school you like - and even start seriously thinking of arranging your schedule to fit in study abroad.

Good luck!