<p>I was waitlisted by 2 universities. I was rejected by both of them. </p>
<p>Now, I will attend a university, which was not my top choice.</p>
<p>Are there any other people, like me, who are planning to transfer to their dream school(s)?</p>
<p>What are your strategies?</p>
<p>I posed this question in this forum because I think some Seniors, such as myself, still want to attend our dream schools even thought we were rejected for freshman admission.</p>
<p>whats your dream school and why?</p>
<p>I’m going to guess Harvard.
Complain less. 27,000 some odd people applied, and fewer than 2,000 were offered admission.</p>
<p>Berkeley is an outstanding, well-respected institution.
And, Harvard is not going to accept any more transfer applicants for a long, long time.</p>
<p>l ol</p>
<p>nhsharvard, you’re not alone. </p>
<p>I guess I’m sort of like you–Waitlisted at 4 universities and going to a school that wasn’t my first choice. </p>
<p>I wrote a really long reply and tried to post it, but the site totally ate it, so… I’m just going to say that I’m sort of like you. </p>
<p>I don’t really remember what I typed earlier anyways, but know that it was heartfelt and highly advisory. :)</p>
<p>aren’t you going to berkeley..?</p>
<p>If your dream school is Harvard, you should know that they’re not going to accept transfers next year. And I’m guessing they’re not going to ever after this point… like Princeton. lol</p>
<p>Don’t go to Berkeley thinking that you’re going to transfer…just try and enjoy it and see what happens!</p>
<p>People are so weird around here sometimes.</p>
<p>When students are choosing their colleges, they are the first to aggressively push the notions of ‘choosing the right college for you and not going for name’ and all that jazz.</p>
<p>But then if a student actually locks down on one single college that happens to be HYPSMC they immediately freak out and assume that they’re only choosing that school for the reputation and are being drones.</p>
<p>Gee folks, isn’t it possible that those billion-dollar endowment schools with massive opportunities are THE best fit the student?</p>
<p>Yes the OP got into Berkeley, but maybe Berkeley with all its greatness, isn’t the right fit for her. Maybe it’s Harvard (which is impossible because of their new transfer policy but I digress…). </p>
<p>If nhsharvard wanted to transfer to say Notre Dame or a small liberal arts school, people would be applauding his/her conviction in what school is right for her. However, because the choice is a highly reputed school people are acting like he-she’s being ungateful and should settle for Berkeley. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>@ LionHeaded: There is truth in your post, CC can be bipolar and elitist, but then again we’re not exactly condemning the OP for trying to get into Harvard. </p>
<p>I’m not calling the OP ungrateful, but to pin Harvard as your dream school and not let go of it after being rejected is rather unrealistic (especially now, since Harvard isn’t even accepting transfers). Like with all Ivies, no one has a “chance” at any of them, especially when admit rates go under 10%. It’s good to hope and dream, but realistically the OP shouldn’t be too bummed about not getting to Harvard. It’s Harvard, for god’s sake.</p>
<p>But I’m not trying to call anyone out. Wherever I’m going this fall, if I end up hating it I will certainly apply to transfer to what was my “dream” school, Columbia, (and others if I really hate my school) but I’m not going to go into college planning to do it. I just believe that you can’t make a “wrong” decision about college. There are cool people everywhere, and if you take advantage of a good school (and let’s face it, Berkeley is a great school), you’ll end up in a good place.</p>
<p>Mendoukuse and Lionheaded, thank you for your support.</p>
<p>Well, I won’t give up my dream schools. I’ve always wanted to go to a university out east because many of them have qualities, which appealed to me. For example, they’re far away. Some, such as Brown, could let me skip core classes. Their aesthetic surroundings and good financial aid programs appealed to me.</p>
<p>For example, if I was accepted to Princeton, I would be able to get grants to cover all of my tuition. However, at berkeley, my parents and I would have to pay $21,000 worth of loans. Their financial aid packages really appealed to me (an exception of financial aid would be NYU, which was the only east coast university that accepted me).</p>
<p>I will DEFINITELY try to transfer. If I can transfer from the 8th to the 9th grade, which I did a few years ago, I can most definitely transfer universities. I know I have potential because I was waitlisted by Stanford and Brown (I was rejected by both because of space).</p>
<p>Of course, prestige is a perk, but many campuses in the east have better financial aid, surroundings, and programs than the west (of course, Stanford is an exception).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If you HAD BEEN, you mean. And I entirely understand your point. My family now has to pay 22,000 a year for Amherst. If I had been accepted at Columbia, Harvard, or Princeton, it would have been 8,000. That’s 88,000 v. 32,000 after four years. </p>
<p><em>facepalm</em></p>
<p>My only complaint is in regard to financial aid, of course. I am completely and utterly satisfied with how admissions turned out. =)</p>
<p>@Lionheaded:
Externalizing internal angst much?</p>
<p>Amherst is a great school. They’re known for their liberal arts programs.</p>
<p>I know I should have revised my college list to include more universities, such as Columbia, Amherst, and UPenn.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My internal angst as a college sophomore who left the admissions process to undergrad behind about 2 years ago? Oh yes, it’s eating away at me. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>It’s impossible for someone to disagree with your inaccurate prejudice against people who dream of the top schools without themselves being angsty about admissions. It has nothing to do with basic logic and rationality. Oh no…perish the thought. </p>
<p>P.S. The passive aggressive phrasing of the ‘blah blah blah, much?’ lost its clever factor somewhere in the mid-90s. It’s not witty and makes you sound like a Californian 12 year old girl…Just thought you should know.</p>
<p>this cat had like a 1760 sat, you should be thanking the gods for berkeley</p>
<p>My plan: 4.0, apply for transfer. Wee…</p>
<p>I understand where you’re coming from, OP. I haven’t applied to college yet, but I have friends who faced some (rather bitter) rejections or waitlists that became rejections.</p>
<p>I understand your reasons for wanting to transfer, as well (money is often a big factor). However, I have one suggestion: don’t spend your time at Berkeley constantly thinking “What do I need to do to transfer?” or “When I transfer, things will be so much better.” etc. I’m not saying you’re going to do that, but I know people who have.
I have a friend who went to a college and hated it, tried to transfer but was unable to, and went back the next year. Midway through that year, she was LOVING school. She only hated it freshman year because she wouldn’t give it a chance and was constantly looking for something she thought would be “better.” </p>
<p>It’s perfectly reasonable to try to transfer, but enjoy Berkeley while you’re there–join clubs, play sports, do activities, make friends, etc. Don’t think “What’s the point, since I am planning to leave anyway?”</p>
<p>“I know I have potential because I was waitlisted by Stanford and Brown”</p>
<p>While this is true, you need to be aware that transfer admissions is a different game than freshman admission. For instance, S accepted 20 transfers out of 1200 applications this year (1.7%); 11 of which had attended community college and 4 who were non-traditional students. And unlike freshman admissions, transfer admissions at B is need-AWARE. In addition, they state on their website that they have limited FA for transfer students.</p>
<p>I’m not saying you can’t do it, just that it’s much more difficult.</p>
<p>I back up poetrygirl’s post. When I first got rejected from half my schools, I figured I would go into college knowing I would try and transfer out. Having that kind of attitude is never good!</p>
<p>And like entomom wrote, transfer admissions is arguably just as difficult or even harder than regular freshmen admissions.</p>
<p>Also, random question, but why does going to a community college raise your chances of getting accepted somewhere in transfer admissions?</p>
<p>I don’t think it does. Why would you think so?</p>