<p>I'm going to be transferring schools when I separate from the Air Force in the summer of 2012. I have good SAT scores (2000) and a good GPA (3.8) at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, but a very poor high school GPA (2.2ish). My job in the military is command and control for communication satellites. Am I a reasonable candidate for transfer into an Ivy League, or similar caliber school (Stanford, Carnegie Mellon)? These schools are big on diversity, I think being a veteran would help a lot. </p>
<p>I want to study engineering, and have taken some of the classes a usual freshman would take: calc, chem, etc. </p>
<p>Cal told me I would need to have 60 transferable credits to apply as a transfer, unlikely at this rate.</p>
<p>Any vets that have had success getting into top tier schools, your advice will be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>I think you have a good shot based on your achievements, but the transfer acceptance rate is extremely low. Also, you must consider out-of-state residency and the effect it will have on both cost and acceptance rates. I can’t offer much advice, but if you want to go to a UC, change your residency now.</p>
<p>Apply to Amherst College, we accept sophomore transfers (32 credits) and pay everything the GI Bill doesnt. We also have a special relationship with Dartmouth Engineering to get a BA from Amherst in whatever and a BS in Engineering at Dartmouth ([Info</a> for students interested in engineering](<a href=“http://www3.amherst.edu/~waloinaz/engineering.html]Info”>Info for students interested in engineering)). Look into it if you havent yet. My GPA in community college before joining the army was 2.2…i rest my case on that one. Dont submit those SAT scores either, stanford has a lot of vets (25 or so) but they are crazy about standardized test scores. Their transfer rate is like 1% too (advertised on the website)</p>
<p>If you want to go into engineering you have a good shot at most any school. Perhaps look at UPenn, Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, Stanford, CMU and Cooper Union as reach schools (Not sure if you have heard of Cooper Union but it is more selective than all of the Ivies at 8%). For safety consider Colorado School of Mines or Rose Hulman. For a match perhaps Franklin Olin School of Engineering. Amherst is a truly great school but is not ABET acredited which can hurt your job prospects as an engineer.</p>
<p>Harvard is expanding their engineering program considerably. Although they generally want 2100 SATs, if you have rally high math that might nudge you over.</p>