I didn’t get into Penn this year. It’s fine, I’m over it and I know admissions are very selective this year. That being said, I still loved Penn and I want to go for engineering. If I attend Temple for one year and make good grades, will I have a decent chance of transferring to Penn verses if I attended Drexel? I thought about attending Drexel for one year, but the cost between Drexel and Temple is significant and I’m not sure if I can do that. I didn’t low if going to Temple would hurt my chances for transfer acceptance because it’s “not as good” as an engineering program.
It’s not only where you’re transferring from, it’s how your college record stacks up. If you weren’t accepted this year you’d need at least 3 semesters under your belt before your HS transcript takes a back seat. Drexel vs. Temple won’t move the needle much, you’ll need a persuasive reason why you need to transfer that doesn’t involve trading up for prestige. From an engineering perspective that might be a heavy lift. Also, it’s not easier to get into Penn via transfer, their transfer rate is in single digits ~7%.
The better question is whether attending Drexel with its coop opportunities is worth it over Temple.
I think part of the reason why I wasn’t accepted this year was because of my essays. The thing I don’t love about Drexel are the co-ops because I want to be able to graduate in 4 years, and I’d rather do internships than coops. I like Penn’s curriculum, and it has classes that aren’t offered at Temple. I just don’t know if the courses at Temple are rigorous enough to transfer into Penn
I understand your point about the coops and graduating in 4 years. I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to transfer, I just wanted to let you know that it’s a steep climb so you should choose the school where you’ll be the happiest and able to pursue your interests most successfully because the odds are that you’ll be there for the 4 years. That being said, work hard for a stellar GPA, forge relationships with your professors, engage in ECs and so forth and give Penn another shot.
Just for reference:
In 2018:
2,685 applied for transfer
205 were accepted
135 enrolled
In 2019:
2,952 applied for transfer
174 were accepted
114 enrolled
Out of curiosity, were you accepted into any other engineering programs?
My other top choice is Carnegie Mellon. I’m leaning away from it for a number of reasons, but it is tempting since the programs and rank are stellar.
Can you afford Carnegie Mellon? There’s a huge difference between Carnegie Mellon and Temple, in terms of cost.
i’m a current first year Temple, and applied to transfer to upenn. let me know if you’d like to talk further
I could afford CMU but Temple gave me a full ride so if I went to Temple, I could graduate debt free and possibly graduate grad school debt free as well if I decided I wanted to go.
That would be great actually! What subject area are you studying?
Go to Temple for free, then go wherever you want and can get into for a master’s degree.