<p>I am currently a first year CS major w/ a minor in math/entrepreneurship. I am going to a private liberal arts school in the midwest that has a pretty good reputation, better than most state schools but not nearly on the level of Stanford. Basically I want to change locations, I want to get myself involved in the heart of the tech industry and the start up scene and that is why I want to move to the Bay area or even LA. On top of that, my school has a great reputation for business, but not so much for CS/Engineering. This is a non-location reason I want to transfer out of my school.</p>
<p>Currently I am doing well in classes and I should have a 4.0 first semester. I am pretty confident I could keep above a 3.85 at my time here. The one thing that isn't good for transferring is the fact we don't have many tech-clubs. Since I am not doing much of this type of stuff, I am working on a lot of projects of my own (building websites etc). I hope to build a strong portfolio to make up for the academic rigor of our CS program. Since I am very interested in entrepreneurship, by the time I graduate I hope to be the founder of at least one business and be responsible for the tech side of it. Also, I have a few connections working for me in the industry in Cali currently, and there is a good chance I will have an internship working for a tech company or a start up this summer.</p>
<p>Now on to my statistics, in HS I did pretty poorly, with a 3.1 UW GPA (/4.00). My ACT score was a 24 with a 30 in math. I could retake it and I am confident I could get at least a 30 since I did not take it seriously at all. However, in either situation (UCLA/Berk or Stanford), I will be attempting to transfer in as a junior. Because of this, I feel my high school stats will not matter much at all (please correct me if I am wrong-and you would suggest me retaking the ACT anyways).</p>
<p>Finally, since I am out of state, I would be transferring to a community college first, and from there applying to a UC school. Although I could stay 2 years at my current school in the midwest, and then apply to Stanford, if I do not get in I will be screwed since I really couldn't get in-state tuition (this would basically prevent me from applying to UCLA and Berk). So most likely if I get enough support and follow through with this plan I will spend 1 year at my current university in the midwest, hopefully achieving a 4.0 and landing a good summer internship in Cali. From there I will move to Cali, and attend a local community college for around a year to earn enough credits to transfer in to university as a junior and also qualifying me for in-state tuition. While I am taking classes at the community college I would most likely either be spending a lot of time working on projects of my own or (hopefully) landing a part time position/internship that relates to my field of study. I am hoping UCLA will be my back up since my current school has admission standards that are very similar (similar ACT/SAT range but higher admission rate). As far as Berkeley and Stanford I really don't know what to expect while trying to transfer in, and that is why I am posting this question. I know one the most important things behind transferring in to UC schools and Stanford is the reason for transferring and not necessarily pure academics. From my first paragraph, do you guys feel this is a strong reason to transfer? Thanks for all of the help in advance!</p>