I was admitted to University of Oregon and waitlisted at University of Washington. Rejected everywhere else. My dream schools are UCLA, Boston College or Boston University. So should I go to a community college and apply to transfer to one of those schools as a junior or accept Oregon’s admission? I really want the typical 4-year college and social experience (Greek life, sports, etc.) and I know going to community college will disrupt that, however I’m stuck because I also really wanted to go to one of my dream schools. Thanks!
Hi Madi,
I can’t speak from experience regarding Boston schools, but I know that UCs place a lot of importance on in-state community colleges when looking at transfer applicants. That being said, I think you should weigh the pros and cons of attending one of the schools you’ve already been accepted to vs going to a community college carefully. While there is no Greek life at a CC, campuses are still very social and active, and there are a lot of driven people with similar goals. You should also ask yourself if your dream schools provide any significant advantage to the career path you’ve chosen.
How are you financially speaking? Will you have to pay much to attend either of those schools?
If you are dead-set on transferring, I’d argue going to a CC is better. Not only are you going to pay way less for the same result, it’ll be way easier to maintain a great GPA while completing ECs. Your social life is what you make of it, just be involved on campus and make friends.
Do you have the grades, test scores, and ECs that make it likely that you could have been admitted to these places, or were you a borderline candidate? Get honest with yourself about that. If you had been admitted without any financial aid, could your family have paid for them? Get honest about that too. The answers to those questions will tell you whether it is worth your time to try to pursue those dream schools as a transfer applicant.
If you do go to CC, and then end up at U of O, how will you feel about “missing out” the first two years there? If you go to CC, do you have other in-state options to trnasfer to depending on the major you decide on?
If U of O is affordable, my advice is that you go there this fall. You will be able to have the full college experience. At about Tnaksgiving time of your sophomore year, revisit the notion of applying for transfer. You might want to, you might not, you could even want to but have an entirely new list!