Concerns about transferring schools

Transfer Students
1

<p>I am currently going to UMass Amherst as a sophomore next semester. I would like to transfer schools for my junior year. A few of the schools I'm thinking about applying to are: Columbia, University of Chicago, Cornell, University of Virginia, and NYU.</p>

<p>While I am concerned about getting into those schools, I am equally concerned about my ability to do well in them. To be honest, I am a pretty lazy person and I tend to do everything last minute (which I plan to change), and the courses that I took last year at UMass didn't seem that difficult. I am afraid that if I transfer to a top tier school, I will struggle to even get a decent GPA.</p>

<p>Are the courses at top tier schools a lot harder than that of a state school? Should I be concerned about this or just worry about getting into those schools? It'd be great to hear some insight on this from people, especially those who transferred and were in the same boat I'm in. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>i transferred from a crappy state school to cornell and it was definitely tougher. they wanted you to know tons more all the time and i studied all the time compared to how i used to do things (which was last minute, etc lol). even with that, i wasn’t doing as well as i wanted to be doing. you’re expected to be a lot better in every way. know everything but also analyze it on your own and be ready to apply it in weird, not-so-obvious ways. it’s doable, but takes some time getting used to and don’t be surprised if things don’t end up the way you thought they should. i studied all the time and, like i said, was still having a hard time meeting my goals</p>

3

<p>@ironicallyunsure: if you don’t mind me asking, which state school did you go to and what was your gpa in that school and Cornell?</p>

4

<p>bump…</p>

5

<p>suny stony brook and i had ~3.5 (but don’t let that fool you, i had lots of other things going on :wink: )</p>