<p>Hi, I'm a UCSB student going into my second year this fall. I'm thinking about transferring to a more challenging school and I was wondering what my chances would be for getting into such schools. I love everything about UCSB, the people, the beach, and the atmosphere, but I feel like I'm not challenging myself enough. I'm a mechanical engineer and granted I've only finished my first year, which means that I haven't taken many ME classes yet, but I've gotten all A's or A+'s except one B+ and A- without trying my best or challenging myself. I got a paid internship at a local telecommunications engineering company so I'm working this summer and continuing my internship in the coming school year. </p>
<p>So my current GPA is 3.93 and I have an internship. I'm hoping to be more involved in engineering clubs and such. What are the chances of me getting into schools such as Cornell or UPenn? Or even MIT (even though I feel like this would really be a stretch, especially in engineering)?</p>
<p>Would you even recommend transferring from a four-year school if I want to go to a grad school? Would it be better to stick to UCSB and earn a good GPA?</p>
<p>Thanks and all comments will be appreciated!</p>
<p>I’d say that if finances are a concern, you may be better off staying where you are, if you have entrance/California scholarships that will not transfer, and if you do not qualify for need-based aid. This is also important if you only plan on getting a master’s to start, as they are often unfunded for engineers. It looks like you mostly took general ed courses this year, so you might find that it gets substantially tougher as you get further into your major. If you can get involved in the engineering clubs, I’m sure the senior students will be able to tell you if it becomes more challenging later on. I do think you have the potential to get in with the right ECs, so you can always apply, hope for the best, and choose to go or stay depending on if/where you are accepted. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply! Fin aid is actually one of the reasons I want to transfer to an Ivy like UPenn. I understand that UPenn offers a “no-loan” fin aid package, and I’m pretty sure I would qualify for that. Although UCSB covers all my financial needs, I still need to take out loans and going to school without worrying about loans would be pretty nice.</p>
<p>Have you run the numbers? If UCSB doesn’t consider you to need full aid, why would Penn?</p>
<p>If you don’t want to worry about loans, get a job at a college that offers free courses as an employee benefit. It’ll take longer, but you’ll be in better financial shape.</p>
<p>If my research is correct, it says under the UPenn website that students whose parents earn less than $100,000 annually will receive loan free financial packages. My parents earned significantly less than that this year. Although ucsb offers a decent financial aid, with budget cuts they cannot offer the same kind of fin aid as upenn. And my internships paid. I’m working over 30 hours a week along with classes trying to pay for all my expenses since I didn’t take out a lot of loans this summer. I have been working full time before my summer classes and will continue to work during fall. I’m not trying to go to UPenn to milk their money. I’m just looking for some financial stability so I can focus more on school.</p>
<p>And any advice/comment on my possibility of getting into those schools or if its a good idea will be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I think that if you have enough ECs and you keep your grades up, it’s worth a shot. Besides, if you get an offer of admission, you’ll get to see your FA package before you accept, so if it isn’t enough, you can always decline the offer.</p>