high school senior here, planning on possibly transferring colleges

Transfer Students
1

<p>SO, I really just want general advice, and suggestions in regards to what colleges I could possibly look at if I end up transferring. I'm approaching the end of my senior year of high school, and I feel like should prepare early if I'm seriously going to consider transferring successfully into a better fit college. </p>

<p>I know, it's early. I still haven't lived in or taken any classes at the school I'm going to next year, Umass Amherst, but well, regardless of whether it's for the right reasons, I feel like transferring up after a year of doing hopefully really well there. </p>

<p>I &%%^%$# up my junior year of high school, but now I'm taking 4 AP classes (signed up for a fifth AP exam, oh, I tend to put myself in such situations too much), and I'm about to finish a full year of freshman chem at my local state university. If all works out well, my only B will be in BC calc (which probably won't matter if I get a 5 on the AP exam next week), I will have graduated at around to ~7%. I currently have a 4.15 weighted GPA. </p>

<p>Next year I'm thinking of majoring in chemistry, but I'm not sure. I'm torn between physics and chemistry. I mostly want to focus on chemistry as it applies to physical sciences, rather than have a pre-med concentration. If I do so, it appears that I'll have a schedule that includes organic chemistry and calculus 3 my first semester of freshman year (yikes). Hopefully other AP's will also substitute for several gen ed courses. </p>

<p>High school ECs: theater, cross country (not doing it in college), piano, Academic Decathlon, and a research project I'm doing with a physics teacher at my HS. I guess as a side note, I recently discovered I have a talent for drawing, which I hope to develop over the summer. Would I possibly be able to use an art portfolio to my advantage eventually? </p>

<p>Unless I end up strongly hating it at Umass Amherst, I'm mostly thinking about Ivy+ type schools for transferring. Possibly reapplying to UChicago and MIT, which I'm aware are extremely difficult to get into to transfers. However, I really fell in love with MIT when I visited and I'm a big fan of MIT OCW, but unfortunately I didn't have time to survive for more than two weeks on the electronics course offered by MITx this spring, but I digress. As for Chicago, well, I would need to listen into classes and visit. They mostly convinced me with their mailings, but they did a VERY good job with that. They seemed like a perfect match for my style of learning and personality. I have to think of slightly less lofty choices as well. I'm also looking at smaller LAC's that I might fit into. </p>

<p>Any thoughts?</p>

2

<p>Our situations are so similar!
I am also a high school senior who messed up my junior year and plans on transferring from my state flagship.
If you do not think UMass is an academically compatible school, or if other schools have better programs, by all means, transfer.
You need a 3.7+ in college to be a competitive applicant for Ivy Leagues.
Continue your extracurricular activities and secure good recommendations from professors.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

3

<p>Thanks. I’ll definitely look to my current chem professor for recs as well as future professors. Nothing wrong with Umass Amherst, especially since I made it to the honors program, which gives me extra financial aid and a smart group of peers. Unfortunately, I only made it into the honors program because I appealed during the open house. The person who’s responsible for honors admissions told me, however, that she really liked my essay, but otherwise wouldn’t have let me in, even though I meet the requirements for honors. I guess my own shortfalls have taught me something and gave me something to write about as well. I would really have been screwed if I lost track of my studies in college instead of high school. I’ve always tried to be the best student, but I just never knew how. </p>

<p>My issue is only partially related to prestige. The brand name is nice only if it also happens to be a good fit for you. Unfortunately, Umass Amherst doesn’t feel like the best fit. Basically since the end of junior year, self education is all I care about and I fell in love with a lot of my studies. I only see that love of learning for its own sake among some of my friends who ended up in “top” schools. I really enjoy the perspective those people bring. </p>

<p>Remember, anything above a 3.7 is hard at any college, especially considering I’m going into science. High school is a joke by comparison.</p>

4

<p>I am in a similar situation. But I think I would need to retake the SATs… Suscribing to this thread ^^</p>

<p>Sent from my GT-S5570L using CC</p>

5

<p>“I’ve always tried to be the best student, but I just never knew how.”</p>

<p>I know what you mean :/. I’m just discovering the resources I should I have devoured about 2-5 years ago. I’m not going to try to go at it alone anymore when there are billions of people before me who have the experiences I don’t. Thank you, college gods, for making these people write books upon books filled with valuable knowledge.</p>

<p>“Remember, anything above a 3.7 is hard at any college, especially considering I’m going into science. High school is a joke by comparison.”</p>

<p>I’m worried… if high school is a joke, I don’t know how to go on xD. High school was… something else. Our school is notorious for its academic pressure, and my school offers about 33 APs, so colleges expect us to challenge ourselves as much as possible. And I only took 8 T_____T when the Elites were taking about 16. And then there are the hospitalizations…</p>

<p>The whole point of that was… if high school really is a joke, then college is going to be a sick, sick nightmare.</p>