<p>I'm currently a senior in high school receiving my admissions letters. I've currently received replies from half of the colleges I applied to, and I'm simply not satisfied with the ones I'm getting into.</p>
<p>As a result, for the first time, I'm considering going to community college and then transferring. Keep in mind that given the options I have on the table as of now, I would not want to go to community college to transfer to anything less than a "top" school. </p>
<p>So my questions are:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I'm undecided as to whether I wish to pursue an MBA or an MD after undergraduate study. Would going to community college first hamper my chances of getting into a top 25 graduate school in either field? Essentially, I have admissions offers from the likes of UC Santa Cruz, Willamette University, etc. The ~50-65% admit rate kind of college. Relative to getting a 4 year degree from that sort of college, would community college and then a "top" school be worse?</p></li>
<li><p>The reason I've struggled with admissions for undergraduate studies is my High School GPA of 3.14 UW. My SAT is a solid 2320, and other standardized scores are similarly good. Would any transfer schools care about my high school GPA or other high school stats/achievements at all?</p></li>
<li><p>Is it possible to transfer after 1 year or do you have to finish two? What are the relative advantages/disadvantages of each option?</p></li>
<li><p>For the sake of argument, let's suppose I go to community college for one or two years and finish with a 3.8-4.0 GPA with a strong course load. What top schools would be willing to consider a community college student like that? By top schools I mean Ivy League, Rice, USC type of college.</p></li>
<li><p>Suppose that there are top schools that would be willing to consider a community college transfer student. What are they looking for in an application? Be as specific as possible. Essentially, what does the ideal community college to Ivy-ish applicant look like?</p></li>
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<p>Thanks for looking at my questions, and if you can help, thanks for that too. I've never considered this route before, so I'm really clueless.</p>
<ol>
<li>First a technicality, MBAs and MDs are considered ‘professional’ school as opposed to going for a MS or PhD which is ‘graduate school’.<br></li>
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<p>As for your question, it’s impossible to say as there’s nothing in the schools you’ve listed that will hold you back; it will be what you do in them or in a ‘top’ (your definition, not mine) that will matter, not the name of the school. Making top grades, doing research and making connections at UCSC or Willamette is going to be as helpful, if not more so, than being a good but relatively undistinguished student at Rice, USC, etc.</p>
<p>2/3. As a soph transfer you will have only completed 1 sem/qt of college work when you apply, so your HS record (gpa & test scores) will carry more weight. As a jr transfer you college work will be weighted more; however, at highly selective colleges IMO everything counts to some degree. Many schools take soph transfers, the UCs are some of the exceptions.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Transfers from CCs have been accepted at ALL schools, that said, some of the highly selective schools seem to be more CC friendly than others; including some like USC, Cornell, the UCs, etc. that have articulation agreements with certain CCs.</p></li>
<li><p>See the sticky thread Transfer Admissions 101.</p></li>
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<p>@entomom: Thanks for the prompt reply. I’m well aware that it’s not where you go, but what you do that matters. I see that it’s probably better for me to spend two years at CC if I go there.</p>
<p>The CC-friendly colleges is something I’ve been looking for, so if anyone has a more comprehensive list, I’d appreciate that.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I don’t think going to a community college for a year or two will ruin your chances of getting in a good grad school. You don’t have to mention where you started college on your apps or resume, just where you graduated from. </p></li>
<li><p>Some schools require high school gpa for all transfers. Others require it only if you have under 60 units by transfer. Depends on the school.</p></li>
<li><p>Private schools let you transfer after one year; not UCs. But after one year, your HS grades still are a big factor. If you transfer as a junior, they will be much less a factor. </p></li>
<li><p>USC, UCLA, Berkeley, Cornell among others take a lot of transfers. There a LOT of others. Do your own research. Harvard doesn’t take many transfers though. </p></li>
<li><p>They want top grades in college (3.7+) and an upward trend compared to high school. Also, most top schools want you to be involved in your community. That means more than just joining a couple random clubs and not doing anything in them. Show them that you did things for your community and were able to take on responsibility/leadership positions and still kept your grades up. Essays play a big role as well.</p></li>
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<p>edit: I started doing this before entomom replied. sorry for any overlap</p>
<p>I agree, but will pick a logistic nit: While you always just cite the school you got your degree from, professional and grad schools will require transcripts from all schools you attended.</p>
<p>Also, it is not recommended to take too much premed requirements at a CC as med schools want to see you taking the bulk of that coursework at a 4 yr college (Search the Premed Topics forum for many threads asking about this).</p>