High school senior who has plans of attending a top university, all comments welcomed

<p>My high school career did not start out with a bang. . My first two years I struggled but my junior year I came out swinging. My family had just arrived in the state I currently live in and I did not like my life much here so I kind of had a minor depression problem.
Currently I have a 3.5 overall GPA (about 4.1 weighted I believe) and I am at the top 25 percent at a competitive magnet school.</p>

<p>SAT score = 1940 but that will go up because I retook the test with preparation in December and my score will probably be around a 2100.</p>

<p>Although I was born in America, my parents moved around A LOT to different countries so I learned English late (moved out of America when I was about 2 years old).</p>

<p>It is my desire to attend a college like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford or Columbia. I know that I won't be able to transfer to the first four but I heard that it is possible to transfer to Columbia. I have applied to Yale but I know I have have a low chance of getting in (PLEASE do not behave like the users on the other forums who have crucified me for wanting to apply to Yale, I do not care about what you think but I believe I have somewhat of a shot, even though its a low one, do not make this the focus of the question, I am being cautious because when I have shared my desire to attend a top university a lot of the pricks in the other sections have shot down my dream and condemned me for my aspirations).</p>

<p>I already have a full ride scholarship to attend a local state University (tier 3).</p>

<p>Here are my questions</p>

<ol>
<li><p>If I do attend that tier 3 University for the first two years and do fantastic there, would it be possible for me to transfer to a top ranked University?</p></li>
<li><p>What should I do in college if I want to make sure that I get into a top ranked University for grad school (goal is Harvard, Yale or Stanford, nothing less)?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I feel that I belong at a top ranked university and that if I am given the chance, I could compete with the kids there. Do not deny it, people who graduate from those universities earn the high paying careers and I want that high paying career so I can provide my kids with opportunities that I never had growing up as a child.</p>

<p>You seem alot like me, you have that determination and you’re on a constant quest to get to a top school because you know that you can succeed there.
I’d say Stanford is a good option for you, if you don’t get in when you first apply it’ll be extremely difficult to transfer in so hopefully you did well on your SATs and you do great on 3 SAT Subject Tests, get strong teacher recommendations and write compelling essays. Good luck, but I don’t think Harvard or Yale are in the cards because they require you to be a near perfect student regardless of SAT scores and recommendations if you really want to go to them go to your local university and get a 4.0 for two years, involve yourself in A LOT of extracurriculars and write strong transfer essays. But thats such a high risk and a lot of pressure as every grade you get thats not an A lessens your chances</p>

<ol>
<li>Yes, but how possible depends on the uni.</li>
<li>Become a Putnam Fellow? Excel in everything you possibly can. Admission to HYP grad schools is far more competitive than undergrad admissions for these unis. </li>
</ol>

<p>OP, it’s admirable that you want to apply to HYPSC for transfer, but you need to remember that even if you do well in college, that is not a guarantee or even a good chance that you can transfer to a top school. I had come out of one of the countrys best hs in the top 5% of my class. while i attend a well ranked state school program, i am not sure if i can even transfer into nyu now(which was considered a safety in my old school along with usc). transferring is just that hard; you have to hope for the best while bracing for the absolute worst.
As for grad schools, they are a whole 'nother jungle that i’m still trying to figure out.</p>

<p>And I know Princeton and Yale don’t either.</p>

<p>Even if I cannot get into Stanford as a transfer I want to end up at a place like UCLA, University of Virginia, UNC Chapel Hill, Boston College, or Northwestern for my final two years of college. Money is a problem, because of the economic times, we are in a tight situation as a family and my parents say that if I can get into a top school for my final two years of undergrad, they will be willing to pay for some of it and they will let me take out the loans. I have known people who have gone to Harvard for grad school from places like UGA and Georgia State but they made the most of their experiences. </p>

<p>So basically I want to attend a highly respected undergrad university and then aim for the prestige when I attend grad school. Of course Harvard is my goal and I am not aiming for anything lower than that. My plan is to go to either med school or law school there and I am willing to work harder than anyone for it because I KNOW I belong.</p>

<p>Also it would be good to get out of Georgia for college if I do not get out right out of high school, HOPE Scholarship is the only reason I would want to stay in state.</p>

<p>UVA, UNC Chapel Hill, and Northwestern are all very reachable for you. Just excel in your first year or two of college, with both academics and also extracurricular involvement, and apply for either sophomore or junior transfer. If you do not retake your SATs, then you might have a better shot for junior transfer cause all of these schools take SATs into emphasis more for sophomore admissions. </p>

<p>I was a bit better student than you in terms of upward trend and overall cumulative GPA. I graduated at the Top 18% of my class, 3.75 UW GPA, 4.2 W GPA (12 Honors and 2 Advance Placements) and low SATs. I still got into Top 50 Schools for freshmen year like Maryland, UW-Seattle, waitlisted at UVA. However, I ended up at UMiami and excelled with a 3.86 GPA and tremendous honors/ extracurriculars. I applied for transfer to UNC-Chapel Hill and I’m there now, it’s great but very challenging, but I love it. I never ended up applying to Northwestern, Cornell, Emory, UPenn, UCLA, and Berkeley but I believe that I would’ve got into Northwestern, Emory, and Cornell for transfer if I chose. </p>

<p>If you want it, you can get it. Just tell yourself that, it creates a determination that motivates you to excel in your current situation and reach levels that may seem not possible right now. </p>

<p>Good luck</p>

<p>Bruins Jew. I go to a magnet school that only offers honors courses above so I have taken about 7 APs and the rest of my courses (I believe 16) have been honors so my GPA took a hit. Also adjusting to a new environment was an arduous task as well, as a kid who from pre-K to 7th grade was always either number 1 or number 2 in his class, I was around the wrong people when I moved to the deep south and that had an influence. I know I could have graduated valedictorian because my junior year I did better than most of the honor graduates…
Its just that, it was the first time I actually experienced getting bullied for being “different”, it didn’t happen in high school because the school I went to was competitive
and the kids were focused on grades but it happened a lot in public and in my neighborhood… Same kids even said crap to my parents… Guess “hicks” really are that bad.</p>

<p>The 1940 should go up to a 2100, I will take the SAT one more time to see if I can get the 2350 (I may take it during the summer) so that can handle itself. </p>

<p>Goal is to transfer to Columbia but I know that is a low probability and for grad I want a school like Harvard or Yale.</p>

<p>Also, this message was addressed to BruinsJEW. Congrats for getting into UNC, impressive and I wish you the best of luck with all things ahead. Thanks for your help!</p>

<p>I applaud your aspirations! Don’t let anyone tell you what your priorities should or should not be. Be true to yourself and do what you need to do to be satisfied in college. For me, that was going to an Ivy League school, and as dysfunctional as many thought that to be, it’s what I wanted and I don’t regret it one bit. Just my .02.</p>

<p>You’d want to transfer as a junior so as to minimize the effects of your high school grades, IMHO. Check out the Transfer 101 thread to get an idea of what you need to be dong to be a successful Ivy transfer. </p>

<p>There really aren’t any tricks to transferring to an Ivy. You need a great GPA, solid recommendations, and compelling essays (along with some serious ECs, but they are less important). Essentially, you’ll want to be Summa (i.e. 3.8 or above) all four semesters at your school to be optimally competitive. (Not a hard and fast rule by any means, but look at 3.7 as the lower bound of matriculating Ivy transfers. The closer to 4.0 you are, the more competitive you are, obviously, so just keep that in mind during your first year.) You need stellar recommendations and essays, so try to position yourself to do independent or seminar work with a professor (or two) who likes you and with whom you enjoy working.</p>

<p>Thanks wayward trojan. </p>

<p>Man, had my parents stayed in the Northeast I would have been an All A honor roll student and I would be aiming for Harvard and Yale…
The thought really depresses me, I had an unstable past and it is unfair that my parents moved down south, I hate life here and getting to the Northeast is my goal. I much rather attend a SUNY or CUNY over Emory and I am not even playing around with that statement.</p>

<p>I really want to make it possible so I get to live the rest of my 70 or 80 years of my life in the Northeast, I would even live in Albania rather than the Southeast, I don’t hate the region but living in this region is not for me. Of course by southeast I mean deep south (south carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi etc.)</p>

<p>Well thanks for the advice, I will aim for Columbia as a transfer and I will have some back ups. I heard from people who go to a lot of the tier 3 schools I have been accepted to that getting a 3.9 is not that difficult but that is because they came out of a difficult magnet school (which I attend).</p>

<p>Thank you everyone. Any further advice, feel free to message me or we can keep this thread going. People on this section are definitely nice people, unlike the people in the other sections.</p>

<p>So wait, they look heavily at your high GPA and everything when you transfer?</p>

<p>Hypothetically speaking: Say someone had a 3.0 GPA in high school but a 2300 SAT score, he went to college and in his first two years he had a 3.9</p>

<p>Would he be able to make it to a place like Columbia for transfer?</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Just a technical correction, Yale does accept a small number of transfers.</p>

<p>Yea, thanks I heard that on another thread. Someone from a different forum told me they didn’t.</p>

<p>Just for the record, President Obama transferred into Columbia after a few years at Occidental. Good Luck!</p>

<p>What is that supposed to mean? Is occidental a top 20 college?</p>

<p>It means that you can start low and climb your way up! Not that Occidental is not a fine university, but Columbia is at the TOP! You just have to work for it!</p>

<p>Thanks, well I have been accepted into Mercer, Augusta St, and Armstrong Atlantic.</p>

<p>Other schools I have applied to are Yale, UGA, University of Virginia (bad decision but too late now), Syracuse, James Madison, and Ohio State.</p>

<p>I applied to NYU as well.</p>

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<p>Yes, with good grades, it is possible to transfer to a top school. You will need to retake your SAT - 1940 is too low for Ivy transfers.</p>

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<p>Take rigorous coursework and do quality extracurriculars (research, student government, etc).</p>

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<p>It all depends on what you understand as “high paying”. If you mean above median income, then sure, going to a good school will help you with that. If you mean filthy rich, then your belief is misplaced.</p>

<p>You are overrating the undergraduate experience. You can get into a top grad school from any top 50 school / decent LAC. My brother went to Harvard from UCLA, his friend from UCI. Another person I know transferred to Brandeis from a community college and made it to Harvard med too (but she had a ridiculously good story). Another transferred from a low tier CSU to vanderbilt and went to MIT for grad. </p>

<p>So yes, it is in your best interest to transfer from the low-tier state school but ensuring your success is much more important than the prestige. If you manage to get into a top 10, I have no doubt that you will perform less than average that first semester as you transition. From the way it sounds, you want to mitigate your highschool record which means transferring in as a junior. It’s hard to gain connections needed for grad school applications while facing the pressure of a Stanford/Yale/Columbia transfer. Because let’s face it, those schools are damn hard and I don’t think the studies at a tier 3 university could compare. And if you go to a graduate school, your undergraduate will mean next to nothing.</p>

<p>And actually retaking the SATs might be more trouble than it’s worth. I retook and got the 24 but the admissions officers at Stanford said to just use my highschool test scores as I had only graduated a year and a half prior. But this may not be the same at other top schools.</p>

<p>Well I got back my new SAT score, and it was a 2190.</p>