<p>I am thinking about going to the University of Colorado Boulder for a year and then transferring to University of Miami, where I got rejected originally. I have many questions regarding how this would play out, however:
1) The average GPA for transfer students to UMiami currently is placed at a 3.3 but if I came from CUBoulder, will I have to have around a 3.6 to be competitive because CUBoulder is not as "prestigious"? (My HS GPA is a 2.99 but I had an upward trend throughout the year and had great EC. My SAT is an 1840.)
2) Based on experience you may have, do students who transfer tend to struggle socially and academically in their new schools? I want to go greek so I would have to refrain from doing so at my original school and wait until I transfer because you can not pledge a fraternity at two different schools.
3) CUBoulder is not the only school I have gotten into. I have gotten into Eckerd and UNCW (and am waiting on Tulane which is a reach, and Elon). Should I go to the easiest school possible my first year so I can get the highest GPA I can?</p>
<p>Any insight you can provide or help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>You should attend a college or university that you would be happy to stay at if your transfer application fails. That should be your first priority.</p>
<p>Once you are there, you should do your level best to pull in a 4.0 so that you can improve your chance of transferring to the institution that you are more interested in.</p>
<p>In order to transfer, you need good grades, and good LORs from your university professors. That needs to be your first priority. If you concentrate your energy on studying and cozying up to professors during your freshman year, you won’t have time left over to go through rush and pledge a frat.</p>
<p>Many students decide that they like where they are, and end up staying, and many apply for transfer but are rejected again (or the aid package is unaffordable). So should choose a place where you know you can be happy for all four years in case you end up in that kind of situation.</p>
<p>If you are interested in pledging a frat, consider focusing on frats that have houses on both campuses, and find out what the policies are about transferring membership from one location to another. In some cases that is possible.</p>
<p>Whether you are a happy transfer or a miserable transfer is mostly up to you. I have not heard one word of complaint about the transfer experience from Happykid or any of her CC-to-state-U pals. But then again they are a naturally cheerful bunch.</p>
<p>I don’t think that’s what @happymomof1 is saying at all; I would think that University of Miami would have reasonable transfer probability provided you did very well at Boulder or anywhere else for that matter. But I do completely agree of what she’s saying, you never know what’s going to happen with transferring so don’t put all your chips in one pile. Last year I had a 4.0 and I thought for sure I was going to transfer but I only got into a couple of the many schools I applied to and I didn’t get my financial aid awards back until September so I had to stay at my current university for at least another year. One thing I’ve learned through the whole transfer process is that you just can’t tell what’s going to happen and you really have to give the place you’re at a chance first before you transfer; who knows, it might end up being great for you. But if you do end up decide on transferring, make sure you do well and focus on school for however long you’re there and not to burn any bridges, which is why I completely agree with what @happymomoof1 was saying.</p>
<p>PS - I’m not quite sure what you mean of not CU not being as “prestigious”. I’m a Colorado native, went to a Boulder for like a week at the beginning of my freshman year before they accidentally cancelled all of my financial aid so I had to switch to another Colorado school. It’s a very solid school, I’m pretty sure it’s considered a public Ivy, and all my friends there love it (which is a considerable amount).</p>