I've decided to send in some transfer app, what should I do and where should I look?

Transfer Students
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<p>A few weeks ago, I posted a board saying that I was considering transferring out of USC. After thinking it over and talking with a few people, I have decided that I will be sending out a few applications next year. However, with that said, it is still not definite that I will choose to leave, even if I am accepted to other schools. I am currently a USC student from NJ who will be a sophomore this fall.</p>

<p>Here are my stats:
Majors: Business Administration (BS) (Marshall) and Sociology (BA) (CLAS)
1st semester GPA: 3.35
2nd semester GPA: 3.65
Summer Classes (At a CC, will not count towards USC GPA): 4.0 (Microecon & Intro to Sociology)
Based on my classes for next semester, my guess for my GPA this fall will be somewhere in the 3.7-4.0 range.
SAT: 610CR, 730M, 750W (1340/2090)
SAT2: 760 Math 2, 560 Bio, 640 Chem, 530 French
ACT: 33 (32 E, 34 M, 31 R, 35 S, 30 E/W, 9 Essay)
GPA: 4.22 (W)/4.3 (HS did some wacky calculation) (if anyone wants an explanation, I can explain in another post, lol)
GPA (UW) (recalculated for a 4.0 scale): 9: 3.68, 10: 2.94, 11: 3.42, 12: 3.78 (most classes were AP/Honors for all 4 years)
ECs: Treasurer of Invisible Children Club, Art Editor of Literary Magazine, Member of Concert Committee (planning), Member of an organization that creates a yearly networking event for freshmen; PLANNING: join 1 or 2 business clubs this fall</p>

<p>Now someone said that I needed to think about what bothers me about USC. With that said, these were the main points that I like or dislike.
1) I believe that USC is a bit to big for me, but I do not want a really small school either. I think the main problem is that the graduate population is larger than the undergraduate population and I would prefer a school that places a larger emphasis on undergrads.
2) I love the school pride and athletics, however, athletics are not something that I feel like I NEED. Although I do enjoy going to football games, that was really the only sporting events that I went to. However, I think the aspect of the football games that appeals to me is the actual "college experience" which seems to be lacking as the campus dies on the weekends other than football games.
3) Setting: While I do want a city (either in a city or easy access to a city), I realize LA is NOT for me. It's not an easy city to take advantage of without a car as public transportation sucks. I want to have a city that I can easily see many things without need for a car and that offers a wide variety of activities (entertainment, dining, etc).
4) Location: I think a major thing that did make this transition difficult was the distance. Preferably, I think I will want to go back to the east coast, or at the furthest the midwest. I realized that the only schools in CA that I might not be willing to go back to the east coast for are Stanford and Berkeley, and I think it is more for SF than CA. I do know that I do not want to be in LA anymore.
5) Academics: At the moment, my main emphasis on education is my business degree. Sociology was something I added on because I had the space to do it. Preferably, I'd like a school that would allow me to pursue both, but if not possible, then business would be my main concern.</p>

<p>With this lengthy post said, I was wondering if people could help with suggestions on what I can do before applications come to improve my chances. Also, I would love suggestions on where I should look. At the moment, NYU (Stern), Georgetown, Brown, and Columbia seem very appealing to me. However, I realize that I am not one of the most competitive applicants to these schools, so I am looking for other schools that I would stand a chance. With that said though, I do not think I will willing to necessarily sacrifice going to a significantly "lower" school that USC as I could "tough it out" if needed. Thank you so much for reading this and giving any advice you can!</p>

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<p>Were you at Marshall?</p>

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<p>Yes, I’m currently in Marshall. Well, and the College of Letters Arts and Sciences. But I applied as a business student to USC in high school and decided on a dual degree with sociology while I was actually AT USC.</p>

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<p>Maybe you can look to NYU as a mid-reach? Their business school, Stern, is top-notch.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I’m definitely interested in NYU Stern as I mentioned in my post. Unfortunately, I’m not sure of my chances as I was rejected out of HS when I thought I stood a very good chance (based on the past acceptances from my school).</p>

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<p>oh, sorry, I guess I missed that part. Have you looked into UTA?</p>

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<p>Hm I haven’t actually looked at UTA as such, though I have heard many good things about their business school. However, I’m just a bit paranoid that it’d have many of the same problems as USC that I listed before. Though, I could research it a bit I suppose, thanks for the suggestions btw :)</p>

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<p>Shameless bump, but any other schools to suggest or ideas on what I should do this coming year?</p>

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<p>Ok, my boards seems to have died again without much help, other than from grey_syntactics xD</p>

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<p>Some of these schools share some of the issues that you mentioned with USC, but I would recommend checking them out anyways.</p>

<p>University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Carnegie Mellon
UNC-Chapel Hill
Emory
University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign</p>

<p>All of these have top notch business schools and should be mid reaches/matches.</p>

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<p>Thanks Spin03, I will be sure to check into a few of those. Not sure if you’d know this, but since I’m from NJ, would I be at a serious disadvantage at those state schools? I know a lot of those are easier for OOS then say the UC’s, but besides that, I’m not really sure how being OOS would affect my chances at those schools (especially since their first priority will be CC students).</p>

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<p>akalboy, I’m from NJ as well and was actually thinking about transferring TO usc. I’m at penn state right now and the college atmosphere is great but honestly its just way too rural for me. I need to be IN something like manhattan, boston, DC, or even philly. and not 3+ hours away.</p>

<p>msg me (or just post here) with some info on USC specifically the Marshall biz school. can I transfer in as a junior and still be on par with the other kids?</p>

<p>oh and to answer your question. don’t forget to look in Boston. depending on how u did at USC, there’s alot of opportunities there.</p>

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<p>Yes, there are a lot of opportunities in Boston, but truthfully, the only ones “on par” or “better” than USC are probably Tufts, BC, Harvard, and MIT. 1 isn’t taking transfers, 1 I probably wouldn’t get into, and unfortunately the other 2 I visited when applying out of high school and wasn’t interested in them.</p>

<p>But on with your question about USC, define what you mean “on par” with the other kids. If you mean can you be academically competitive, I’m not positive (as I haven’t taken those upper level classes), but I’d assume so as many kids transfer in (whether from CCC or other 4 year colleges), so I’m sure you’d be able to if you apply yourself.</p>

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<p>Hm, help anyone else?</p>

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<p>Bump. Hoping someone can answer some questions and I can get further suggestions.</p>

<p>I reposted this on the Business Major board, as I figured that people there would know some good suggestions for me. However, it seems that I’m looking at is almost reasonable. At the time my applications will be reviewed, I’m guessing that I’ll most likely be around a 3.55-3.6 GPA. Will coming from USC help out in that my GPA isn’t the highest, but it’s coming from a respectable school? I know Columbia and Brown are competitive regardless, but even for NYU Stern and Georgetown (as well as many of the schools suggested), is that too low? If I’m really aiming too high, then I’m not sure if it’s worthwhile for me to go to a significantly “lower” school and maybe I should just exert my energy on other activities than on transfer applications.</p>

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<p>Anyone else have any other suggestions please?</p>

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<p>Shameless bump.</p>

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<p>Northwestern & Dartmouth for mid-reaches? I think Northwestern especially fits your preferences.</p>

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<p>Yeah, Northwestern actually looked like a school that had a lot of things I’m looking for. The one thing that I’m afraid of is that they don’t have a b-school (same with Dartmouth).</p>

<p>While I doubt Dartmouth would be a mid-reach, do you think NW would actually be a mid-reach? I realize they’re transfer friendly which helps, but haven’t done enough research into NW to know how difficult it is to get into as a transfer.</p>

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<p>If you can pull a GPA around 3.8-4.0 this Fall, I think NW could be a mid-reach.</p>