<p>Next year, I am planning to apply to Bard college at Simon's Rock, a college designed for young students (I will be 16 when I attend Simon's). </p>
<p>I am just worried that by attending Simon's, I might hurt my chances of gaining admission to top American universities, such as Carnegie Mellon, Umich, Emory (Oxford campus) and USC.</p>
<p>So, is it possible to start college (from freshman) all over again after I transfer from Simon's. Would this increase my chance of gaining admission?</p>
<p>I don’t know about Simon’s in particular (it’s a different kind of place). But in general it’s a bad idea, in my opinion. For most of us, college is like life. You get one crack at it.</p>
<p>I usually refrain from expressing opinions on things which I know little about (and Simon’s Rock falls into that category). But the kids I know from my area who have gone there (admittedly a limited, unscientific sample) all had the reputation as being kids who were unable to fit in and do well at a more traditional school environment. Thus, I fear that you may be subjecting yourself to a negative stereotype. I’m not saying you shouldn’t go there–but I would investigate it very carefully. Caveat Emptor.</p>
<p>You couldn’t start over as a freshman. You would have to send your transcripts from school. People from SR go to top schools from all over, don’t worry.</p>
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Actually it will prevent you from gaining admission as a frosh. Once you’ve completed college classes after HS somewhere, you’re not a freshman applicant anywhere else. You’re a transfer applicant.</p>
<p>Also I agree with the earlier poster who spoke about the reputation of Simon’s Rock. I’ve heard and read similar sentiments, and suggest you investigate very carefully before enrolling.</p>
<p>Don’t know if this will help or not. I have never heard of the program you identified, but am assuming that it will award college credits.</p>
<p>1) When doing college tours with one of my kids, someone asked during an information session if they would be admitted as a freshman or a transfer student since they had already earned 24 college credits while in high school. The Admissions Officer of that school responded that every school is different and that they would treat the girl as a transfer student due to the number of credits she had earned. She would not be eligible for financial aid offered to incoming freshmen. My youngest is therefore researching every school’s admission practice where she intends to apply next year, since she will have nearly 24 Community College credits earned in high school by the time she goes to a four year college (D is using Community College to take many of the general ed prerequisites that were identified in her first choice schools). I strongly recommend that you call Admissions offices to find out how they will treat any credits that you have earned other than AP credits, since it might impact your financial aid eligibility.</p>
<p>2) One of my kids transferred to a university from another college. Some of the classes that were taken at college #1 needed to be retaken at college #2, simply because college #2’s program required certain classes in the major to be taken at their own school. This is potentially not cost-efficient.</p>
<p>3) The new school started a new GPA for the kid who transferred into another school and did not include grades earned in the first college. However, credits earned at the first school (just like my youngest’s community college credits) are factored into an overall GPA for graduate school applications. (This can obviously turn out to be a good or bad thing.)</p>