<p>Would it be idiotic to purposely take classes that you knew wouldn't transfer, so you could spend more time at your future school? Doesn't mean I would avoid your basic english and math/science classes. I'm talking about mainly electives. A main concern of mine is if I transferred to a school as a junior, my 2 years at the school wouldn't be sufficient enough to properly establish contacts with professors for rec letters and research opportunites. I'd be behind students who initiated this process when they were freshmen. Internship opportunites may be limited. Another concern is if whether or not I'd be able to study abroad for a semester or a year; something I've yearned for as back as grade school. Socially speaking, many students already have their "niche" by the time they are juniors and penetrating it would be nearly impossible. In summary, am I crazy for even considering such a thing?</p>
<p>I completely understand where you are coming from! I would love to start over and spend 4 years at my dream school.</p>
<p>I think purposefully taking classes that won’t transfer is a bad idea. There are several reasons why a course won’t transfer. First, your future school may not offer an equivalent course. Another reason is that you took a course that is considered to be too easy. You don’t want to take courses that are too easy, because they will weaken your application overall. In the former case is a much bigger gray area. If the course you take is a high level course in a subject that you are personally interested in, then by all means take that course! Unique, “one-of-a-kind” courses look great on an application, it shows that you know how to take advantage of your current school’s hidden gems. For the most part, adcoms are going to read course descriptions so having an interesting course name is definitely a benefit. </p>
<p>To summarize the above, if you want to extend your stay at your future school, do so by taking advantage of your current school’s unique course offerings. </p>
<p>However most schools don’t make you graduate in four years. Even if you get full credit for your previous work, you could easily plan out adding an extra semester or two (if you can afford both the time and the money.) </p>
<p>Don’t worry about it too much, focus on doing well at your current school. Once you are attending your future school, then start delaying (by taking non-major courses)</p>