Question regarding transfers

<p>I got rejected from Ivy League and good universities such as Duke. SO it looks like I will have to settle for University of Michigan. Which is not too good to tell you the truth. Not only don't I have financial aid, but I didn't even get into the top 20 universities. I am also waitlisted in Williams, but as an international I doubt I will get in. Even if I do, red tape and time constraints will make it impossible for me to enroll in Williams. </p>

<p>Anyways, I was wondering how competitive is the transfer pool for universities like Duke and the Ivy League? As in understand, even places like Harvard and Stanford do have a small pool of dropouts consisting of people like Bill Gates and Sergey Brin. So the administartion has to replace them. But that would mean that the transfer places are exceptionally, something like 2000 people applying for 20 places? </p>

<p>So my question is, is there any point in trying to transfer to an Ivy League class school from somewhere like the Univserity of Michigan. Or should I just relax and make the most of my time in Michigan? The weather won't bother me as I am from Russia and I am sure I'll be able to find people that share my interests in such a large Uni.</p>

<p>You have no reason to complain, buddy. UMichigan is one of the best schools in America. You essentially get the elite education without the pricetag of an Ivy (even with no financial aid, it's still a great deal).</p>

<p>I'd say it's best that give it a chance first. If you still don't like it, then there's always the option to transfer. But some schools, especially Duke, do not accept very many transfers.</p>

<p>Best of luck :)</p>

<p>Transfering is not easy, as you said yourself.
Many of the Ivy League schools take under 10% of transfer applicants, especially Yale, Columbia and Harvard.</p>

<p>On the other hand, a number of schools are not as difficult to transfer into, such as Brown, Cornell and UPenn.
While not easy, it certainly isn't possible to transfer into any of these schools, especially the latter three.</p>

<p>You should definitely try to enjoy your time at UMich, which is a fine school.</p>

<p>If you want to transfer, you'll want to:
1) keep your grades as high as possible (mostly A's, etc.)
2) Get involved in Community Service, Clubs, activities and/or sports teams.
3) Think about your reasons to transfer, besides "I want a 'better' school", because the reason for transfering is an important part of the transfer application
4) Try and find professors whose courses you would greatly enjoy, do well in those courses, and make an impression on that professor. A strong recommendation from a professor is never bad.</p>

<p>If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.</p>

<p>Hmm, yeah I probably will try and get as high grades as possible and the rest. 10% acceptance rates? not bad! But how are so many places avaiable for transfer students? I would have thought that transfering would be next to impossible. Or do the Ivies keep extra space for transfer student? I mean who would drop out of an Ivy League School? </p>

<p>I'll have to make sure I stay light on the drugs/parties.</p>

<p>Reminds of something my dad told me. "Forget about parties and having fun, you need to get good grades to transfer." and I was thinking: "Yeah right, no way am I wasting my college only on studies."</p>

<p>it's well below 10%.
I think harvard is approx. 6-8%, Yale and Columbia are a little lower.
For example, Harvard may have about 40-80 spots in a given year, and around 1000 applicants.</p>

<p>you can check collegeboard.com for more detailed percentages from each school.</p>