Hello
I have accepted my offer to study undergraduate Astrophysics at UCLA beginning Fall 2017.
I was wondering if I should transfer to University of Chicago, Cornell, Columbia, or Pennsylvania.
I have no problem with starting in a new college with new people.
Thanks!
Please help me as I am really confused whether I made the right choice or not.
You haven’t even started and you already want to transfer?
Did you apply to the schools you are considering transferring to?
Why do you think you didn’t make the right choice?
I applied to Cornell and Columbia but was placed on wait-list.
I am an international student. I wanted to get in one of the top 10 universities because I was told that it would help with placement during graduate studies for MS and PhD. I don’t know if UCLA will offer the same opportunities and I am worried if I am making the right choice because of this.
American colleges don’t “place” their students into graduate school programs.
You (the student) need to apply.
For PhD program admissions, important factors can include your GPA, GRE scores, the maturity of your research interests, and how well those interests align with those of prospective faculty mentors. The undergraduate “brand” per se (whether you apply from UCLA or from one of the others you mention) probably will make little or no difference.
A recommendation from an especially respected advisor/professor might make a difference (if all other criteria are met) but you’re not necessarily more likely to get that at other schools than at UCLA.
I’ve known students accepted to first rate PhD programs who graduated from colleges much less prestigious than UCLA. I’m thinking of one brilliant young physicist who was turned down by one tip-top program but accepted by another. It apparently had nothing to do with his college brand and everything to do with his research interests, which were not supported well in both programs. The application process evidently involved honest conversations about who could best meet his needs.
If the sole purpose of transferring is to go to a more prestigious school in hopes that it will help you get into a more prestigious graduate program, then you should just stay at UCLA. There is no reason that you can’t get accepted into a prestigious graduate program after attending (and doing very well at) UCLA. UCLA is a well-respected university and attending there will not put you at any disadvantage when it comes to applying to graduate school.
In general I think it is a terrible idea to start one college with the intent of transferring out. This will stand in the way of your making meaningful friendships, developing relationships with professors, and getting involved on campus. Then if your transfer doesn’t work out as planned you will be really stuck. I’d go to the college you enrolled in with the intent of staying all four years. Also keep in mind that being a transfer student is difficult as many friendships are formed during freshman year, most students will already have the lay of the land at the school you are transferring into etc.
If you decide to throw in a couple of transfer applications that is fine but I absolutely wouldn’t focus on them – the odds of transferring into any of the schools you listed are extremely small. If you excel at UCLA can get you anywhere you want to go in life.
Thanks to everyone for helping me out!
International students consistently overrate the importance of “brand name” in the US system. Maybe in your country the university name is of overriding importance, but it doesn’t work like that here.
For US graduate schools, the most important thing is not where you went to school – but what you accomplish there. If you do well at UCLA (e.g. get good grades, get involved in some research), and have high GRE scores (which is up to you, not your school), then you will be a strong candidate for admission at any astrophysics graduate program in the country.
Huge state schools like UCLA do have one possible disadvantage: it can be difficult to stand out, because of the high number of undergraduates. However, this should not be a problem in astrophysics: College Navigator says that UCLA only issued 12 bachelor’s degrees in astrophysics in 2015-2016. And it looks like the UCLA astrophysics program has a lot of faculty and a lot of resources, so the opportunities for those few undergraduates could be very good.