Hello, I am currently a student at Penn State attending my third semester. I received a 3.95 over my past two semesters and am looking on track to receive a 4.0 GPA this semester.
I am very interested in transferring and wondering what my chances would be getting into good schools / how good of schools I could get into.
My financial situation has significantly improved since applying for college in HS. I would also like to attend an institution where I feel like I am learning the most information I possibly can for my Computer Science major, and feel as though Penn State is not providing enough.
I also received a 33 on my ACT in HS.
I also work two jobs currently and participate around campus.
I will have around 60 credits by the end of this semester and plan to take about 15 more next semester at PSU.
Schools I am interested in - UCLA, UC Berkeley, UPenn, Cornell, Duke, Cal tec, Carnegie Mellon, mostly all top computer science schools.
I have researched time and time again, feeling as though I always come to a dead end somewhere. Is there any shot for me to be accepted into one of these premier schools? Is there even a point in applying?
Any help / advice would be gratefully appreciated.
You can find T20 transfer acceptance rates by doing a Google search. Keep in mind that some T20s that are need-blind for freshmen are need-aware for transfers, so make sure to check each school’s admissions website. There may be credit limits or semester limits for transfer students.
Why are you interested in transferring, other than for “prestige?” Are there specific opportunities or resources available at these schools that aren’t available at Penn State? These are the kinds of questions Admissions Officers will be looking for you to answer.
The problem with just looking at the acceptance rates is that I have no idea what the applicants have achieved at their college before applying to transfer. This leaves me in the dark to whether I have a shot of being accepted or not.
My interest in transferring is because of the limited amount of research opportunities given by Penn State. Penn State focuses a lot of their computer science department to areas that I have no particular interest in. I also feel as though the courses at Penn State are too basic and I am just coasting through not being completely prepared for jobs in the CS field. As the CS field continues to become more competitive every single year this is becoming more and more concerning.
California community college students have priority in UC transfer admissions.
There is no need-based financial aid for non-California resident students at UCs, except for some reach-level merit scholarships that adjust the award by need. Other large merit scholarships are reaches.
Where would the money come from to “fork up”? You can only borrow the standard federal student loans on your own. Any more than that will need a co-signer.
You need to dig more deeply into the specific offerings at the places on your list, and see if their research teams are working on things that interest you and if the topics offered in upper-level courses in the major are what you want to cover. That will thin your list down a bit.
Sit down with your parents and run the Net Price Calculators at each website. Does it look like a place can be made affordable? If not, save that application fee.
I’m sorry if it did not come across clearly, but I have had these conversations. Each place would be affordable without taking loans so I am all good on that aspect.
The UC’s are partially funded by California taxpayers, which give instate students the advantage in admission. California Community college students have transfer admission priority.
You need 60 college units to transfer. You also need to pay full fees of $65K per year. There is NO funding for non-residents.
The requirements involve courses taken in college and not so much AP units.: