To Transfer Or Not To Transfer? YOU Can Help Me Decide!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>So I'm a sophomore here at UW-Madison. I like it for the most part I suppose. I have my problems with it though, with the latest being the registering process. I didn't have any APs in high school, and at Madison that means you'll get absolutely screwed twice a year since registering depends solely on amount of credits. Combine that with a drastic lack of seats in many classes, and you can see where problems arise. I've sucked it up and gotten through registering for my first three semesters, but I can't deal with this anymore. Due to this process, I'm unable to do the major I've planned my entire college life around. That was the final straw; that plus my Christian beliefs clashing with the constant party culture here plus my freshman girlfriend of two years cheating on me back in September, and I really feel like I need a fresh start.</p>

<p>There was the end of my rant against Madison. Now on to better thoughts. I loved Cornell back in high school, but didn't apply since I didn't have any SATII scores. I came from a very small high school (~125 in the whole school) and maybe 0-2 students per year would get in to Madison, and that was the top school anyone ever attended. So the whole Ivy League/top tier application thing was something I had to figure out all by myself. Long story short, I didn't even know about SATIIs until fall of senior year. I ended up waitlisted at Brown, Penn, Vandy, Notre Dame, and Northwestern. I was accepted at Wake Forest and Madison. Madison was far cheaper since it was in state, so I chose there.</p>

<p>On to statistics:</p>

<p>High School</p>

<p>GPA = 4.0 (unweighted)</p>

<p>Class Rank = 1 of 38</p>

<p>ACT = 33</p>

<p>Sports = CC (4 years varsity), basketball (3 years varsity, 1 year JV), baseball (3 years varsity, 1 year JV...also pitched a perfect game w/ 16 strikeouts my senior year)
Other Stuff = NHS, state solo ensemble X2, 1st chair clarinet all 4 years, calculus club, very involved with church activities, probably more things I can't remember</p>

<p>College (UW-Madison)</p>

<p>Major/interests = Biology or MMI, pre-med</p>

<p>GPA = if A in o-chem this semester, then 3.75 if AB, then 3.715</p>

<p>Essays = haven't started, but will be very strong. Writing is one of my primary strengths.</p>

<p>ECs/Other stuff = will be doing research on prostate cancer next semester and probably over the summer. Trained for a marathon over last summer and ran it in August. Worked a janitor job last semester and had a summer job back at home. Volunteer at the UW Hospital once a week in the cardiac inpatient unit. Very involved with church and religion; I'm in a "training group" that is a bible study but also trains in biblical leadership and manhood. Again, more things I'm probably forgetting at the moment.</p>

<p>Recs = Every class has been a giant lecture, so haven't gotten to know professors. Will get a decent letter from a TA this semester, and should get a good letter from Dr. Ricke, who is the dude I'm working with on my research.</p>

<p>Would I be competitive for transfer to Cornell? Should I try or just stick it out here at Madison?</p>

2

<p>The longer you stay at Madison, the more credits you will have accumulated, the less your current issue with it will be relevant. Seems like you have endured the worst of it already.</p>

3

<p>I dunno if you’re switching for the right reasons.
GF issue will go away, no use running away from it.</p>

<p>IMO if you want to do med school and youve already done some time where you are, you should probably stay and save the money for an ivy med program.</p>

4

<p>@passtheducttape - GF really has nothing to do with it. It was just another small thing that happened. Doesn’t really have any bearing on why I’d transfer. My main reasons for wanting to transfer are 1) Cornell fits my personality a lot better than Madison does and 2) I loved Cornell from way back in high school, but couldn’t apply due to no SATIIs. The other things I’ve mentioned are small.</p>

<p>@monydad - It would seem that way, but everyone else is accumulating credits as well. I have a feeling I’m going to run into big problems when single lecture classes I need for my major are completely full and I have nothing to take…and having this happen for the next 5 semesters.</p>

5

<p>there are lots of parties at Cornell…so while I think there is good religious life and lots of good groups for you to be a part of, you will still run into a lot of things that will clash with your beliefs. I think this is just something you will encounter at any college without a strong religious affiliation.</p>

6

<p>Well of course. But I can guarantee you Cornell’s “party culture” is nothing like the one I’m surrounded by at Madison.</p>

7

<p>but as you keep completing semesters, won’t you have preference to sign up for your classes? So you should be getting more of the classes you want because you eventually are only competing with fewer people…anyways, in the end, the random dudes you meet on CC can’t help you decide, its up to you and your family. if you feel its best to apply, then do so…it shouldn’t be the case that we persuade you either way! good luck – keep us posted as to your decision =]</p>

8

<p>I will have more credits, but everyone else will as well. Getting the classes I need for my major will be very difficult, just because everyone else taking them will still have more credits than me and will register before me. I mean, that’s one of my reasons for wanting to transfer, but obviously I’ve been doing a lot of self-reflecting in the last couple days as well. I feel like Cornell and a couple other schools fit my personality better than Madison; I feel I’d be happier there than I am here (not that I’m even close to being depressed here…but you know what I mean). I talked to my parents and they support my decisions - I’m most likely going to put in transfer apps and if I get accepted, we’ll look at the financial side of everything and make a decision from there.</p>

<p>Anyone want to comment on my chances of acceptance?</p>

<p>Also, thanks for the responses and advice from everyone so far!</p>

9

<p>“I will have more credits, but everyone else will as well.”</p>

<p>??? who is “everyone else”? Don’t people graduate at that university, and get replaced with new people who have no credits?? Or do they just stay there forever?</p>

<p>By the time you are a senior won’t you have accumulated more credits than essentially all freshmen and sophomores, most juniors, and virtually the same amount as many other seniors (some of the ones with tons of advance credits may graduate early)? Leaving only a minority of people with higher priority than you will have at that point? </p>

<p>If it would make that much difference you could possibly take some summer classes at a community college or something to bulk up your credit totals.</p>

10

<p>@monydad - You can’t graduate until you finish all your required classes. Look at my roommates; both of them have 130+ credits and they’re only three semester in to college, just like me. One is going to take five years to graduate, though, because of all the classes he needs for his major. It’s the same with my major - there are a lot of classes that a person needs to take, so even if you have a boatload of credits, it doesn’t mean you can graduate early…</p>

<p>Also, I already planned on taking summer classes here at Madison.</p>

11

<p>Because a lot of my major classes are cross-listed and apply to other majors as well; they fill up quickly.</p>

<p>And AP classes? Both my roommates came in with 70+ AP credits. They haven’t taken 130 credits towards their majors. Obviously. One is majoring in computer science, the other in biomedical engineering. It makes plenty of sense.</p>

12

<p>I haven’t talked to my roommate in a while about majors/classes and stuff, but I think all he really took in high school for comp sci was AP java. I think <em>one</em> of the reasons he is going to take five years is because he originally was planning on actuarial science, but switched officially to comp sci this year. The other roommate said with BME, it will take him four years no matter what.</p>

<p>Also, for my major at least (MMI), at the end of your third semester you have apply for it. You take an intro class fourth semester, but you officially start “major courses” at the beginning of junior year. I can’t get the intro class next semester because it’s full and with a long waitlist, and I can’t take 2nd semester bio and 2 semester o-chem at the same time because the only lecture without long waiting lists are at identical times. Hence my scheduling problems.</p>

13

<p>Me? I’ll be around 130ish. My roommates will probably be about 200 or so when they graduate. I need 57 credits for my major. I don’t know about my roommates because they’re both at class at the moment.</p>

14

<p>Cornell is a great place. I think you should apply to a bunch of schools. See what happens and then decide. Don’t spend time worrying about the final decision now. As far as recs, maybe you could get one from your employer or research advisor. Are you planning for CALS or CAS or HumEc? Warning though, Cornell can be tough about taking transfer credits and classes are crowded here too, although almost always things work out. If you get an A in orgo that would really help. Look at the common data set, I think Cornell takes a fair number of transfers. </p>

<p>I know how you feel about your high school. Mine was like that too. Really limited options.</p>

15

<p>Thanks for the advice Lindz812, that’s pretty much exactly my attitude right now. Just put out a few apps and see what happens. I’m probably going to apply to Cornell, Vandy, and Brown. If I get accepted, it’ll come down to financial aid. My family makes less than $120K so Cornell’s aid looks like it’ll be great, but we’ll see for sure later this spring. I have a TA for my writing class who is going to do one rec, and I’m depending on the doctor I’ll be doing research with for a second rec. Oh, and I’m planning on CALS.</p>