<p>I'm a freshman at Cornell, choosing CU for it's combination of engineering and liberal arts education, but mistakenly not considering much else. The social life here is largely dominated by the greek system and disgusting frat parties. Many of the kids here just want to fit a state school stereotype, and then again many just lock themselves in their rooms and study. There are few in between. Just a depressing atmosphere really. Also, I am not probably changing to a premed track so I wish I applied to schools like amherst, columbia, swarthmore, UChic etc.</p>
<p>Will Columbia (CC) be any better as a transfer student? Will I find it hard to really feel connected with the university? Is it worth transferring?</p>
<p>I am also considering Penn and Stanford, although I think Stanford is a longshot. I am also unsure of whether to wait till I finish sophomore year to transfer. Anyway, I'm estimating my transfer chances to be about 20-30%, let me know what you think:</p>
<p>Stats: 2200 SAT (730 V 760 M), 4.0 HS GPA, 4.0 Cornell GPA (engineering) with 21 credits, average EC's for ivy leaguer, should be amazing essays + recommendation</p>
<p>Well firstly you cant study engineering at CC, only SEAS</p>
<p>The social life for both schools is somewhat the same tho so I can comment there. The Greek Scene here is negligent. Sometimes they have parties, sometimes they dont, but its really not important at all to be in one or go to them regularly. Most students go bar hopping, even in freshman year so there really is a disconnect with the campus and social life. I'm sure Denz, C2002, shraf, or someone else can elaborate on this.</p>
<p>a 4.0 from cornell engineering will probably get you into at least half the schools you are considering. if you thoroughly express your reasons for transferring, i don't see why stanford is considered a 'longshot.' and from the general feeling i got from columbia, adapting as a transfer student is probably more difficult. its a smaller school, with very little transfers. good luck.</p>
<p>I have a friend who transferred to Columbia (engineer) and he got along just fine with everyone else, even though he's the quite and studious type. It just depends on your personality. I don't think Columbia is a school where it's especially hard to get along with other students.</p>
<p>i am also applying to transfer out of cornell, for the same reason- the social life here is atrocious and there is no tangible connection with the university at all, so basically i completely agree with you. good luck- i will probably transfer out next year. is it harder to transfer for sophomore or senior positions?</p>