<p>S was accepted into school of engineering 2009 - went to Ivy instead, finding himself overwhelmed with the work and the fact that there is no curve/peers are superstars but still loves cs and wants to remain in engineering. At this point, he has a 2.1 is there any chance of transfer or should he just "gut it out" where he is?</p>
<p>That’s a really tough one. I’m a transfer, and from research I did before it seems like USC wants people to think that they look at GPAs all the same, regardless of the school. I don’t really believe that, because I’ve noticed a trend that people from universities can get away with lower GPA’s, whereas people from say a community college tend to have very high ones.</p>
<p>I’ve honestly never heard of a case in which a 2.1 was accepted though, so unless your son goes to Harvard or an equivalent, I’d say his chances are not favorable. I always say it’s worth applying though because you really never know if you’ll be the exception! Especially if he has crazy good ec’s/recs, etc. If he has a notable reason for a low GPA, I’d tell him to put that in the extra essay space, because they appreciate extenuating circumstances. I wouldn’t say anything along the lines of ,“____ University was too hard for me, so I want to go to USC!” though, because that’s probably a turn off.</p>
<p>Good Luck to your son :)</p>