<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I will be attending Arizona State University this fall to major in Bioengineering (or Biomed Engg. whichever you prefer). However, my decision to attend ASU was due to some personal circumstances (we moved, parents got divorced etc.) that really affected my senior year in High School. Don't get me wrong, my grades didn't fall and my participation also didn't slacken, but due to the complicated family problems and personal problems I faced, I applied to very few colleges and ASU because it was my state college. I got waitlisted at JHU and Brown (anyway, I'm counting those as rejections as neither have offered me admission by now...) and accepted at ASU.</p>
<p>Although I feel extremely fortunate that even with everything that has happened, I was admitted to a good program (ASU's BioE ranks 20th) I would like to transfer after my Freshman year. It's not that I won't be happy at ASU, I just want to aim a litte higher. I had a few colleges in mind that I never even applied to, for example, UCSD and UCLA. Could anyone offer any suggestions?
I have a SAT I of 2250 (/2400)
or in the old system (Verbal and Quant.) 1520 (/1600)
Class ranking in the top 3% of my graduating class
and a lot of research experience.</p>
<p>I know that I can put in the work to get a good GPA in college (hopefully 3.5 above) and I am already planning on joining several clubs/seminar programs/internships (if possible) at ASU. Do you think that I might be able to transfer to one of the UC colleges? Or maybe, Columbia (I am a BIG fan of the college and I've always wanted to attend. My mom also graduated from there.)?</p>
<p>I would really appreciate it if anyone could help me. Thanks.</p>
<p>JS</p>