What are the chances of being accepted ED if on the wait list and applied RD after a year at an excellent engineering program at a state school?
Huh?
My darn iPad changed my words.
Chances of transferring next year if not taken off of waitlist?
Transfer rates for all of the hyper-elite schools is very low. I don’t know the numbers exactly, but they generally only take a handful of transfers each year. The worst part is that the financial aid budgets for transfers is limited.
So if you don’t get in off of the waitlist, best to simply move on and place a deposit at another college. If in a years time you are still interested in transferring, no harm in applying as a transfer. But statistically the chances of getting in as a transfer are even lower than as an incoming freshman.
I see that you’re interested in engineering. This changes things quite a bit. Columbia has agreements in place with several dozen liberal arts colleges for a 3-2 degree. You get a bachelors degree from your first college in 3 years, then spend 2 years at Columbia doing engineering. At the end of the 5 years, you have two bachelors degrees. The requirements are listed on the website, but I remember seeing that they didn’t seem that hard.
Per the website https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/transfer Columbia accepts under 10% of transfer applicants. I imagine if you were not accepted as a freshman you would have to do something pretty great to get in as a sophomore.
In general I think it is a terrible idea to start one college with the intent of transferring out. This will stand in the way of your making meaningful friendships, developing relationships with professors, and getting involved on campus. Then if your transfer doesn’t work out as planned you will be really stuck. I’d go to the college you enrolled in with the intent of staying all four years. It is fine to throw in a couple of transfer applications but don’t count on it working out.
FWIW I’m also not a fan of the 3-2 degrees. You would have to really research it – typically very few people actually go on and finish it the engineering part of those programs it people often find it hard to leave a campus/friends etc. prior to graduation. It also takes and extra year to complete a 3-2 program and it is not always covered by the same type of aid all the way through.
Columbia’s transfer acceptance rate is about the same as their freshman year acceptance rate. I am a transfer myself, and while many of us had compelling reasons to transfer, I’d say that we are generally pretty similar to the rest of the student body!