I currently attend a fairly competitive school (Wake Forest University) and would like to transfer after my freshman year. My first few choices are Penn, NYU - Stern, Northwestern, and Marshall at USC. I fooled around first semester and finished with a 3.3 GPA, but this semester I aim to get a 3.8-3.9, which would bring my overall to around a 3.6. I graduated HS with a 3.7 and scores of 2200 and 32 on my SAT and ACT, respectively. In high school, I held numerous club leadership positions in clubs such as Amnesty International, JSA, and Model UN.
What do you guys think my chances of acceptance are to these four? Also do the upward trend in grades and/or prestige of the school I’m coming from help me?
PS
How is aid for transfer students? A big reason I need to leave wake is that I am paying close to 65k a year and it’s borderline impossible to maintain. I know NYU is even more expensive, but it’s my top choice (up there with Penn) in terms of schools where I’d be happiest.