Transfer to Stanford from Harvard

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I'm a freshman at Harvard (and I know that the transfer app is closed for this year) and I'm thinking of transferring to Stanford. I've had a very unpleasant freshman year at Harvard, and it has affected general happiness and enjoyment of life. I feel that Harvard is too stuffy, too pretentious, and just a horrible fit for me. Plain and simple, I don't like it here.</p>

<p>I'm really grateful for the opportunities that I have been given, but it's just that I just don't feel like I belong here. </p>

<p>Any recommendations on what to do? I visited Stanford a few months ago, and I really enjoyed it (especially the weather...the weather here in Cambridge is just terrible). </p>

<p>Here are my stats:
"Concentration"/Major= Engineering Sciences (ElectroMechanical Engineering), Pre-Med
College GPA= 2.67 (I made the mistake of taking too many difficult courses my Freshman fall...)
HS GPA= 4.7
SAT= 2150
ACT= 35
MathII=800 Chem=780 US History= 760 Spanish= 690</p>

2

<p>^I’m really sorry and shocked that you feel that way…I mean when people say “Oh, I got into Harvard” you generally assume that his/her life is set.
I could never comprehend someone having a bad time at Harvard…</p>

<p>That said, you can definitely try for a transfer, but (I hate to say it) I don’t think you should count on it.
Transfer admission to Stanford is MORE competitive than freshman admission to Stanford. That 2.67 GPA will really kill you.</p>

<p>Maybe you can wait for another year? Try some fantastic research with a prof and get him to write you a recommendation.
Maybe study abroad to get away from Harvard?
…
Or maybe just get used to Harvard?</p>

<p>I’m really sorry about your situation :/</p>

3

<p>First off, I’m sorry about your situation, and hope it works out for the best.</p>

<p>Could you go into a little more detail? I’m currently trying to decide between Harvard and Stanford for engineering, and both sides have been overwhelmingly positive. It would be nice to hear from someone who found Harvard to not be the right fit. Thanks.</p>

4

<p>rj42492,</p>

<p>Unlike the stereotypical engineer, I like to socialize, I like to talk to people, I enjoy company. I feel that at Harvard, people are generally unapproachable (unless you’re a legacy). Professors, with the exception of a few very amazingly inspiring and nurturing professors, are generally unapproachable. They are too full of themselves to care about how you’re doing in the class. </p>

<p>In addition, you have the super nerds here at Harvard, rubbing their 4.0’s in your face, and you have the pot-head IR/Gov/Econ majors, who are getting by with a 3.5 because the non-math/sciences are insanely grade-inflated. </p>

<p>The engineers and the applied sciences are extremely grade-deflated, and generally have very few offerings. There are “liberal” and “conservative” flavors of introductory economics, and a billion different forms of government, but there’s only 1 level of Applied Calculus and 1 level of Applied Linear Algebra/Diff EQ. Thus, this causes class sizes to be huge, and the grade spread, albeit large, will result in a negative curve that will HURT you.</p>

<p>Lastly, Harvard only has 4 tracks of engineering: Biomedical, Electrical, Mechanical, Materials. </p>

<p>Harvard has really done little to keep their engineers happy. I work twice as hard as my friend in Caltech (I mean, I performed much better than him in HS too…) and he’s still getting a much better GPA (partially due to their inflation on grades and lack of over-zealous Pre-Meds)</p>

5

<p>If you talk to the Caltech guys, they’ll tell you it’s pretty rough there and there’s no grade inflation.</p>

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<p>from time to time kids from HYP type schools get into stanford as a transfer student, but they are generally the exceptions. if you already go to a really good school its generally tough to make the case that you should transfer to stanford. also, not having a good college gpa will certainly make it near impossible.</p>

7

<p>Caltech has grade inflation and lighter workload? If that’s your viewpoint… wow, what does Harvard do to their engineers o.o</p>

<p>Best of luck to you in whatever you do from here on out.</p>

8

<p>It seems somewhat out of place to be both premed and engineering (Harvard, too!) at the same time. Have you thought about choosing a non-engineering major at Harvard? I’m surprised to hear that there’s only one math track at Harvard. Usually, there are at least 3 (non-majors, majors, engineering)</p>

9

<p>Perhaps you could cross reg at MIT if you’re looking for a wider variety of engineering classes and approachable people for the time being</p>

10

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>I work at Harvard (in engineering in fact). That you are posting to an anonymous message board about your difficult experiences during your freshman year is really troubling.</p>

<p>If you do not have sufficient resources from your current freshman adviser and your entire freshman advising team then you should immediately speak to the head of the advising office if not the dean of the College. Something is really wrong.</p>

<p>Moreover, as you are a freshman, technically you cannot be any concentration (including engineering). You do not declare until your sophomore year. Moreover, most students do not even take engineering courses until they are sophomores (as they need to get the general requirements in math and life sciences out of the way).</p>

<p>I simply cannot imagine what your course schedule must be like, because typically, you could only be enrolled in 1 engineering course this year (unless you tested out of the basic reqs, including a language). In any case, it sounds like you received bad advice when it came to choosing courses. That’s not a intractable problem, as you have three more years.</p>

<p>Further, Harvard does not have a pre-med track or major per se. Instead there is a guide to suggested pre-med courses. So again, you cannot be “pre-med.” Many students complete there pre-med courses over the summer (and not at Harvard).</p>

<p>If you want to do both engineering and complete pre-med reqs, then bioengineering is the typical path (and that works out well for most students). It is designed to accommodate both.</p>

<p>As for math offerings, unless I am mistaken, between engineering, cs and applied math, there is a huge variety (and numerous tracks in math — more so than almost any other institution that I know of).</p>

<p>I am sorry you are having such a difficult time. If you plan to stay, then let me know and I will be happy to point you to excellent resources and people who can help you sort through your options for your sophomore year. </p>

<p>And keep in mind, you are not wedded to any particular concentration and are part of the broader College. I’ve been here for nearly a decade (and been advising freshman for 5 years) and my experiences with Harvard students and faculty are the complete opposite of yours (but I fully admit, I have my own biases given my role).</p>

<p>As for “Harvard has really done little to keep their engineers happy” … let us know how we can do a better job. Everyone here and the dean takes community building very <em>very</em> seriously.</p>

11

<p>Stanford is just as good as Harvard in every department pretty much. At least ranked the same, but somehow not on the composite rankings.The school has pretty much everything you could possibly want. I see no negatives.
I’m a senior in high school now. Stanford was my first choice but i didn’t get in :(. I refused to apply to Harvard because I felt it was extremely pretentious and I was already being treated like s*** by the admissions people.
I got into Princeton and Wharton, but Stanford still holds a special place in my heart</p>

12

<p>Honestly, you guys are revering stanford like it’s some sacred object. I got into stanford, harvard, princeton, etc, and visited ALL of them. Yes, stanford’s campus was nice, but for me, it lacked something that the ivy league campuses had. Princeton is like a castle, people dream of having their weddings there. Students propose to each other in the restaurant of Nassau Inn. It’s like living in a fairy tale. Harvard is similar, although the campus itself is not as grand. But both still have that prestige feel to them. </p>

<p>Maybe I am biased because I’ve spent a lot of time on the west coast. But to east coast people, the general feeling seems to be that the grass is always greener on the other side, aka the west coast and ■■■■ california. California is full of traffic, dirty, has non-cultured people, illegal aliens, etc. The weather, regardless of how nice it is, is bad for your skin and gets boring after a while. I think snow is pretty. I like having four seasons. I would trade california for the east coast in a second. </p>

<p>to the OP: enjoy harvard, most people at stanford would LOVE to go to harvard, than vise versa. </p>

<p>Just my two cents.</p>

13

<p>iCalculus is a poor parody of a Harvard ■■■■■.</p>

<p>Here are just two recent examples of his (unintelligent attempts at) ■■■■■■■■ for H:</p>

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/167573-mit-cheap-go-harvard-stanford-5.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/167573-mit-cheap-go-harvard-stanford-5.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/918034-choosing-berkeley-over-harvard-bad-idea-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/918034-choosing-berkeley-over-harvard-bad-idea-2.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Talk about fair market value.</p>

14

<p>Ok, yes, but I picked Princeton.</p>

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<p>That’s what I meant by “poor parody.”</p>

16

<p>I don’t get it. I would definately pick Harvard over Berkeley.</p>

17

<p>To the OP, I’ve know other people who have gone to Harvard and didn’t like it. If you are not happy then you should transfer but it doesn’t have to be to Stanford. I say this only because at this point Stanford is very difficult to transfer into. I think being at Harvard should give you some leverage. What about CalTech, since you mentioned having some friends there? If you want to be on the West Coast there is also Harvey Mudd or Pomona.</p>

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<p>iCalculus, you really don’t get it, as you say. Berkeley is, like Stanford, entirely superior to Harvard for engineering. And while I almost never call out other posters as ■■■■■■, you do seem inclined to groundless, inconsistent posts.</p>

<p>OP, Pea is right that transferring into Stanford is an extreme long shot these days, and with your GPA that is probably even more true in your case. I don’t know that Caltech or Mudd would take a close look either with your current GPA, though you might be able to point out that you received inadequate/poor advising at Harvard–it sure sounds like it. :frowning: Maybe you can get some better advising, show a sharp upward trend in grades during the next term, and then consider transferring? I hope everything turns out well for you.</p>

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<p>Yes, iamtbh you are right. iCalculus is a CC ■■■■■. He makes ludicrous statements to evoke a response. I’ll bite.</p>

<p>Quote, “Princeton is like a castle, people dream of having their weddings there.”</p>

<pre><code>…Princeton is in New Jersey, in the middle of an industrial park.
</code></pre>

<p>Quote, “It’s (referring to Princeton) like living in a fairy tale.”</p>

<pre><code>…I might agree with this. In the middle of winter with snow-storms and freezing rain, one could envision the Princeton landscape as being similar to the setting in Steven Moffat’s dark fairy tale, the Beast Below.
</code></pre>

<p>Quote, “California…has non-cultured people…”</p>

<pre><code>…This statement says more about iCalculus than it does about California.
</code></pre>

<p>Quote, “I think snow is pretty.”</p>

<pre><code>…Let’s take a poll of how many people want to walk to class bundled up in boots, gloves, and layers of clothes in bitterly cold, wind-driven snow versus how many people want to go to class in shorts and sandals.
</code></pre>

<p>Now that I have responded to the ■■■■■, I would like to add (in a more serious tone) that Princeton and all Ivy League schools are fantastic schools and so is Stanford. </p>

<p>To the OP: It is really difficult to transfer into Stanford. I have read stories in the Stanford Daily of some transfers. One of their common characteristics seemed to be that they were unique people chosen to diversify the student population. If you still want to apply, my advice would be to focus your essay on how you are different from the average applicant.</p>

20

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<p>Yeah no, it’s not.</p>