Transfering from Community College???

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Hi guys</p>

<p>Im a high school sophomore and Im comtemplating the decision of getting dual enrollment. However, is that a smart thing to do if I want to transfer into Harvard? </p>

<p>So far...
- Get straight A's
- Take honors, AP's and online courses.
- Within the top 10%
- Speak English, Spanish and Latin.
- GPA: 4.1
- FBLA, National Junior Classical League, Latin Honor Society, Political Awareness Comittee.</p>

<p>I know I could either stay in my high school and get all AP's or finish my first two years of college PLUS AP's by the time I graduate... Thing is that since its a community college would that make it harder? Cause I dont know... I mean I guess a transfer from Brown has way more chances of getting in than a transfer of a community college simply because its a community college. But anyway, does anybody know more about this? Would it really matter that its a community college (no prestige)??? Which option would give me more chances?</p>

<p>Thank you SOOOO much for your help!</p>

2

<p>I think you are very smart to think about doing this!!!!</p>

<p>Consider these stories:</p>

<p>Using words such as "ashamed" and "appalled" to describe his reaction to the failure rates for students, Microsoft's co-founder called America's high schools broken, flawed and underfunded, and said the system itself is obsolete.</p>

<p><a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2002191433_gates27m.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2002191433_gates27m.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20060710/ai_n16524924%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20060710/ai_n16524924&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=348256%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=348256&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901779.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901779.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

3

<p>Hi, Metdeth. Here's my opinion.</p>

<p>In general, when people I know do things like this (try transferring credits, etc) it just ends up screwing them over because of beauracracy. I have a friend who took Calculus the summer before senior year at a non-flagship state university so that he could skip the class senior year. However, when he graduated high school and arrived at MIT, they wouldn't transfer the credits, so he had to retake calculus his freshman year of college.</p>

<p>I also have a friend who took a summer course at BU, and even though she ended up going to BU, they refused to transfer the credits from the summer because of some strange loophole.</p>

<p>If you've properly researched your choice it might not be a problem, but in my opinion it's a lot of work that doesn't really help you.</p>

<p>I'll also note that Harvard has an Advanced Standing program- if you take enough APs, you can enter as a sophomore. You can read more about this program here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.fas.harvard.edu/%7Efdo/publications/advancedstanding0607/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~fdo/publications/advancedstanding0607/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Here's an issue that I feel is far more important than logistics- you have the chance to go to college for four years- possibly a fantastic and highly enriching college. Why would you want to shorten it by taking classes at a community college for two years? You could get a better education if you waited and took those courses in a top tier college (be it Harvard, Yale, or any hundreds of other schools). I didn't even mention that transferring into school in junior year probably isn't much fun- you'd have to start from scratch socially while everyone else already has close-knit groups of friends. Don't become involved in some sort of race to complete as many credits as possible- it won't help your education.</p>

<p>What's more, it would almost certainly be far more difficult to transfer from community college- generally, when schools accept transfers into junior year, they pay attention to the quality of the college along with the applicant's strengths. It would definitely make it more difficult to get into Harvard, and if you did get in, it would be a less enjoyable experience.</p>

<p>The one exception is if finances are a significant concern. Transferring into a highly-ranked but expensive college can be a good strategy for getting a good diploma for much smaller investment (though Harvard does have a very generous financial aid system). If this isn't your reason for considering this option, though, I would really recommend against it.</p>

<p>The high school race towards getting more and more credits earlier and earlier is simply ridiculous- just do the best you can within your high school, and Harvard will recognize the way you challenged yourself. There's no need to finish college early- you won't be any better off graduating at 20 then you will at 22. In fact, you'd be worse off- the people in your year would be several years older than you, and you'd miss out on your chances to really enjoy college. There's not one good reason to take these college courses ahead of time, and every reason not to. </p>

<p>OK, my answer was disorganized and sloppy, but I hope you understand my point. I personally believe this would be a mistake from both an admissions strategy standpoint and a life standpoint. If you disagree, please keep discussing this with me (although it is of course ultimately your choice).</p>

4

<p>"I personally believe this would be a mistake from both an admissions strategy standpoint and a life standpoint."</p>

<p>I agree. Take community college classes as part of your HS curriculum for personal enrichment and to make high school more challenging. Then go to college, at age 18, for four years.</p>