I am a sophomore in a cuny 4 year school in nyc and I will like to transfer to stanford or cornell for computer science for the fall semester of my junior year in college. I have a high gpa but I know that getting in might still not happen. Even if I get in will it be possible for me to transfer all my credits and will I still be able to finish college in 4 years.
In general it is extremely difficult to transfer into top colleges. If you google the common data set you will see that Stanford accepted .9% of transfer applicants. Cornell is higher at about 13% but that number includes people who were offered guaranteed transfers before freshman year. IMO you will need more than a strong GPA to be a viable candidate. You can look into things like internships, becoming a leader in activities, doing research with professors etc. to try to stand out from a very competitive and well qualified crowd.
In terms of what/how many credits will be accepted that will have to be determined by each college once you are admitted and they review your transcript.
You will also need to consider affordability as merit aid is very hard to come by for transfer students at most colleges.
You can certainly apply. As @happy1 says transferring into the top ranked programs is very difficult.
If you can maintain a high GPA as an undergraduate student, and also if you can get good work experience, then another option that is more likely to succeed is to get your bachelor’s where you are, and then apply to a higher ranked university for a master’s degree. Stanford at least has quite a few very good master’s programs. When I got my master’s there, the other students in the same program had come from a very wide range of undergraduate schools. Quite a few (including me) had worked for at least a year and often longer after getting their bachelor’s before applying to a master’s program.
Make sure you apply to the SUNYs as well…they will be a good price and will take the most of your credits.
1 Like