<p>Hi guys, so I just finished my freshmen year at Northeastern University with a GPA of 3.76. I'm currently in the business school. So i was thinking about transferring to an IVY or really any college that has a good business school but I have not done enough research on my own yet to really decide on which exactly (maybe you guys can help). I want to know my chances of getting into an IVY school or a more competitive business school if I plan on transferring out by the end of my sophomore year with a GPA of 3.7 or higher. I slacked in high school and have a GPA of 3.0-3.1 with an SAT score of 1890. I regret this but what's done is done, now I can only move on and focus with what I have now. I have been doing extracurricular activities at Northeastern like the rugby club and entrepreneurs club because I really enjoy them and I plan on being more committed to them during my second year. Do I have any hope for transferring with what I have now and what other things should I do to improve my chances? If you want more information feel free to ask as well.</p>
<p>With all due respect, because Ivy League universities take comparativly so few transfers – especially the one in your area – my sense is that you would have an extremely difficult time transfering from Northeastern. I would advise against it as an undergraduate. There are several compounding problems. You are currently enrolled in a comparatively “easier” school, but your GPA, even there, is simply not competitve for any Ivy. If you had a stellar GPA at Northeastern and had taken FULL advantage of all its resources, you could plausibly argue that a transfer is necessary because so early in your college career you had “maxed out” your current school’s potential. With this GPA probably no Ivy League school will see this as the case. Also, most Ivies are liberal arts institutions at the undergraduate level. With the clear exception of Penn’s Wharton School of Business, and perhaps a business major or minor here or there at one or two of the Ivies, most students do not go to the Ivy League for business degrees. You also have offered no COMPELLING reason why you should transfer. You have not said the education at Northeastern is bad, or that your academic needs are not being met there. You just seem to want to go to an Ivy because it is an Ivy. That does not make you compelling or competitive transfer material to an admissions committee.</p>
<p>My advice. Transferring to an Ivy for an undergrad business degree is perhaps not plausible with your stats. You wouldn’t get into Wharton, which has one of the top undergraduate business programs in the country. </p>
<p>Plan B. If you are so committed to a transfer from Northeastern, instead of setting yourself up for great disapointment by applying to some anonymous Ivy (just because it is an Ivy), look into Boston University, right in your own backyard. BU is an excellent school and a more realistic “jump” for you. But even to transfer to BU you must have a compelling reason. You cannot simply say, “I want to go to a more prestigious school.”</p>
<p>Whether you stay at Northeastern or try BU – again BU is an excellent school with great academic resources – your best bet is to be stellar in college and if you are, apply to a more “prestigious” business school for your graduate degree. In other words, you are putting the cart before the horse. Be phenomenal at your current undergraduate institution (Northeastern) or make one PLAUSIBLE jump up (to BU). If you do spectacularly well at one of these schools as an undergraduate, your chances of getting into a more “prestigious” B-school for your MBA will jump significantly.</p>
<p>Don’t mean to seem harsh, but the transfer option to an Ivy League for undergrad is probably NOT going to happen. That does not mean, however, that an Ivy League B-school is out of the question for graduate school. But you need to be a stellar undergrad for such a B-school admittance. So, whether you stay at Northeastern, or try to transfer to BU, your undergrad record must be stellar for the grad school admissions to Ivy or other top caliber business schools.</p>
<p>Really. Think about WHY you feel you have to transfer from Northeastern. If it is merely a matter of prestige, it won’t work, especially if you are NOT currently at the top of your class. Look, plenty of folks don’t get their academic lives together until college, when they get a “wake up call.” No biggie. That is probably what has happened to you. So: do the best you can in college without worrying about prestige. If you really get it together in college (at Northeastern or BU), a GREAT grad school will follow for you as a matter of course.</p>
<p>I re-read your post again before I posted mine and, again, I see no compelling reason why you NEED to transfer from Northeastern, because clearly you are ENJOYING IT! Make the most of your opportunities there – or, at most, consider BU if you can present a COMPELLING case for yourself TO BU – and, then, consider a broader range of institutions for graduate school. </p>
<p>Be the best college student you can be where you are NOW (or just ONE step higher up) and a great grad school WILL follow.</p>
<p>Definitely need to raise the SAT. The ivies do take very few transfers. You need the stats, but also a stand out EC (not school clubs unless they do something extraordinary) to be in the running.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. It really helped me because you’re right my reason for transferring is entirely because prestige and I secretly know that’s not good enough, just needed someone to tell me. You mentioned BU and that’s great but are there other schools that I could consider if I transfer that would be a good next step?</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice as well Waverly. I didn’t know SAT scores still count after I’m in college. You seem to be offerring ways for me to improve my chances to get into the ivies when springtime clearly said that it’s probably not going to happen, why’s that? I’m trying to be realistic here but it wouldn’t hurt me anyways if I did apply to some ivies+other schools. the way i see it is that if i get in, i only gain and i will lose nothing if i don’t. Am I wrong to believe this?</p>
<p>^ So, it won’t be of great significance to you if you do not gain admission to an Ivy League? If you are going to apply, don’t take it so lightheartedly. Applying to colleges is an intensive process and it would be a complete waste of your effort and money if you do not gain admissions to at least one of your schools.</p>
<p>If you have time to prepare good applications for reaches, matches and a safety, it doesn’t hurt to try. The top schools take few transfers and they all have different approaches. Some strongly favor kids from peer schools, others want some CC transfers. In the end what they all want is kids who’ve made impact on their current college campus. Campus leaders, stars in their academic area and so on. High scores help a lot when you don’t attend a peer college. It helps them knw you can compete in their student body.</p>
<p>If you want to stay in the Boston area for college, and then really work to NAIL IT AS AN UNDERGRADUATE before going more for the “big time” in grad school, consider: Boston University, Boston College, Tufts, Brandeis…You are blessed in that the greater Boston area has a large number of excellent undergraduate institutions. Do some real research before you decide and then REALLY ask yourself WHY you want to transfer. Then, identify the school or schools that can give you more of what you want, and get to know those schools well before you apply for a transfer. Look, you only have a few years of college left. If you must transfer, transfer locally, up a notch, and then really work to become stellar as an undergrad so that your grad school opportunities are as wide open as possible. But really, if you cannot come up with a truly compelling reason to leave Northeastern – where your experience does not sound at all bad – don’t waste your time transferring. Instead, use those energies to be a stellar student at Northeastern and spend these years thinking, additionally, of how you can position yourself for great grad school applications. You should have a compelling reason to transfer – and to be accepted as a transfer. If you do not have one, maximize the opportunities at Northeastern and make BIG plans for grad school.</p>
<p>In the meantime you might also see if Northeastern has reciprocity with any of these schools so that perhaps you can cross-register and take courses for credit at one or more of them. Maybe you should see if you can do this for next year, before you put in for a transfer. Taking a class at a school where you might transfer – if taking such classes is allowed – is a great way to make contacts with professors who might support your transfer efforts should you apply. And a great way to “comparison shop” to determine if a transfer is really what you want and need.</p>
<p>Good luck!!</p>
<p>Let me add this. I am NOT saying you MUST NOT apply to an Ivy League school as a transfer student. I AM saying you have given no compelling reason why you should transfer. If you have no compelling reason, how will you go about convincing an Ivy League school to accept you as a transfer, when such schools take so few transfers?</p>
<p>Full disclosure, here. I earned my Ph.D from that Ivy League school in your neck of the woods. I taught there and at several local colleges. At one of these local colleges I had the good fortune to teach a young woman who clearly revealed herself as an exceptional intellect. As we got to know each other I asked her about transferring to that school because she had clearly “maxed out” the intellectual resources of this smaller, less-well-known college. She had no real peers among her fellow students and, for that reason, could not have been more discouraged by her experience at this school. I spoke to my own former grad school advisor about the student. She agreed the girl sounded promising but warned me that the famous Ivy took few transfers, and the ones it took were from top-flight liberal arts colleges, or other schools it considered to be sort-of peers. Coming from this college, my student was believed to be so far off the Ivy’s radar, that her application would be completely marginalized in the transfer process. Well, this girl was truly a top notch intellect and my rec for her was seven pages, single-spaced. Other professors at the college went to bat for her. When the Ivy requested an interview with her, my former grad school adviser was shocked, because it was a rare occurance. Ultimately this student was accepted as a transfer by the Boston Ivy, from a kind of second-rank school. But, and this is why I have been somewhat less gung ho here, she had a 4.0 average and spectacular ECS and recs. And our point, those that recommended her, was that she was well beyond what the school could offer her. In other words, the reasons for her transfer were academically very compelling and her record of achievement at this second-rank school was extraordinary.</p>
<p>This kind of transfer to that Boston Ivy, especially from a school not considered any where in the neighborhood of being a peer, is not your average occurance and the student had real compelling argued reasons for wanting not just to transfer, but to transfer specifically to this Ivy League school. Plus, she had a record of achivement to date in this less demanding environment to support her claim that the Ivy could do more for her academically; that she would and could take full advantage of what it offered.</p>
<p>As I say. Come up with a rationale. And, as Waverly says, get the stats and apps together. I would never say to forgo your dreams. But sometimes they need to have a reality check. If yours can stand up to the reality check, GO FOR THEM!!!</p>
<p>I do think it would be prudent to speak candidly to professors you know at Northeastern because you WILL need recs from at least two. Get to know your professors and get their support if this is what you really want to do. Get their best advice and seek their assistance if this is – after the reality check – what you NEED to do.</p>
<p>I would never say DON’T do it. But be advised that this will be very hard if you insist upon jumping to the top with no intermediate stops. And, especially, if you do not base your decision on a compelling rationale.</p>
<p>Oh, and it is SWINGTIME, not springtime!</p>
<p>@swingtime: The freshman profile of Northeastern now exceeds that of BU so what kind of jump “up” do you think BU will offer?</p>
<p>Didn’t realize that the reputations of the two – Northeastern v BU – had so switched. Tufts or Brandeis would be more challenging, then. Or, the OP can try for an Ivy after getting stats and ECs up to par.</p>