Transferring Into College

Transfer Students
1

Like many students across the country today and yesterday, I was rejected from most/all of my intended privates. And, like some of my fellow rejects, I am considering transferring into an elite university at the end of my freshman year at Undergrad. I’ve built my childhood and dedicated my life to getting into an elite private (Chicago, ivies, etc.), but I fumbled a bit in my senior year (got a C in one of my core classes) and probably did not complete the Common App with as much as rigor as I could have.

The thing is, my two best options at this point are attending UCLA and UCBerkeley, which I had gotten in prior. I know that most people would say that these two colleges offer a high level of education possibly tantamount to those of the elite privates. But I want to attend the latter not just because of their prestige that led me to concentrate my life on academics but also because of their prestige that can open new doors for me. And prestige is just one of the smaller reasons; class sizes, love the weather on the east coast (a bit masochistic, I know), looking for a change of geography (been stuck on the West Coast my whole life), the communities they foster, etc. Perhaps it’s too quick to judge, and maybe when I start out at LA or Berkeley, I’ll have a totally different perspective. But for now, I have a few questions…

I was wondering if anybody has transferred from LA or Berkeley into an Ivy/elite private, and tell me his/her story?
Does transferring mean I am still a sophomore or I retrace my steps and start as a freshman?
While the acceptance rates for transfers is just as low or lower than regular high school acceptance rates, since I would be competing in a smaller pool of people, are my chances a bit higher?

If anybody’s curious about my stats:
4.6 W, 3.9 U
2320 SAT1
About 7 SAT subject tests >700
Decent EC’s (including a President/founder position, continuous volunteer work, a few national competitions, internship, etc)
Believed to have strong Letters of Rec (Most people believe their letters of rec are strong of course, but I’m that kind of personality that’s a bit unconventional and stands out in most of my classes)
a few other details and yea…

If I were to continue on my path in my freshman undergrad year and not fumble as I had in my senior year, would I have a shot to transfer into an elite private?

All thanks in advance (don’t judge please :(, baby/first poster here)

2

Congrats on your choices. Many people would give their left arm to be admitted to UCLA or UCB. If you look hard enough, there’s likely several posts that mirror yours but instead of looking to transfer into an Ivy, they are scraping to look for a way how to transfer into UCLA or UCB. Frankly, it’s sad that you’re already dissatisfied without haven’t spent 2 seconds as a Freshman at either of those two wonderful schools. But you’re severely mistaken in how much you idealize and value being at one of the “elite privates”. Been there, done that. It’s a myth and you should seriously put it out of your mind and give yourself wholly to choosing btn UCLA and UCB. That being said, know that Harvard routinely accepts 1% of transfer applicants. And half of them are recruited athletes. It’s MUCH more difficult to transfer into an Ivy than applying as a HS senior. I advise you go to some of those ivy schools’ forums and look up posts about transferring. My hope is that you give up this Quixotic adventure and see the fantastic blessing that’s in your lap.