<p>i know this may sound rather sad, but i am considering transferring out of berkeley even though i've yet to take one class there. of course, i'm merely considering at the moment, b/c i've had some recent negative experiences w/ the Financial Aid office and administration at Berkeley (tribute to its public school nature). </p>
<p>anyhow, i'm considering Duke, Georgetown, and UPenn, because they all have much better pre-med, biochem, or any sort of bio-science major. and they are private schools, so i'd expect them to treat their students a lot better.</p>
<p>i'm just wondering wut my chances r at the moment based upon my h.s. academic stats and what i probably need to do in order to get acceptance to at least one school mentioned earlier (like what sort of freshmen GPA are these schools looking for).</p>
<p>GPA (weighted): 4.3
GPA (unweighted): 3.9
Top 5% in graduating class (very tough public school)
11 AP courses
SAT-I: 660V/ 760M
SAT-II: 750 Math IIC, 720 Writing, 690 US-History</p>
<p>-also, i have an uncle who lives in durham, nc and knows a lot of duke univ. science professors.</p>
<p>Just because you had some trouble with financial aid doesnt mean you should plan on transferring. The bureaucracy is manageable and I think I can deal with it for saving $20,000 a year on school.</p>
<p>yeah, i know i've yet to start my fall semester yet, but transferring is something i'm probably going to consider when it comes time to do so. i'm just curious b/c i'm not sure what sort of GPA i might need, considering i haven't heard much about many people making it out of Berkeley.</p>
<p>hmm. as for financial aid, i actually do believe these particular privates will help somewhat in terms of finaid. Berkeley really didn't help out that much compared to the private school that i did get accepted to. the difference in my deducted tuition was minimal.</p>
<p>If you cannot handle Berkeley's bureaucracy now, you will have a lot more trouble later on in life (eg. IRS, Social Security, DMV, public benefits etc). Bureaucracy-coping is a very useful skill for later in life. Some people don't cope well and you don't want to be one of them. Attention to detail like having the right paperwork filled out properly and timely will go a long way.</p>
<p>Learn to deal with the bureaucracy and move on. You will need good grades at Cal for premed so the sooner you get over this, the better.</p>
<p>Where to start? First, why didn't you just apply to those schools to begin with? And if you did apply and were denied, then you probably wont be able to transfer there after a year anyway, because with only one year of college under your belt the other schools will put the most amount of stock into your highschool stats, which weren't good enough to get you in in the first place. Second, like one of the above posters said, if this small snag in the road already has you running for the hills, then you probably won't do very well at Cal. Sorry to be blunt, but thats the way it looks to me. As most people know, the biggest downfall at Berkeley is the red tape that you sometimes have to deal with as a student, but other than that the place is amazing, so I'm totally willing to make that trade off. Third, and this is my own oppinion, I don't think any of the schools you are thinking about transfering to has any more prestige than Cal, and if they do its not by much.</p>
<p>Administration sucks no matter where you go. Don't assume that private schools treat their students better- those with financial problems will face a lot of harassment from students. Berkeley is GREAT- don't consider transferring yet, I thought their pre-med and science programs were top notch- far better than Duke, Penn, and Georgetown. If you ask any East Coast student what they think about the administration, no one will give a favorable rating.</p>
<p>guys, why don't you give berkeley a shot? Stay there for at least 1 year before getting out. </p>
<p>The reputation of Berkeley in the job market and for grad schools is almost the same as that of Duke, Cornell, Penn, Georgetown. The only schools that are significantly more reputable and better than Berkeley are HYPSM. </p>
<p>Don't worry about the ridiculous rankings from PR or USNWR. Many people don't even care about those rankings (except high school students) - especially not the recruiters and / or grad school adcoms. </p>
<p>Many top medical schools, law schools, engineering grad. schools, investment banks, and multitudes of companies know and recognize Berkeley.</p>
<p>My advice: stay in berkeley and work hard for a year. If it's not working out, transfer!</p>
<p>Yes, just give it a shot guys. Work with what you got. You know, people would kill for the opportunity to be admitted and to attend a fine institution such as UC Berkeley. Try it out for a year...and THEN consider transferring out if the situation doesn't get any better. But most importantly...you must keep a POSITIVE attitude when you try out your first year there. I mean, if you moan and moan about it the entire year...it's obvious enough your minds won't change at all. Keep a POSITIVE attitude and have an open mind...explore and enjoy! It's YOUR university experience now...truly make the best of it. </p>
<p>I'd be sooooooo happy if I got into Berkeley. I wouldn't transfer just because you had one bad experience. Your going to have bad experiences all your life and it's just part of the learning process.</p>
<p>Blackdream: maybe you can convince pinkearmuffs and the OP author of why Berkeley is just as good or even better than some of the ivies and other big named schools. why don't all three of you get together and talk about it.</p>
<p>I'm thinking of transferring out of Berkeley to Harvard or Columbia. I really wonder which colleges are truly the most prestigious for an undergraduate degree, I guess in terms of which would give you the best chance of getting into an excellent grad school...</p>
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I'm thinking of transferring out of Berkeley to Harvard or Columbia. I really wonder which colleges are truly the most prestigious for an undergraduate degree, I guess in terms of which would give you the best chance of getting into an excellent grad school...
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<p>Attending a school in the Top 25 already provides you with decent graduate school placement, and no school will accept a candidate solely on the basis of him/her wanting better placement.</p>
<p>It is adorable when students want to transfer to more 'prestigious' schools...</p>
<p>Looking for a different kind of undergrad experience is one thing. I understand that. (Though, if you're looking for a more user-friendly administration, you certainly won't find it at Columbia where students consistently say the administration is the worst part of their experience...) </p>
<p>But grad school placement? You've got to be kidding. Do well at Berkeley and you can go anywhere -- even Berkeley, which has top-ranked graduate programs in almost every field.</p>
<p>I understand that one can go from berkeley to anywhere. I don't like the idea of having graduate students grade my papers, however, and possibly pay out-of-state tuition for it.
I have actually heard that grad schools consider applicants from Cal as stronger simply because of grade inflation at private schools. What do you think?</p>