I enthusiastically applied to Tufts ED 1 knowing that I would love the school and that it may have been my best option considering my decent (not great) SAT I scores. Just a few days after I received my acceptance email, I had received my most recent SAT I scores (I took it just in case I didn’t get accepted ED) and they had increased dramatically. I was already at the point of no return and applying to the Ivies was no longer a possibility. I know SAT scores are only one factor in the college admissions process, but there is no doubt that my newer SAT scores would have given me a more competitive edge.
The main idea: I understand that Tufts is a top-notch institution and I don’t plan on walking into my freshman with the thought that I will ultimately transfer. However, I want to keep my options open so I don’t hold on to any regret after four years.
Have you or someone you know transferred out of Tufts and into an Ivy League? How was their experience?
First, Congrats on getting into Tufts! You should be proud of this. What you post exudes is “An Ivy league degree is the only worthy one.” I think you should be more focused on getting to learn about your future classmates and getting excited about Tufts in general instead of thinking about a transfer 2-3 months before you move in. Hundreds of people turn down iv
First, Congrats on getting into Tufts! You should be proud as this year’s admit rate was a mere 14 percent! What you post exudes is “An Ivy league degree is the only path to a successful career.” I think you should be more focused on getting to learn about your future classmates and getting excited about Tufts in general instead of thinking about a transfer 2-3 months before you even move in. Each year, hundreds of people turn down ivies and other top notch schools to attend Tufts. I personally have friends who turned down Columbia, Cornell and U Chicago to attend Tufts this year. Saying you plan to keep your “options open” without even spending a week or a month on campus just sounds wrong. Ask yourself why you applied ED and what makes/made you love Tufts and try to meet your future classmates (at least through Facebook).
A Tufts degree is just as good as a degree from the Ivies… If you already know that the school’s a great fit for you, there’s nothing to regret.
Tufts is an elite and ultra selective school. You haven’t done a single day there, and you’re already wanting to transfer out?
Are you going to ditch your fiancé, too, when someone in tighter jeans walks by?
Now I guess a better question would be: how can I be ungrateful for an earning an acceptance into one of the best universities in the nation? I should be proud to be a Jumbo. It’s not entirely the type of education I receive, but what I make of it. Thank you for making that clear.
About transferring: A transfer application isn’t just a second bite at the apple. It’s much more specific than that - the only way you’d to be admitted anywhere competitive as a transfer student is if you have a good reason to transfer. For example, “University A” won’t meet your academic needs because it doesn’t have a “Blah Blah Blah” department, and you’ve realized that’s where your interests lie, so you want to transfer to “University B” because it does have such a department.
So, if you get to Tufts and discover that it really doesn’t meet your needs, then you can and should apply to transfer out. But if Tufts has everything you need, and the only reason you want to transfer is because you think you could have gotten into a “better” school . . .
(1) you probably wouldn’t have a prayer of being admitted to that “better” school, and
(2) you should really rethink what you’re doing before you start at Tufts.
If you think you could do “better,” then take a gap year and apply to those “better” schools you’re yearning after. In other words, make a decision . . . and take responsibility for it.
Wow, really? That comment would be appropriate if you’d hoped for Harvard, but ended up instead at Oklahoma Panhandle State University. The “type of education” you’ll receive at Tufts will not only be first-rate, but, in some areas of study, will be superior to what you’d receive elsewhere, including your precious Ivies. But if you feel you’re going to have to spend the next four years making an extra effort to compensate for what you’re not getting at Tufts (and then the rest of your life apologizing for having attended Tufts), it may not be the right school for you.
Open the school catalog, look at the course offerings and professors in your areas of interest, and decide if Tufts is going to be excellent, or merely adequate. If the latter, then I’ll repeat my suggestion above that you rethink whether or not you really want to start there in the fall.
Ivy adcoms can smell a prestige hound a mile away.
I have a feeling that about three months from now you’ll feel very silly or perhaps shameful for thinking like this. You may even want to post an update to warn other students about what seized you in Early July before college started.
I have a friend that had a 1580/1600 and is going to a school with an average SAT of 1150/1600 because they gave her a full ride. Guess what? She is 100 percent challenged, thoroughly enjoys her classes and is loving the perks they’re giving her for being a star (they just paid for her to study abroad in Europe for a month). I would rethink you attitude. There’s plenty of people at Tufts that scored higher than you did, and they’re thriving.
Also, SAT scores are not the be-all end all of Ivy admissions. Unless you tacked 300 points onto your score, it’s effect on your admission would be most likely negligible. It’s also much harder to be accepted to Ivies as a transfer. I believe princeton doesn’t accept transfers.
I would NOT recommend thinking about transferring before you’ve even begun for anything other than sudden family issues or sudden money issues. You might surprise yourself.