@PurpleTitan do you really think it’s a good idea for someone who has clearly stated they do not want to attend UChicago to be convinced to attend. This is a recipe for disaster. I say let him OP go to Pitt and take his chances for transfer there. Opens a spot for someone who really wants to be at UChicago.
CU, where has the OP said that he does not want to attend Chicago?
It’s not like going to Pitt is some sort of death sentence. “Risky”??
@CU123: Fair point. I think he should decline his spot at Pitt for someone who really wants to be there as well and go to a CC.
@PurpleTitan Even better. No fun to have a roommate who complains about not wanting to be there and talks about transferring for an entire year.
Wow! CC over Chicago? LOL! Great advice people.
Ignore these naysayers.
Just marry a current Columbia or Yale student.
Preferably one admitted as a very rich legacy or with a dreadful disease who desperately needs your support and care. Then submit your compelling transfer application.
A tenured faculty member could work, too, as long as there isn’t an unseemly age difference (like, if she’s more than 2 years older if you’re male, or if he’s more than 40 years older if you’re female), unless you’re both LGBTQIA in which case nobody cares and you even get second “hook”. Especially if you’re working the faculty, Yale or Columbia people definitely would prefer a former UChicago student for a trophy spouse. Half the professors in the Ivy League attended the University of Chicago (since Ivy alumni all work at Bain or Goldman Sachs and UChicago kids get complementary PhDs just for completing the Core). If you attend for even a week they give you a special degree called “X”
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_University_of_Chicago_alumni). Ivies don’t do that, since everyone graduates.
Go check out e[NOLINK]Harmony today.
Admittedly, for a straight male Yale might be tough. In that case be sure to specify Columbia the university not the country in your desired partner profile.
@tk21769 Brilliant !
The odds of transferring in for a freshman who was denied and is not hooked are virtually nil.
So, you can sound insane to everyone who knows you by turning down UChicago (which everyone who matters equals to Ivy League).
Or you can learn about uChicago and feel very grateful you got such an amazing opportunity.
Think of the Greater Good, @Alexandre.
The OP wants to transfer to Yale/Columbia despite having an offer to the U of C. People should be responsible for their own judgement.
Shrug
When I was at Columbia as a graduate student, one of the residence halls I oversaw was heavily populated with transfer students, so I worked with a lot of them (and one of my RAs was a sophomore transfer). In my experience, most of the Columbia transfer students were students who went to PEER schools. They transferred not because they wanted to go to a more elite university, but because there was something about the original university they went to that didn’t meet their needs or desires in a college experience. Both Columbia and Yale are very intentional about outlining that in their transfer admissions information on the websites.
So in that sense, I think Chicago would be a better choice for a student who has their heart set on Columbia and Yale. Two reasons: one, because of what I said above; and two, in the case that you don’t actually get to transfer, I think the UChicago experience and education are more similar to Yale and Columbia and more likely to leave you at least content.
Pittsburgh is also a great school though! I think you could also probably transfer from there (by which I mean I don’t think the university type/name will hold you back. Your chances are still pretty slim). I think the choice should be made based on where you feel most at home.
Sometimes I read these threads and just wince at the level of snark and…meanness. Yeah, sure, maybe some OPs do lack perspective, but at the end of the day, these are 17-year-old teenagers. How many of us didn’t have faults at 17?
Anyway, regarding your transfer question, I echo the posters who said that transfer admissions are difficult and to pick the school you’d be happier at without consideration to the possibility of transferring, since chances are, it’s not going to work out well.
If you do insist on transferring, however, there are a few points to keep in mind:
- Apply to a lot of schools, not just 2 (UNLESS those are the only other 2 schools you'd be more happy at, in which case stick with 2); transfer rates are very low and crapshoot.
- You need to do well in whatever school you end up in. Strong GPA (I'd say >3.8 or 3.9) and make sure you get some great professor recommendations. Also awards and activities if you can swing it in freshman year.
- You need to convey why this new school will help you in a way your old school can't. It's a delicate tone to take--you can't badmouth your current school too much, but you also have to really sell why this new school is so much better academically and career-wise.
I work part-time as a college adviser, and helped a student transfer last year from UIUC to NYU (though she was also accepted to Rice, Emory (?), etc.) She had a 4.0 GPA at UIUC, a first-place award in a contest related to her intended major, strong recs, and a great transfer essay.
Does it matter if you to go uchicago or upitt? Ivy leagues would let in a community college transfer so I’m not understanding this question.
Whether you’re applying from UChicago, Pitt, or a CC, you’re facing a very limited number of transfer places. Once admitted to Ivy League colleges, very few students leave after the first year (~1% at Yale).
I struggle to imagine a scenario that totally de-snarkulates this thread.
Maybe the OP has a new, objective need to be in the NY/New Haven area? If so, then the safest approach would be to add less selective transfer targets than Yale or Columbia. NYU, maybe? Fordham?
Ok, leaving aside the question of “why transfer out of Chicago to Columbia?” and simply answering the question “which school gives you the best chance of transfer”, bearing in mind that the chance of transfer is tiny either way, the school with the better chance is Chicago, because Ivy schools are more likely to admit transfers from a peer school.
Hey everyone! Thanks for the input. I very much appreciate it. I’m getting a mix of responses one being I’d probably get a perfect GPA at Pitt or Uchicago is a peer school and would also work.
I’d like to clarify some things. I did not apply to Yale or Columbia before which I now regret. I thought they were too much of a long shot since I don’t have a family legacy there and I’m not some type of prodigy. However, now that I have looked into the schools I have fallen in love. I know my chances are incredibly small but If I can start planning from now and try to make it to one of those schools I’d be the happiest person ever.
I also would be happy with Uchicago but due to personal life at home I am not sure I will be able to maintain a stellar GPA there. However, If I were to go to Pitt I would have all the time to study since I would be on my own (I am from Chicago.) Would a 3.8 from Uchicago look better than a 4.00 at Pitt? I just don’t know. Thanks once again guys!
^ Your chances would be tiny regardless.
And what are you falling in love with?
Also, I’m not sure you realize how tough it is to get those types of GPA at those schools.
Good luck getting a 3.8 from Uchicago. Frankly, you should thank your lucky stars you got into UChicago – the absolute peer of both Yale and Columbia. The way you describe getting into Yale and Columbia, while discounting Uchicago even though they are not materially harder to get into than Chicago, along with the rest of your prose all leads me to believe that this is a fake post.
A 3.5 from Chicago is excellent, as is a 3.7 from Pitt, and both are very hard to get.
lol a “fake post” sorry to say it’s a “real” post.