<p>I'm currently a high school senior. I got accepted to the University of Washington (+ Honors) and USC. I got rejected by Berkeley and Stanford (first choice).</p>
<p>I'm not really sure why I didn't apply to Duke, but now I'm considering going to UW freshman year and applying to transfer to Duke. </p>
<p>Is it worth the effort? I heard Duke has very few spots for transfer students.</p>
<p>I would not go into UW thinking you are going to transfer. First of all, UW is an excellent school, and you are in the Honors program. You are also probably saving a lot of money by going to UW. Secondly, coming from someone who transferred into Duke, it can be a bit of a hassle transferring. You have to readjust during your sophomore year again. I suggest you only apply to transfer anywhere only if you are very unhappy at your current school or if another school offers a program in an area that your current school doesn’t; don’t just transfer for the heck of it or for the sake of having a prestigious school on your resume. </p>
<p>Duke accepted about 5% of transfer applicants last year, so it is quite difficult but not impossible.</p>
<p>@slik
Great advice! Thanks. Although I’m pretty sure Duke will give me pretty good financial aid even as a transfer student. How are you adjusting at Duke?
UW is a great school, and come to think of it I’m not sure it’s quite worth it to transfer. Thanks for the perspective</p>
<p>I think it’s too early to be making a decision like this. Maybe after the first year, if you still don’t like UW, then maybe you could consider transferring to a different school. Yeah, but for now, I would choose between UW and USC.</p>