If I wanna transfer to an Ivy League school for my junior year, would it matter if I started college in the spring or fall semester? Would three semesters be equivalent to four if wanted to transfer?
Three semesters instead of four is about a 16-20 credits difference. If you’re going to community college it may be smart to get your associates degree before transferring to help with scholarships and prerequisites, so yes it would make a difference. Also, make sure the schools you want to apply to accept both fall and spring applications before you decide to defer college for a semester. Just a heads up though, transferring to an Ivy League reduces the acceptance rate even more than applying during high school. Best of luck though!
Well I’m planning on taking an extra semester in the summer! And I will also be planning on having a lot of extra curricular activities and so on. My only concern is my high school gpa, would it be a disadvantage even after two years?
If you started in the spring, I advise just taking an extra semester to get everything properly situated.
I hate to be negative but I think you should consider more realistic possibilities. An ivy league is nearly impossible to get into as a regular student, and even harder to get into as a transfer, especially from a community college. I speak to you as a fellow CC transfer prospect, so I know it’s not fair but really we only have ourselves to blame for our poor high school performance.
There is an ivy that is more attainable for those applying from community colleges, and that’s the Columbia School of General Studies. It’s not an extended school, it’s a college within Columbia University and all the students share classes and grades with regular Columbia admits. The catch for this school is that you must be a non-traditional student, so you must have a gap of a year or more between high school and college. The cool thing about this school is that it has a way higher admit rate than the traditional Columbia college (25-33% vs 6% of this year). The not so cool thing is that you basically get close to zero aid, and will have to take out loans/pay out of pocket for most of your stay. It sucks but I guess for some people it’s worth it. I was considering trying to get into it, but the financial aid aspect has made me re-evaluate if an Ivy education is worth $150k+ in debt, and to be quite honest with you, I’m not so sure it is.
There are a lot of great schools out there, so don’t just set your eyes on Ivies. What’s your GPA? What are your ECs? What’s your story? Do you know what you want to do post-college?
Thanks for the advice! But what do you mean I should take a semester off instead? And I don’t necessarily have my eyes set on the ivies, i have other schools in mind that I would like to transfer to but I’m still going to try.
No, no. Don’t take a semester off, I just meant it’s smart to use it as an extra semester to make sure you have all your prereqs/general ed done. I started in Spring 2017, but I won’t be applying for schools until this fall, so by the time I transfer I’ll have done 5 semesters vs 4, essentially using that extra semester to get a head start.
That’s good, and you’re right, it doesn’t hurt to try. Good luck!
@SilianRail as far as I know transfer students have to complete at least 4 semesters in their new university. Are you sure about wanting to transfer in your junior year?
@faraha19 good luck with your application!
As a prospective transfer applicant, remember that your current course has to be in alignment with the curriculum of your new university. This makes the transition easier.
Secondly, universities expect transfer students to be more focused in terms of their major and career path as compared to first year students. Therefore, target schools that you really wanna get into and have a strong reason to attend those schools.