<p>I'm a student who's turning freshmen, but I didn't get into colleges of my first choices. While I did get into good schools, but it's nowhere up to my expectation (one is in late 20-somethng in US ranking for research univerisities and the other is mid 10-something among LACs. I didn't apply for any low Ivys or top three LACs which I deeply, deeply regret.</p>
<p>I'm trying to transfer after one year, and I wonder if there is any person who had been in a similar situation and successfully transferred. People say I should see if I like the school and start to prep for it, but I think it would make more sense to start to prep for transfer now and drop the application if I really like the school I attend. So, please don't tell me stay at one of these schools or try to enjoy. It's not that I decided that I won't enjoy, but just in case I don't enjoy, I think it would be better to be prepared. </p>
<p>Also, are those goal schools really impossible without internship or volunteer experience during the first year at college? Would taking SAT again benefit me? (I got 32 composite on ACT and have 3.9 UW GPA) Would it be better to go to LAC or a bigger research university (but with more name than the LAC I got in) to transfer to the schools I'm targetting?</p>
<p>Thank you. </p>
<p>A top 20 university and a top 10 LAC are about as good as they come. and since you haven’t even attended college yet you’re clearly trying to transfer up just for the name. If that comes across in your application, you may have a hard time getting in. If you’re so determined to transfer already, go to whatever school in which you could get the best grades. Good luck</p>
<p>Of course, I might like wherever I attend. Also, I got waitlisted/rejected from some need-aware schools since I needed a full financial aid, and the same thing might happen with the transfer admission (Of course, Harvard and Yale will be a crapshoot again, so it’s not worth mentioning them being need-blind). Then I will have to stick with the school I choose now. And as I already said, I’m thinking about start to prep for transferring just in case I’m not satisfied with the school vibe and environment. I can drop my transfer application process at any time if I’m content with the school. But in case I’m not, I hold the application process on, so it would be smart to prepare from now on. If I do find the school I attend is not challenging enough, I will be able to write a better essay than “I’m trying to transfer to your school for the name.” If I don’t find any reason so that my only reason is the name, then I wouldn’t transfer. Anyways, thanks for the tip. Any insight on building more extracurricular and retaking SAT/ACT? </p>
<p>Since a 32 is equivalent to a 2130 (I have a hard time thinking in ACT scores), I’d say you really are on the fence. As a soph transfer, if it was below 2100, I’d say to retake since you will only have a sem/qt of college (and possibly a midterm report) when decisions are made, so your HS record (gpa & course rigor) and test scores are still going to be very important for the schools you are targeting. But whether or not a retake is really going to help you significantly enough, at a cost to other things you could be doing instead (college grades, ECs, etc.), is highly questionable. No clearcut answer IMO.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>For the schools you’ve been accepted to, I don’t think the name is going to make a difference. All those schools are at the same level and Adcoms at the schools you’re applying to will know them well; they will be concerned with what you did at your college, not it’s name/rank. </p>
<p>The one thing that you might consider as far as transferring is a college where you can get to know your fall sem profs/TAs, as you will need 2 LORs. While this may point more to the LACs, there are ways in larger universities to get around the big fr class issue. For instance, my D1 got LORs from the prof in her small fr seminar class and from the Instructor of an upper level Spanish Lit course.</p>
<p>As far as which school to attend as a fr, it should be the one you think you’re most likely to be happy and thrive at, not the one you think will help you in transferring. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Have you considered taking a gap year, strengthening your application, retaking your ACT and reapplying as a fr to a wider range of schools? </p>
<p>@entomon I have thought about taking a gap year, as well, but I do no think that will necessarily increase my chance. Also, if I’m satisfied with the school I’m going, I won’t have to transfer. Taking a gap year and applying again takes some risks. But I think if I was graduating for my age, I might have decided to take a gap year in spite of the risk. I’m an immigrant, so I had problem transferring credits from where I lived before so had to repeat a year. But I will make sure to consider bigger range of schools (not only lower Ivys but the schools that are renowned for a strong department for what I want to study, if I do decide to transfer). Thank you for the great response! It’s really helpful. </p>
<p>p.s. And if I retake standardized test, I’m planning to study over this spring and summer and take it n September. Whether I get a good score or not, it will be time for me to focus on the school work. If I choose to go to LAC, which is in the country side, I feel like I will have a limited resource to build EC. I went to a boarding school in countryside and had only done ECs available on the school campus, and I think that might have been my another weak spot along with my test scores. Summer internships are mostly filled out, so I guess I will have to do some internship hunt. Do you think ECs over this summer will have a significant affect? Thank you. </p>