I am an incoming freshman at UC Berkeley, and I was looking for some insight about the Wharton transfer process. I was rejected RD, but Wharton has always been my dream school. Though I am excited to attend Cal, my heart truly lies with Wharton, and I want to reapply. Ideally, I will have a 3.7+ College GPA, and I know my ECs/internships will be outstanding as I have some very unique things planned out. I possess incredible initiative, will seek out opportunities, and will hopefully have great recs as well. I have a 1480 New SAT 800M/680CR/19Essay and 2130 Old SAT 780M/620CR/730W. I think I can improve my New SAT score to perfect/close to perfect, so should I retake it? Should I take any Subject Tests (Math 2, etc.)? I moved to India for 9th/10th grade and got a 9.6/10 CGPA in the CBSE Syllabus with a class rank of 3/185 (1.538%). I moved back to the US for 11th/12th grade and I have a 3.625 UW GPA, 5.125/6 Weighted GPA, 30/610 Class Rank (Very positive trend in the 2 years though). I can explain the drop, and I should have tried more academically when I came back to the US, but how much of a role will high school grades play in the process?. I have some phenomenal and extremely unique high school ECs, am I allowed to/should I include those in my transfer app? I know that around 200 transfers are admitted from around 2,000 applicants, but how many spaces are there for Wharton?
In general I think it is a terrible idea to start one college with the intent of transferring out. This will stand in the way of your making meaningful friendships, developing relationships with professors, and getting involved on campus. Then if your transfer doesn’t work out as planned you will be really stuck. I’d go to the college you enrolled in with the intent of staying all four years. It is fine to throw in a applications but don’t count on it working out. Honestly, I’d spend more time and effort on getting the grades you will need to get into Haas at Berkeley.
I disagree with @happy1. If anything, it’ll encourage him to work harder in class to get a higher GPA, build connections with professors for recs, and get involved with many extracurricular activities. If he ends up staying at Berkeley, he still has a solid base.
There is nothing wrong with attending a school and hoping to transfer to a better school after 1 year. I know kids that had a GT to Cornell, and they had no problems making friends and having an active college life even though they knew that they would be leaving after 1 year. It might even be liberating to just be yourself when all the other freshmen are trying to figure out how they want to present themselves.
About 1/3 of students transfer or something, and many of them proactively plan to transfer to a better university.