What's my situation like?

Hey everyone,

I am a rising sophomore at Indiana University studying business in the Kelley School of Business and direct admit to the honors college. It’s an excellent business school and I really like it there. It occurred to me that is doesn’t hurt to try to upgrade and move somewhere in a region where I would want to work in the future or that can place all over the country. I like both the coasts somewhere in California or along the east coast as far down as like North Carolina. Could you try to suggest some schools that would be considered an upgrade in terms of placing in the business fields?

Stats:
State: CT
Current School: IU-Bloomington, Kelley School of Business, Hutton Honors.
Transfer Year: Junior
College GPA: Currently 3.55 (Estimated 3.6-3.7 by transfer time)
HS GPA: 3.85 W (Grade Deflation)
ACT: 31 Superscored
College Involvement: Fraternity Chair member, Leadership role in a school organization, Consulting Internship (summer)
High School Involvement: President of DECA club, Varsity Athlete, Social Media Marketing Internship (summer), Retail Sales Associate (During end of school year).

School Suggestions?

If no better program would be a viable option, let me know.

I would stay put and continue to enjoy your college life. You are at a fine school and at some point the prestige hunt needs to end.

I agree 100% ^. Stay where you are, enjoy the next 3 years, and take advantage of what your school offers.

@happy1 @twogirls Thanks for your advice. I think you’re right. However, I may apply to a dream school because I don’t have anything to lose.

@CTkid47 If you’re happy, and do not find anything inherently wrong with the education that you are receiving, stay! However, if you would like to, shoot your application out there to a few schools! Just remember, applying as a transfer, even to a small pool of schools, is a lengthy (and potentially expensive) process, so keep that in mind if you truly want to apply.

What are some schools that you guys would suggest I apply to? Maybe my stats don’t really matter that much because rejection is completely fine.

@CTkid47 Well, first off, what schools do you have in mind? Throw some names out there, and we’ll see where you stand. Obviously keep in mind, that with highly selective schools, even “perfect” students are rejected, so your chance by default is fairly low.

@TransferStalker I was thinking maybe schools like UVA, UNC, USC, Cornell, UCB, UCLA, NYU, Cornell. Those are just ones that came to me at the top of my head.

Are you able to afford those schools without aid of any kind? Transfers don’t get much, if anything, in aid. Those are very expensive schools. The public schools prioritize and take instate students first. So you would already be at a disadvantage as an OOS transfer.

Also, once you begin your college career, the schools don’t really look at your HS grades/activities.

I agree that looking for “prestige” is going to diminish whatever you hope to accomplish.

If you really want to live on the coasts, apply for jobs there after you graduate.

@“aunt bea” Yes, costs would not be an issue at all. I would probably only apply to two or maybe three of my favorite schools. Even if I get accepted, which is a long shot in itself, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I will go. However, I think it may be worth the application. I’m going to talk with career services and look for internships and jobs along the coasts.

You seem to be under the assumption that you can only get bicoastal jobs if you live on the coasts prior to graduating. Why would it be worth the application?
Bragging rights??? Prestige hunt?
Doesn’t make sense since you are already in a well-established school.
As an OOS to a UC, which have thousands of instate transfer applications, your application would be very low priority. You’d have to have a really good reason for transferring.

@“aunt bea” No, I realize I am able to get a job almost anywhere. The Kelley School of Business is well-established as you mentioned. However, it is not quite Haas, McDonough, Dyson, Stern or arguably McIntire in terms of employment opportunities. I don’t necessarily mean placement, but the types of jobs available to those graduates. For example, let’s say I wanted to work on Wall Street, Kelley is a semi-target for those elite jobs, but these other schools are considered targets and their students will have more opportunities for those jobs. There is value in applying to get into some of these programs in case I was looking to do something like that. I don’t know what you call that reasoning, maybe it’s considered a prestige hunt. I am not sure.

What I meant was that the schools would want a reason for transfer.

If @CTkid47 would like to seek better education / opportunities, and is willing to go through the application process, he should go for it.

Pragmatically speaking, he indeed does have a better chance at competitive firms at a better institution.

@“aunt bea”, if he thinks “bragging rights” and/or “prestige hunt” is worth the effort for @CTkid47 , then he should go for it.

@CTkid47 , this is obvious, but you should take career advice with a grain of salt in this particular part of the forum.

Back to the actual prospect of transferring, UCB and UCLA hold great preference towards California CC students, I would bother applying. NYU, UVA, and UNC are good bets assuming you boost your your GPA to a 3.7, and you’re a solid candidate for Cornell.

In terms of coming up for a compelling reason for transferring is arguably the least of your worries. Writing a compelling essay about the unique educational and professional opportunities these schools may offer you is reason enough.

@“aunt bea” You’re right. That is something to think about.

@TransferStalker Perfect. Thanks for all of that! Do you have any other school suggestions. Like what would you think about Georgetown? If UCs won’t work, then what about USC?

@CTkid47 USC, Stanford, Pomona, etc, are private institutions, and thus are not part of the “UC” public school system.

Georgetown is a solid school to put on your list, with a great ranking, great business curriculum. If you boost your GPA to a 3.7, you might have a decent chance at Georgetown.