Hey Guys!
I’m currently a high school senior who is choosing between three/four schools: George Washington University, Swarthmore College, Binghamton/Geneseo University.
The reason why I’m posting under this particular category is that I know that I want to transfer - none of the schools really have super strong programs in other fields that I am interested in (Cognitive Neuroscience/Drama) as well as various other reasons (i.e. social settings etc.) - and so my basic concern is that I don’t really know where to go for my first year before transferring. Do you guys have any suggestions as to which school would help strengthen my application the most and get me where I want to go?
(If it matters at all, here’s some background information: I’m a South Asian Student with a 4.8/4.0 GPA and a 2250 (800 W, 750 M, 700 CR); I also have a bunch of extracurricular activities that are largely pertinent to drama (VP of Drama Club; acted in like 30 plays; member of improv troupe for four years; wrote three plays that were put on the stage in school; directed four shows that were put on stage); neurological research (two years of research creating a sensor to help scientists determine the best possible treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease and Concussions; and teaching and community service (teaching Math, Science and English at temple). I applied to colleges as an intended Classics and Comparative Literature Major)
Also, I was thinking about applying as a transfer to a couple of schools: Brown (I applied ED last year), Columbia?, Georgetown, Harvard, Stanford, or Yale - I know it’s a crapshoot, but I figured it’s worth a shot, right? Which school out of the four I listed above do you guys think I should go to for my freshman year in order to better prepare myself for the transfer process? Thanks so much in advance!!!
Sorry for the phrasing of my comment btw
What are you nuts? Swarthmore!!! You won’t get anywhere near the intellectual experience or the mentorship at any of the universities you mention wanting to go to. How are Binghamton and GW even in the same sentence as Swarthmore in your post? If you go there I bet you’ll want to stay. All the schools you mention wanting to go to would bow out of respect to Swarthmore. Your background suggests you have the intellectual prowess to do well at Swarthmore. Incidentally, Swarthmore undergraduates have the research opportunities reserved for graduate students at the universities you mention. There are huge benefits to going to a college where the faculty are prolific and lack graduate students.
First, I think it’s an extremely bad idea to pick a school based on which would be easiest to transfer out of. Pick the school where you most want to spend four years. If by the end of your first semester you don’t think it’s right for you, then by all means put out some transfer applications. But it’s very silly to go somewhere with the intent of transferring because 1) it’ll color your experience of the place you end up going to (as in you’ll be seeing it as a temporary place and won’t be inclined to get attached) and 2) you very well might not get accepted to the transfer schools you’re looking at.
Second, and I’ll admit that this is largely based on my own opinions, I’m going to have to agree with ^ and say SWARTHMORE ALL THE WAY. Swarthmore is an incredible school and extremely difficult to get into. Personally, if I’d gotten into Swarthmore I wouldn’t even be thinking of transferring right now, and I’d probably take Swarthmore over half the schools you’re looking to transfer to. Obviously you’re not me and you know more about the specific programs you’re looking at. But just know that Swarthmore is a wonderful school with a stellar reputation, amazing professors who will give you heaps of personal attention, endless research opportunities, and some of the brightest and most intellectual students in the country. Unless there are financial reasons why you’re considering SUNYs, then I would urge you to give Swarthmore some very serious consideration and talk to the departments of each program you’re interested in. Also visit campus if you haven’t already and are able to, because it is stunning.
Maybe this is a resource, regarding theater offerings:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/
When considering Swarthmore don’t ignore this:
http://www.swarthmore.edu/registrar/going-to-tri-co-or-upenn#bmc
Transfer admission for this pool as a whole is quite challenging, but I have to believe your chances, such as they are, could only be enhanced by doing well at Swarthmore. Versus no matter how you did at the other two schools. Moreover, it’s possible that you may find once there that the college has enough to meet your needs, as supplemented later perhaps by a couple of offerings at Penn. If you find there’s some shortfall on the research or advanced curriculum side that can not be remediated there satisfactorily, then you may well be better served transferring to a research university in the end. But you’d be better off doing that having first attended (and succeeeded at) Swarthmore I think.
CC poster Hanna may know something useful about theater at Swarthmore, IIRC.