<p>I applied to several top colleges, and I ended up getting rejected by all the ivies, and waitlisted by Cornell. I'm planning to transfer, but I don't know whether I should transfer my freshman year or my sophomore year. I know that if I transfer my sophomore year, my high school credentials won't be considered. However, at the same time, I heard that not many sophomore transfers are accepted. Right now, if I don't get off Cornell's waitlist, I have to decide between UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, and UCLA. I also got full rides to lower tier schools such as Rutgers, Case Western, WPI and RPIMy intention is to ultimately transfer, and I want to go to the school that gives me the best chance to transfer. </p>
<p>Here are my high school credentials:
SAT: 2330 single sitting 2370 superscore
GPA: 3.9 WGPA: 4.49
President of business club, chess club, and founder of a charity that raised $1500.
cross country, winter track, and spring track
national honors society, and math honors society. </p>
<p>I understand that these creditials are not sufficient enough for top schools, and I will work as hard as I can in college, and ensure that I have a 4.0gpa. I will also try to get involved in as many activities as possible. So, which college would give me the best chance of transferring, and should I transfer my freshman or my sophomore year?</p>
<p>Personally, I would choose whatever you think the best fit is for you between Berkeley/CMU/UCLA. I don’t think any of those three will give you any edge in transferring over the others. Pick wherever you think you’d be happiest. Also, I’d take into account the possibility of you changing your mind about transferring and doing all 4 years there. Some people think they are going to transfer for sure after not getting into the school of their dreams, and then end up finding happiness somewhere else.</p>
<p>Considering UC Berkeley (#21), CMU (#23), and UCLA (#25) are all peer institutions it doesn’t really matter which school you decide to attend. (Rankings according to U.S. News) However, I must say UCLA is on a quarter system, so I would factor that into your decision because certain credits may not transfer.</p>
<p>First, congratulations on your scores and acomplishments, most impressive.</p>
<p>Second, don’t really ‘plan’ on transferring into any ivy/MIT/Stanford/Chicago. For instance, Harvard didn’t take any transfers for a few consecutive years before opening it up again recently. What would make them take you on? You better have something better than a 4.0 in your first few semesters and some good internships. Be warned, HYP only let in a handful or two (really, ten or less) transfers a year. Many of these are due to extraordinary life stories or other circumstances, such as recently coding a DNA sequence or winning an Olympic medal. The other reason is if they have a very specific program offered there that isn’t at ones current school, such as transferring to Cornell for hotel management or their AG school. Of course, going to UCLA/Cal/CMU, it would be tough to convince them of that as those schools offer (almost) everything.</p>
<p>The question is, why do you HAVE to go to an ivy? I bet if you placed someone in a ivy classroom or a Cal classroom, they would be hard pressed to tell the difference due to the academic caliber of the instructor or the student. Once you get to a top 25 program, there really isn’t that much that separates the students. </p>
<p>Understand that top schools typically have much lower acceptance rates for transfers than they do for freshman. For instance, UChicago is at 5% and still many accepted don’t go due to low fin aid.</p>
<p>Be happy of having been accepted to Berkley with all its wonderful opportunities to challenge even the best students…</p>
<p>I’m just trying to get the best opportunities and networking, and these are offered at the ivies. I’m not set on transferring though; I want to see how college is first before I make any bad decisions.</p>
<p>I second blueapple, Mikethechimp, Avidstudent, and others who had fine points about transferring. No judgement, but I’m not sure if you should be considering transferring right now…</p>
<p>I think its vital for you to realize many ivy’s hate, hate, HATE, people “trading up bumper stickers” (a UPenn admissions counselor’s words, not mine). You’ll need a compelling case for transferring, beyond the typical admissions hurdles. Transferring from Cal or CM because you want “better opportunities”, typically won’t cut it. I mean, put yourself in their shoes, whose search for better opportunities rings truer, the applicant from Carnegie, or from a community college?</p>
<p>I also think you should realize that if you’re going on to grad school, the difference between an undergrad degree from UC Berkeley and an undergrad degree from Cornell is truly negligible. </p>
<p>You’ll likely do better concentrating your freshman year of college on enjoying yourself and taking advantage of what your school–whichever you may choose–offers, rather than resigning yourself to a brand name and another year of the painful application process.</p>