<p>I am a freshman at big ten public school right now, and I am dreading every moment of it. It is not serious enough, tough enough, or able enough for me to actually grow and mature here. The number one goal for students here is to party and drink beer. They come to class in a daze. They scorn at questions. My roommate got caught with pot and he got a tap on the wrist. I have read over 100 books this year outside of class and I still managed a 4.06 GPA last semester, truncated to 4.0. I want to go to a school that can actually arouse my curiosity and that does not rebuke my personality. </p>
<p>My high school was a tiny school in the middle of a cornfield. The good ol' boy attitude defined our social life. What mattered was not being cosmopolitan or looking at the outside world. I could not fit in with that community, so I stayed home most of the time and read for the first 18 years of my life. My teachers were not helpful. Their taught from their small-town biases, and so I was not prepared to score elitely on standardized tests (25 ACT, < 2000 SAT). Still, I taught myself everything I know about the subjects I read about - history, politics, current events. I want to go to a school and find a community that appreciates this and enhances my knowledge about my interests. </p>
<p>However, I know few ivies want people that stayed at home and read, did few ECs, and performed below par on standardized tests. Ivies are a reach, but I understand that they like some intellectual rebelliousness, which might give me a shot. Is there anyway they would accept someone like me as a transfer?</p>
<p>Top-tier ivies are probably out of the question. Right? But my other hopes would be any other ivy plus schools like Notre Dame, Northwestern, Duke, Georgetown. I will definitely have to spill out my soul in my essays and tell them about my personality and background. Do you see any possibility that I won't be stuck at my dreadful school next year?</p>
<p>It’s certainly worth a try. My D had friends at Penn who transferred from less selective schools and did very well. Check out the schools’ stats to make sure they accept a reasonable number of transfers so you don’t waste your time. You might also want to consider some intellectual LACs. Good luck.</p>
<p>I don’t see a down side into giving it a try. I say look for a good fit, not an “elite brand name”. If you identify schools that will really fit the person you are, you can make a better case in your application for why you are applying.</p>
<p>Do a real search - look into places like Reed, Grinnell or Kenyon, not just Ivies. Also, what about the “Great Books” schools - St Johns College (not St John’s University - two different schools). St. John’s has campuses in Santa Fe and in Annapolis. Shimer is another Great Books college and is near Chicago. </p>
<p>You really don’t have to go to an Ivy to find an education that is steeped in reading and discussing big ideas. I’m not saying don’t try for Ivies if you find one that fits. I’m just saying, look into lots of schools and really find some to apply to that offer what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>In the meantime, keep up the fabulous grades. </p>
<p>Also, look more deeply into what your school has to offer. Are there meaningful honors classes? Go talk to some profs in departments you’re interested in and ask for advice about what classes to take. I think any student who likes to learn and be challenged can be turned off freshman year if they sign up for 101-everything general ed courses. That would be too excruciatingly boring for students who want to THINK and be challenged. Really - start spending some time going and talking to profs about what you’re really looking for. If the first two don’t have much helpful to say, go talk to three more. There really might be what you’re looking for on your campus, you just haven’t found it yet. Good luck to you!</p>
Hopefully this post isn’t representative of that. Sorry, but the pretentious and elitist tone of your post is not an asset. I guarantee you that blaming your poor standardized test scores on the “small-town biases” of your teachers will kill your chances.</p>
<p>Not trying to be a hater. If you are that unhappy where you are, I hope you successfully find your way to a better place. Your GPA is strong (I wasn’t aware that any B1G schools weighted A+ grades for undergrads) and your high school marks were good enough to get where you are now.</p>
<p>^ Right, don’t even hint that any shortcomings in your scholastic record are due to the shortcomings of others; it can mean instant rejection at the schools you target.</p>
<p>For schools with an intellectual bent also consider (in a addition to those already mentioned) Beloit, Carleton, Haverford, Kalamazoo, Macalester, Oberlin, Wesleyan.</p>
<p>But you’ll have to hurry with those apps for fall admission.</p>