Wish I applied to better schools, should I look to transfer freshman year or defer enrollment?

College Search & Selection
1

I’m entering my 4th quarter of senior year in Highschool. My weighted GPA is 98.55, unweighted is probably ~93.5 - 94.5 but my school doesn’t calculate an unweighted GPA and has a good reputation, so most schools would recognize it as a 4.0 I believe. As for SAT/ACT, I got an 1860 and 26 respectively. I have a blank activity resumé but what I feel is a really good essay that in part explains/act as my activity resumé.

I applied to Villanova, SUNY Stony Brook, SUNY Binghamton, and Cornell and got accepted to all but Cornell. Originally I wanted to stay in the tristate area, but that’s not really an issue for me anymore and I think I would’ve liked to apply to more competitive schools like UCLA, UC Berkley, Boston College, University of Southern California, and Georgetown.

I feel like I’m not living up to my potential with the grades that I have, I feel like my chances of getting into UCLA were pretty high considering it’s a big school and they stress grades over extracurricular (From my understanding). Current plan is to attend Villanova (Maybe Binghamton) and look to transfer mid-year or after 1 year. However, It’s also my understanding that being accepted as a transfer is more difficult than just applying as a freshman, especially at the more competitive Universities.

So another thing I’ve been considering is deferring enrollment to try to find a passion/idea of what I want to major in and strengthen my extracurricular, and then apply as a freshmen to more competitive Universities that I think I would’ve had a strong chance or at least a shot at for a place like Georgetown.

What should I do? I assume most would recommend I proceed with Villanova and apply for transfers in january (Or earlier? Not very familiar with how transfers work.)

tl;dr version: Going to Villanova or Binghamton but feel I could’ve gone to a more competitive school with my highschool grades. Don’t know whether I should continue to go to one of those 2 schools and then apply for transfers during freshman year or defer enrollment/take a gap year to apply to more competitive schools as a freshman. I’m unsure because it’s my understanding that getting in as a freshman is easier than as a transfer at competitive schools.

2

No… that is not how it works. It would be recognized as an unweighted 94-ish GPA. Honestly, your test scores are nowhere near what you would need for the schools you listed. To me it seems like you were admitted to schools that make sense with your information. One reason most schools want to see standardized test scores is because they are a way to compare across high schools where GPAs may be inflated or may not be. Your test scores ought to be a lot higher if your school is really rigorous.

It is an aside because you won’t be admitted, but you also have some very expensive schools on the new list. No aid or merit coming your way from the UCs (but your stats are way below what would be needed there anyway).

If you truly want to take a gap year and reapply to colleges, and you are looking to improve on your admissions choices this year, you should look at test optional colleges:

http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional

There are some pretty decent schools on this list. Also, in May a list is released of colleges that still have space – sometimes there are some decent schools on that list, and some even are still offering financial aid (if you need it).

3

I think that Villanova seems like a great school for you… your test scores and “blank activity resume” probably would have hindered you at BC, Georgetown, and some of the others you mentioned. I’m not very familiar with everything that goes into a gap year and re-applying (though I’m sure other users are) but I would recommend you start at Villanova (or Binghamton if that’s a better fit) and then reevaluate whether you want to transfer after you’ve given that school a chance. Good luck with whatever you decide!

4

I would recommend Villanova over Binghamton in a heartbeat.

5

You haven’t even chosen a school OP. That seems like a crazy question. You must have liked something about these colleges or you wouldn’t have applied. I think you should feel lucky that you got in to three out of four colleges, because your SAT score is not that strong. You can wait and see what schools still have space in May, but I don’t think you will do better than you have done.

6

You will get a great education and college experience at Villanova and BC would not be significantly better. The avg ACT/SAT at Villanova is @ 30/1950, so it’s not like you are overqualified for the school.

7

I don’t know your financial situation so not sure if your parents would want to pay $50k + for a school a year if you don’t qualify for need based aid.

You have one chance at merit, you need to find schools where your stats will give you enough merit, as a freshman. As a transfer you don’t get much.

So take a gap year, don’t take classes anywhere and improve the ACT score.

8

These are three really excellent universities. Villanova is a really great school - it has a higher acceptance rate, possibly because of lower name recognition, but the incoming students’ test scores are on par with other top colleges (like Boston College, for example). Binghamton and Stony Brook are also two of the best SUNYs. You don’t talk about cost, but those two are also excellent bargains for NYS resident students.

You are quite unlikely to gain admission to the schools you want. First of all, UCLA, UCB, BC, USC and Georgetown all have sub-25% acceptance rates. Second of all, your ACT scores put you in the bottom 25% of applicants at all of them besides UCLA - probably closer to the bottom 15% or even lower at USC and Georgetown. (SAT scores are similar). It’s not that they aren’t good; indeed, they are very good scores, it’s just that places like USC and Georgetown and BC are uber-competitive. (Your rejection from Cornell is a good litmus here.)

I think it’s not a good idea to take a gap year and put your education on hold for the very slim chance that you get into one of these universities. Also, given that you will have graduated from high school, how could you improve your activities in the interim year? If you went all four years of high school without doing anything and then suddenly have a couple months’ worth of something before you apply to these places, that is not going to be the kind of engagement they want to see. They don’t want students who are just doing activities for the sake of getting into college; the idea is supposed to be attracting the kinds of students who are interested in things and are likely to stay engaged and make campus life vibrant.

Moreover - given the inputs of high school grades and test scores - the incoming classes of the three schools you got admitted to aren’t terribly different from the incoming classes of the schools you want to attend. I think they are very slightly lower, but not enough that it will make a huge difference in the quality of your education.

So my opinion is that you should choose one of these very good colleges with the outlook that you will actually attend it for all four years of college. Which one would you not mind staying at for four years? All else being equal, I would probably choose Villanova as a first choice. If the cost were significantly different, then Stony Brook would be my second.

Once you get to campus, you can simmer a bit in the environment and see how you feel. Then you can apply to transfer if you still want to, keeping an open mind and the attitude that you probably will not be able to get into any of those uber-selective places but it’s worth a shot. You can’t transfer mid-year, but you could apply in December/January for transfer admissions beginning in fall of 2017.

9

You are making the mistake of thinking that you university you get into defines how “good” you are for the rest of your life. It is how you do at the school you get into that is the real thing to worry about. If you think you are “better” than those schools…then go to those schools, be the star, get involved in reasearch and form relationships with a professor and be a superstar.

Also I assume you are from the tri-state region which means that SUNY Bing is around $30,000 at full prices…not sure how much Villanova is but UCLA out of state would be $60,000.
Is UCLA worth twice as much as SUNY Bing? no

Choose one of these very good schools (did you know SUNY Bing is #16 in Best out of state values on Kiplinger’s List)?

10

Don’t regret, as you had absolutely no chances in Calif schools you mentioned (because of your low scores)! Actually cheer as you saved $200-300 on extra application fees!

11

IF you take a GAP year to discover your passion, accept one of these schools. There is no guarantee that you will get into a better or even equivalent school next year. However, usually they want you to sign an agreement that you will not enroll or apply any place else during your GAP year so if that is the case, you are taking a risk having no place to go if you have to turn them all down to apply (I do not know what each school requires for Gap year forms.)

Are you hooked in some way? URM, athlete, big donor? If not I would say you did well considering your stats. I know a 1960 with a solid 3.7 who only got Binghamton off the wait list. I know 28s who were rejected or had to do the Broom County program first. As others have said, if you can get your stats above a 30/32 then you have a shot. You can do that in May/June and see if you are able to do it, meanwhile accept one of the schools on May 1, then if you get a 36 on your next ACT you can withdraw your enrollment while they are still using the wait list for others or ask to defer, assuming they do not prohibit you from applying to other places, which depends on their policy which you have to research. Also, if you are reapplying you have to keep senior year grades high and the lack of ECs will hurt you.

Talk to your GC, see what your options are, whether BC is even realistic for you, look at the list that comes out in May of spots available, see if something appeals. Honestly you did well. Most people I know at Binghamton love it. If you want the Catholic Vibe, then go with Villanova.

12

What’s your parents’ budget, out of pocket (without loans, just from savings and income)?
How much will these colleges cost - before any loan (only deduct grants/scholarships)?

You have another shot: Around May 5th, a list will be released on the NACAC website. On it, there’ll be colleges that miscalculated yield and have a few more seats open. You can apply to a few of those - each year, there are about 30 that are really, really good (but just got unlucky!) Deposit at one of your colleges and wait till the list appears, and apply to the colleges you like. Forbes will typically list the highest-ranked. Apply to as many as you wish, and if you get an admission hat’s affordable and that you like better than the college you deposited at, deposit there, and join the ranks of “summer melt” at your original college. (Summer melt = students who got off the waitlist, students who found better deals via the NACAC list, etc… and never matriculate at the college where they deposited on May 1st.) If nothing is better than your original choice, it means it wasn’t such a bad choice for you!

13

OP seems to have flown the coop