ubajpai

Hi, I just got accepted into Penn State University for engineering. I've applied to more but their dates haven't come out yet, so lets just say I go to Penn State and do really good in the first year.

Then what are my chances at the top engineering schools like Univ of California, Berkeley, and the Ivy leagues.

IF you can change, then what do the colleges look at mostly after your first year of college?

Thanks in advance.

happymomof1

Go to the Transfer Forum, and read through the thread at the to with the title "Transfer Admissions 101".

ucbalumnus

Many universities are more friendly to transfer applicants at the junior level (after two years) than at the sophomore level (after one year). College grades are most important for transfer applicants, although sophomore level transfer applicants' high school grades and test scores can still be important (or more important than for junior level transfer applicants).

Of course, you also need to consider cost and financial aid issues, as well as the transferability of your course work. Also, some private universities accept very few transfer students.

What's wrong with Penn State? Also, most of the Ivy League schools are not among what people consider to be the top engineering schools.

texaspg

Sounds like you are an international student from India.

There are several issues with transfers at the undergrad level for engineering.

1. Different schools have different requirements for different majors. So what you might need at Penn State and study during 1st year may not be what Cal Berkeley will need for the same major.

2. In a lot of cases, 1st years are doing core classes that are needed outside of engineering. If you don't have IB or AP credits that give you credit for those, you will be forced to do them. When you switch colleges, the core may change and you may be required to do more work or repeat somethings.

3. It takes a lot of effort and planning to finish engineering at Cal in 4 years. So switching from one school to another might stretch your graduation time period. If you are serious about Cal, you might be better off starting inside California in another college than Penn State because you will probably be doing what is needed at Cal in the first year.

4. Engineering takes too long. Pick one school and be happy unless your parents can pay for 5-6 years of college if you need to keep transfering.

5. It is only November. Wait until April to make decisions on the school.

Erin's Dad

Information in Cal's Common Data Set won't help you in assessing your chances from OOS because most Cal transfers are from instate. Most Ivies accept few transfers at all.

ucbalumnus

It is not that difficult for freshmen in Berkeley engineering to finish in 8 semesters (especially since Berkeley engineering is so selective now that most come in with AP credit for math). However, junior transfers often have a more difficult time finishing in 4 semesters, since their prior colleges (whether California community colleges that provide the bulk of junior transfers, or other four year schools) often do not have exact matches for the necessary lower division courses, so they have to take those courses to "catch up" after transfer. This can be an issue with any transfer.

The colleges that provide the best coverage for Berkeley lower division courses for transfer purposes are likely community colleges near Berkeley (e.g. Diablo Valley or Laney). However, they may not have as good coverage for other UCs and CSUs, or private or out-of-state universities, and have other issues like extreme course overcrowding at some (because they are open admission, while reducing capacity due to budget cuts).

Penn State is still a very respectable school for engineering, so you should not be dissatisfied with attending for four years and graduating from there.