Alright guys... THE IMPOSSIBLE!... TRANSFERRING.

JHS
Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:36:01 +0000

Well, one issue you are going to have to face is that Harvard won’t be accepting any transfer applications this year. So you wouldn’t even be able to apply until 2010. And my impression is (but I may be wrong) that most of the transfers Harvard accepted (back when it accepted transfers) were going into their sophomore years. So that’s another potential hurdle.

Finally, from the standpoint of sheer numbers the odds on being accepted as a transfer are even higher than being accepted as a freshman. There is really nothing you can do to make transferring to Harvard “realistic” in the sense that you would have something like a 50% chance of acceptance, short of perhaps having your family dangle a $10 million contribution commitment before their eyes. No matter how well you do at UCSD, you will be in a large pool competing with others who did equally well elsewhere.

On the other hand, if Harvard starts accepting transfer applications again, it will admit SOME transfers, and not applying reduces the chance of acceptance to 0%. I think the best things you could do would be (a) take full advantage of the academic resources available to you at UCSD, and show that you could really use more, (b) cultivate relationships with a professor or two who will champion you, and (c) be a leader outside the classroom, accomplish things.

Of course, if you do those things, you may find yourself a lot happier and more challenged at UCSD than you thought you would be. That would be a fine outcome, too, and there’s a better chance of achieving it than there is of transferring to Harvard.