You might consider waiting to apply for transfer in Fall 2026. The benefits include three semesters of college performance vs. one semester, and more space between the Barnard HS denial. Real talk…you are asking Barnard to change their minds based on an additional four months of data (and unless an AO specifically told you the denial was because of ECs and not grades, that’s probably not the case.)
Brown, Penn and Cornell don’t take a great deal of unhooked transfer applicants. Cornell’s numbers look large because of their transfer option and NY state CC articulation agreements.
With Barnard in particular, if you apply for Fall 2025 and are denied, I expect you are done there. Whereas if you wait for Fall 2026 your chance may be greater, assuming a high college GPA.
If you stayed where you are, since it’s a full ride, would your parents pay for vet school then? Don’t underestimate how having several hundred thousand dollars in vet school loans will impact your life.
Summer internships at many schools are not local. I would look at them and see what they are about, what offer etc. They look like excellent opportunities and at least 1 is on Long Island. Yes- it is far out, but it is doable.
I also think that if you do your own research you will find opportunities within NYC. It’s only October and you are already involved in research and clubs.
Vet school is expensive. That is something to consider.
Acceptance to vet school is extraordinarily competitive. Most successful candidates to vet school that I know of have taken one or two gap years to study for the standardized test and to work with (primarily) large animals. That is an option if you stay in your current school. You can also seek out options in NYC (vet offices, animal hospitals, nature centers, zoo, etc.). Be proactive.
And please do consider the long-term ramifications of borrowing what could be over $200k for vet school. Perhaps if you stay at Mcaulay, your parents could help if you get into vet school.
My friend’s son is at a SUNY school, biology major and plans to apply to vet schools. He works 1 day a week at a veterinarians office, volunteered at an animal hospital, and had a paid internship this past summer on the west coast.
He found several opportunities on his own. I have no doubt that you can do the same in NYC. You need to be proactive, as noted above. This would be true at Barnard as well.
Apply to Barnard if you wish. While it is certainly an excellent school, I would think twice before giving up what you already have. I would also ask your parents if they are in a position to help pay for vet school, given your full ride. Even a little bit would help.
Take a look at the animal farms on Long Island- many take volunteers.
You were rejected by Barnard, and you have no significant additional record as of now from college to change that. Even if you were to apply with 2 semesters of 4.0 from CUNY, I doubt that it would change anything. Brown, Penn, and Cornell private are all also probably an impossibly long shot.
Meanwhile, if you’re in-state for NY, and thinking of vet school, what about two of Cornell’s public colleges, Agriculture and Life Science, and Human Ecology?
If this is an interest, I would reach out to professors in the dept and ask about research opportunities. You can do this even if you put in transfer applications.
You said your parents are willing to pay for Barnard but that you are on your own for vet school.
Would they be taking out loans for Barnard (or any of the other schools on your list)? If they have the funds available for Barnard, would they be willing to help pay for vet school - even a little - if you remain at your current school?
As a parent, I would not take out this much money in loans to pay for Barnard- not sure if this is being considered.
all they said is they can and will finance my undergrad if I make it to these schools. we have some money saved up. the full ride is a merit scholarship, not because I needed financial aid
Given that your parents have some money saved up for your college education, would they be willing to help pay for vet school (even a little) if you remain at your current school?
This is none of my business and you do not have to answer. I just wanted to bring this up because vet school is very expensive and you said you would be paying for it on your own.
As you know, these transfer schools offer $0 in merit scholarships. This means your family would be paying about $90,000 a year for three years…close to $300,000 just to finish undergrad. And even with a degree from these schools, there really isn’t a guarantee you will get accepted to veterinary school.
You have already established some excellent relationships at CUNY that could benefit you in the future. You are a first month freshman student who already has a research opportunity. This will only grow if you stay where you are. You would be starting from scratch as a transfer.
If you want to apply to these schools, then go ahead, but don’t burn your bridges behind you.
I second the poster who said you should apply to Cornell CALS (or Human Ecology). They are much better suited to a pre vet than Barnard, your rationale for transferring would thus make more sense, and is as prestigious (because that’s kind of an underlying factor).
Mount Holyoke would also offer a good pre vet environment. Investigate women’s colleges in a more rural environment where you’ll have access to large animals.
This will leave you with a huge debt. It will be very tough getting out from under that much debt with a veterinarian’s salary. Being a DVM is a great career if you are strongly drawn to it, and if you really want to do it, and if you can get there without much debt. Getting there without excessive debt is difficult for most DVM students.
It would be much better if your parents can help you with at least some of the cost of a DVM program. Saving money for your bachelor’s degree and using it to avoid or minimize debt from graduate school might be a good thing to consider.
And by the time that you get around to applying to DVM programs, you would be best off to have gathered quite a bit of animal experience, quite a big of experience specifically in a veterinary situation, and preferably both large and small animal experience. Being kicked, bitten, pooped on, covered in blood, and seeing beloved animals and large animals die is all part of being a DVM.
I might also note that the top ranked DVM programs are not always at the overall top ranked universities. The most obvious case of this is Colorado State, which has the #2 ranked DVM program in North America (Cornell is #3 – they swapped places a couple of years ago) but the last time that I looked Colorado State was not a “top 100” university overall. Their DVM program is superb and really does deserve to be ranked that highly (although I have not personally compared their offering with Cornell, there are perhaps 30 or more other DVM programs in the US that are also excellent, and apparently there are a few new programs being put together).
As a legacy of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862, many state flagships were established as agricultural colleges. New York was different, it established its public ag school in partnership with Cornell. Anyway, some of the strongest animal sciences programs in the country and some of the best opportunities to work with animals are at state universities.
Now, graduate programs in veterinary science are different. Pennsylvania funds UPenn’s vet school. The Grafton campus of Tufts is the vet school in Massachusetts. But for undergrad, Penn State and UMass Amherst would provide some of the best opportunities for pre-vet students in those states.
I think you have a very very favorable chance of getting into:
Barnard: Because your feelings about Barnard are genuine and you tried to ED into it.
Cornell: Because Cornell accepts a ton of transfers and being from NYC. helps.
Make sure to write very good essays i.e. Why Barnard essay ?. You also need to maintain a GPA of 3.8 or greater and be involved in research. This is a must.
To save money, you can think about transferring as a junior instead of as a sophomore because both Barnard and Cornell will transfer about 60 credits.
Also, since you’re an outstanding student, please consider a career as a Physician as well (pursue a MD or DO route). Not everyone is blessed with a great mind like yours. Since you love animals, you can still volunteer and take care of animals in a shelter.