Chances on ivy transfer?

The schools that you have mentioned do not have much in common other than prestige, and perhaps a good economics program. Columbia has 33,000 students and is in the middle of a big city. Dartmouth has 4,000 undergraduate students (6,000 total) and is in the middle of nowhere with real winters.

I think that you are chasing prestige. I do not think that you are likely to succeed. If the schools get the sense that you are chasing prestige, they are very likely to reject your application rather quickly.

Any “top 30” university is exceptional for economics (or math, or a long list of other subjects). If you do VERY well where you are, then you will have a realistic chance for any university for graduate school.

I got my masters at a very highly ranked university, and my impression is that at least half (probably more) of the other students in the same program did not graduate from a “top 30” university. I can only recall one single university which had sent more than 2 students to the program, and it was not “top 30”. I have two close family members who got their bachelor’s at schools that are not in the top 100 in the US. One got their master’s at Columbia, the other is currently enrolled in one of the top 5 DVM programs in the world.

You do not need to attend a “top 30” bachelor’s degree program to get into a top 5 graduate program. However, since you are already at a “top 30” program my suggestion is that you work very hard to do well there. Doing well there includes looking for good internship or coop or research opportunities (which might be available for freshmen, or perhaps for upper class students). Some work experience after getting a bachelor’s might, depending upon the job, also help you get into a top graduate program.

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