Chances to transfer to a great college for a tech startup.

Transfer Students
1

Dear friends, I am super into tech startups and want to start one, but my current college is a bad place for it. So naturally, I want to transfer to a better one. If possible, I would like to go to places like Ivies, Stanford, MIT (because of VCs), but I am open to other options.
Some info:

Extra-Curricular

  1. I am pretty good at Competitive Programming. My percentile is 91 worldwide on HackerRank (it’s a platform where not only high school but college students and graduates compete in programming competitions).
  2. I have read 12 books on Tech Startups, 2 on programming, and taken some online MOOCs on edX (3) and Alison(7). By the way does this even count?
  3. I am planning to be RA for next semester.
  4. My father owns a business and I have learned and sometimes even helped with strategies, marketing etc.
  5. I might release an app (I am not sure about this one. The ecosystem for tech startup here is pretty weak).
  6. I would try to do some research with a professor next semester. (Also, pretty unsure if any professor will be willing to as there are many master students here)

High School Academics:

  1. My grades until 10th were great (a perfect GPA) but they started to go weak. Junior year marks were 75.8%. My senior year’s grades went continuously down. My midterms grades were around 57% for the senior year (even lower for quarter 3). Though in the finals I managed 89.8%. The reasons are simple: I am an international student and in my country only final grades of 10th and 12th standard matter (universities don’t even ask for anything else), and I was giving my all on Competitive Programming in my senior year (it usually takes people at least a year if not many to get at this level and I only had 5 months).
  2. I didn’t join any clubs as there weren’t any that captured my interests.

College Academics:

  1. I am a freshman and currently, I don’t have a GPA, but I expect to get about 3.8 if not 4.0
  2. I have only joined one Entrepreneurship club, and a tech club but I don’t hold any positions.

Standardized Tests:

  1. SAT: 1890 out of 2400(was ill). 800 in Physics, 770 in Maths.
  2. ACT: 31 out 36. 10 out of 12 on Essay

I would like to transfer for this fall into a place that is friendly for TECH startups. My university does have a little bit of startup culture but there are just no tech people and only business students even though there is no restriction. I have heard a lot about Stanford, Ivy leagues, and MIT, and how they have an awesome supporting culture with plenty of people to find and work with. Moreover, Venture Capitalists also seem to be fond of them for some reason. But, I am not sure if I can get in there, so I would appreciate any help. Furthermore, I am willing to go to any other place if there are plenty tech people to work with, a good supportive environment, and some funding. I don’t really care about prestige and stuff. Thanks for your help!

2

Well, those schools you listed are out of reach. What about a tech school – like WPI, RPI, etc?

3

Reading books in general isn’t an extracurricular activity.

To continue with @intparent’s suggestions, UT Austin comes to mind. They have a fantastic computer science program, and I’ve heard that Austin, TX has a flourishing startup culture. GeorgiaTech also comes to mind. They’re a great all-around STEM institution, in the middle of a very large city (Atlanta, GA).

4

Thanks for your suggestions @intparent and @TransferStalker ! Do these universities also give scholarships? I can’t afford more than 30k a year. My university gives me a great scholarship making it affordable. And is there anything I can do to improve my chances in the universities listed above?

5

UT Austin is very hard to get into from OOS, and will give no aid to an OOS student. In general there is rarely merit aid available at most schools to transfer students, and need based aid can be worse as well. OP, what is your home state?

6

@intparent I am an international student which means I’m out of US. My native country is India. Can you also please tell me what are my weak points and some tips to improve them?

7

International student and transfer student FA is hard to come by. The most well known schools you have listed will be very difficult to transfer into. The following schools pride themselves on the marriage of technology and entrepreneurial programs. " Intparent" has already suggested WPI (see https://www.wpi.edu/news/educating-engineers-think-entrepreneurs) and RPI (see https://rpi.edu/academics/entrepreneurship.html) as possibilities and Virginia Tech (see https://search.vt.edu/search/pages.html;jsessionid=3473F1D12F91C27C30BECD6BB57F06DF.mt-prod-3?cx=012042020361247179657%3awmrvw9b99ug&cof=FORID%3a11&ie=UTF-8&sa=Search&q=entrepreneur) may also represent a working choice.

:bz

8

Thanks a lot for the recommendations @retiredfarmer ! I will definitely apply to all of them. Still, I will apply to “dream” schools because if I don’t apply, my chances are 0%