<p>I started last semester as a freshman at a state school. I didn’t do too much in high school so I applied with a 2.8 GPA, no extracurriculars and a 28 on my ACT. I got a 3.0 my first semester with 12 hours. All of those classes were general education that I took to get out of the way. Now it is the second semester and I am not returning to school. I want to transfer and go out of state next semester and I want to the schools I want to attend are: Boston University, University of Rochester, UCLA, Northwestern, Case Western, UW Madison, Northeastern and other similar schools. I know with my background it may be difficult so I was wondering is there anything I can do these few months to help my chances for transfer. I will probably end up working part time most of the semester. I was thinking of retaking the ACT with writing, or taking the SAT after doing some prep work. My parents suggested that I don’t apply to the engineering department of the next school and wait to transfer into engineering after being accepted and doing well for a semester. Also if there are any schools that have good Biomedical engineering programs I may have neglected please let me know. </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>You were a B student in highschool (and perhaps slightly under performing as indicated by your 28 ACT) and a B student for one semester in college. Your list of transfer schools is not a match for your performance. And no amount of ECs during your semester off is going to offset the B gradepoint average. You can always do the college transfer apps and see what happens, but it is pretty much a lotto ticket rather than a well thought out match between you and your list.</p>
<p>Also note that some colleges do not let you switch majors and if the major is housed in a different internal college (ie: Arts&Humanities vs. Engineering&Technology) this can be even more restrictive and difficult. Be sure to read the fine print of each college to see if major swapping is allowed after transfer and the requirements and the likelihood of being granted permission if there is a review process.</p>
<p>My advise is to take another year at CC and kick your grades up to a 4.0 to show the transfer colleges you are a serious student who is capable of getting As at the college level.</p>
<p>Btw, UCLA doesn’t take less than junior level transfer students. You need to research each college and figure out things like what is the average gpa for accepted transfers, if the college accepts lower division transfer students, etc.</p>