If I don't get in now.. Maybe LATER??? (Parents, advice please!)

Parents Forum
#1

<p>My High School Stats (I'm a senior)
My College List is below and I don't think I'll get accepted to many of them, and assuming the worst (I get accepted and attend Mason or Madison, or any otherprivate university), is it possible to transfer to the school of my dreams the following year (one year of college), assuming I do really well??
How much harder is it transfer than regular college admissions as a high school student? Is there a limit for applying? Can I apply to like 4 or 5 places every year?
Basically my plan is to transfer out my freshman/sophomore year to a prestigious university...</p>

<p>MAJOR: Computer Science</p>

<p>SAT: 1930 (690 Math, 670 Wrtigin, 570 Reading)
SAT II: None taken. Might take Math IIBC in January (650-700+)
GPA: 2.9 Cumulative (2.8 Freshman, 2.2 Sophomore, 3.6 Junior, 2.9 Senior)
First two years were low because of living in an unstable environment/moving; senior year, course load was high...
State Residency: Virginia (Northern Virginia)</p>

<p>Course Load:
Freshman - biology honors
Sophomore - ap world history
Junior - ap english
Senior - ap calculus ab, ap computer science ab, ap psychology</p>

<p>EC's:
Activities
• JV Basketball Captain
• Web Design Club Founder and President</p>

<p>Volunteer Experience
• Community Service Project Construction - La Paz, Bolivia
Helped build house foundation and floor structure for a new residential implementation for an adoption center.
• Community Service Technical Service - La Paz, Bolivia
Built and maintained website for the community service department at school; photographer.
• Habitat for Humanity - La Paz, Bolivia
Volunteer for American Embassy; dug 6 ft. deep x 6 ft. wide holes for bathroom and pipeline installations.
• Smithsonian Institute – Natural Museum of Natural History
Managed and submitted digital microscope images to world’s largest, online database of paleobotonical fossil collections.
• Volunteer Fairfax
Saved the non-profit organization hundreds of dollars and much time by fixing a technical issue they had with one of their newspaper publications format.</p>

<p>Work Experience
• Freelance web/graphic design in La Paz, Bolivia.
Designed online teacher portfolios.
• Summer job at Janmedia Interactive (<a href="http://www.janmedia.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.janmedia.com&lt;/a&gt;)
Because Janmedia was too busy sealing deals with higher end clients ($100k+), they relied on me to deal with the high influx of requests from smaller clients.</p>

<p>Other
• Took a summer college credit course at George Mason and got a B.</p>

<p>Recommendations
• Smithsonian/Research Associate - Berkeley Graduate
• Janmedia's Presdient + Vice President (wrote a really excellent recommendation) - William and Mary Graduates</p>

<p>MY LIST (already applied to some of them):
1. George Mason // INSTATE
2. James Madison // INSTATE
3. Virginia Tech // INSTATE
4. Northeastern
5. U. Washington
6. Lehigh
7. U. Maryland
8. William and Mary // INSTATE + RECOMMENDATION + COUSIN ALUMNUS</p>

<p>TRANSFER LIST (dream schools)
1. U Rochester
2. U Southern California // LEGACY
3. UCLA
4. U Virginia
5. Brown
6. Columbia // GRANDFATHER PROFESSOR/ALUMNUS, UNCLE ALUMNUS</p>

#2

<p>My recommendation: Go to the least expensive school--probably that means in state--that takes you and work on good study skills and on very good grades. If you are not happy there and have a solid record, work on a transfer strategy after two years. Also remember, where you go to school matters little. It is what you do with what you've got. As far as transfer policies, each school is different. Check them out.</p>

#3

<p>Your transfer list is probably your grad school list. There is an art to strong academic performance. It will take you a few years at university to sort that out. Enjoy those years!</p>

#4

<p>Ok so.... is it easier??</p>

#5

<p>Well the easiest thing is assuming you're going to do "really well" in college before you've even gotten there. Don't get me wrong, I hope you do real well, but generally college grades will be somewhat similar to high school grades. I think you'll do better if you go in with a positive attitude; give your school a chance and at least entertain the possibility you might actually like it there.</p>

<p>You can check transfer stats for the schools that interest you. Most of those on your list won't be easy to transfer into, since not many leave, so there aren't a lot of openings. You can get information on the transfer threads on cc. Yes you can apply to 4 or 5 at a time.</p>

#6

<p>Your initial college grades will be the same or lower than your high school grades--but you could be getting all As in sophomore year. It depends on your willingness to learn how to perform at a high academic level. It is a skill and it can be learned--with effort.</p>

<p>Colleg life, however, is much easier than high school life. Says me. You may think you are busy but believe me, that is not busy--as in two kids, a business, a mortgage and a life of responsibilities busy--college life is too much fun.</p>

#7

<p>I agree. Save your dream list for grad school. The "speed of the game" is so much faster in college than in high school. One of the biggest mistakes I see students on this board is to get hung up on prestige. Find a good <em>fit</em> and if you're not sure what that is, start asking questions. Then do well there. <em>Then</em> worry about the next level up. Students at schools 3-6, in particular, on your second list would likely eat your lunch. They performed at a much higher level AND many of them had the heavy schedules or lived in unstable environments, yada yada. Your best chance at success comes from experiencing success first. Get something better than a 3.5 for some of the schools on your first list...and some of them, like William & Mary, Maryland, and U/Washington aren't easy admits for you as it is.</p>

#8