I got rejected from all of my top choices, and got accepted only to my safety school(A large public state university - not a bad one, but not in the top 100 either) at the honors college with a full ride. However, I really don’t feel it is the best fit for me, as the school is very large, and my field of interest (computational neuroscience) isn’t really supported as much as at top schools. Is there any chance that I could transfer to a top school (Ivys, Duke, Stanford, University of Chicago, etc) with my stats?
Also, what else can I do to boost my chances, if it is possible?
Highschool GPA (Unweighted): 3.99 (Year hasn’t ended yet, but this is what I expect it to end at)
Have an associates degree from a local community college as part of a dual enrollment
Highschool ECs and Clubs: Math league and science leagues, National honors society, Phi Theta Kappa, part of the Columbia University Science Honors Program; Competitor in my state’s science league;
Sports/Activities: Dancing in front of and Giving speeches to an audience of around 100-200 people as a part of a cultural group
Beginner fencer
ACT score: 35
I plan to take a research position in my first year at the University
Excellent grades.
Excellent letters of recommendation.
Excellent ECs.
Lots of luck.
Yes, some students do pull this off.
If you are planning to get a graduate degree (and it sounds like the field you are interested in will require one) then it won’t matter too much where you get your B.S. degree from. Focus on taking the most challenging curriculum and getting involved in research as soon as possible (as you say you plan to). You can get into top-notch graduate schools with a degree for a major state university (don’t fret about the rankings).
as to whether you will be able to transfer to a different school to finish your B.S. Well, it will depend significantly on how well you do in your first years at the school you are initially enrolled in. It is likely that the soonest you can transfer is after your second semester but then with your Associate’s degree, you might have Senior standing and then transferring will be harder.
I just don’t see how you couldn’t get accepted to any of the top schools you applied to with a resume like that. What more do these schools want, for you to have laser vision and human-flight capability?
I find to believe that with your stats you havent gotten accepted into any top 50 university.
Unless you literally only applied to ivy’s and safeties