Is My Coursework a Good or a Bad Thing?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hi all, so this may sound like a little of a dumb question on the surface but it’s actually got a few layers to it and I need some honest opinions as I need to know how to approach and what to focus on in my apps. I’m partially concerned (and partially feeling really good) about my coursework in college so far and I can’t tell if my passage of classes that I’ve taken is a good or a bad thing. I’ve always had the thought that I might transfer so when I got to my relatively college last year, I thought that I might as well take the hardest schedule I can for personal and transfer reasons.</p>

<p>So bit of background, I came into college with 49 credits from AP and above classes (could have come in with 75 had I taken all the tests). I had satisfied pretty much all of my college’s general reqs so I jumped into my major classes (I’m an electrical engineering and computer science double major). Aside from a couple side small classes that don’t count for anything, I’ve only take STEM related classes in college so far, which admittedly has led to some very stressful semesters. Below is what I’ve taken so far in college</p>

<p>Fall 12 (20 credits): Physics I (Calc based), Calc 3, Intro to Programming, Digital Logic Design, and some honors stuff</p>

<p>Spring 13 (18 credits): Physics II (Calc based), Diff Eq, Object Oriented Problem Solving, DC Circuits</p>

<p>Summer 13 (4 credits): AC Circuits</p>

<p>Fall 13, Spring 14 (34 credits) – Microproccesors. Communication Processes, Linear Systems Analysis I + II, Microelectronics I + II, Electromagnetics I + II, Data Algorithms</p>

<p>Pretty much all of this year for me is junior level electrical engineering classes and I’m the only sophomore (out of 90 or so) at my school doing all the soph and juniors ECE classes at once. This has meant that virtually every semester my schedule has been very intense with my advisers and profs considering it suicide. For me it’s not too hard in difficulty but very consuming in time and I’ve managed a 3.97 at a very (A) grade deflated school.</p>

<p>So my question is, how are the schools I’ll apply to (Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Cornell, etc.) view someone who has exhausted virtually every possible challenge in classes but might not receive credit for general req classes because upper schools don’t always give credit for high school stuff? Additionally, I’ll have 125 credits according to my school by the end of the semester, over 50 in my majors, and could easily graduate next year if I wanted (which no, I’m not going to). I just like to know if these schools will see my challenging coursework in a favorable fashion or not because if so, I want to be able to focus on it in my apps. I just dunno because I felt really awkward in my UC apps trying to “meet” their transfer requirements in prerreqs. I’m also curious whether I’m at an advantage or disadvantage compared with someone who took all (easier) prereq classes but is ready to jump into major classes when they transfer? Thanks!</p>

2

<p>The most important things you have NOT mentioned are:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Why do you want to transfer? Why not complete the degree where you are now and maybe go for a graduate degree at one of the schools you mentioned? My guess is that you would find better odds than transferring given your excellent academic performance.</p></li>
<li><p>Why not graduate next year? You are ahead now and you could finish a B.S. and M.S. in the time most students have only a B.S.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>My advice is to finish where you are and move on unless there is a really very critical reason for transferring. The schools you mention have very small transfer acceptance rates.</p>

<p>An anecdote from 6 years ago might serve to clarify my position. In the first semester on classes, one of my Freshman Physics majors (at Illinois Tech) asked me whether he could transfer to MIT after a year. Of course I said it was possible but why would he want to do that without knowing anything about our program. Well, after 4 years he graduated from Illinois Tech having gotten involved in research at FermiLab and now he is a second year Ph.D. student at Johns Hopkins on a full assistantship. He simply took advantage of the opportunities he was given and did not suffer from not transferring to MIT.</p>