<p>The US population isn’t 300 million ADULTS, superdrive 021. That number includes children.</p>
<p>“I just think that I should work hard towards my dream. I also believe that people should look upwards and pursue high goals instead of looking down and be satisfied.”</p>
<p>Have you ever stopped to examine WHY it’s your dream? Other than you’ll bring honor onto the parents and the old country for going to an Ivy, because naive Asian parents think that the Ivies are the key to success and happiness in the US?</p>
<p>“Honourable Yale graduate, I really admire your achievement and I will give you my highest respect.”</p>
<p>You’re in America now. A Yale graduate deserves no more intrinsic respect for having a Yale degree than anyone else. You don’t know if he’s “honourable” or not. Yale graduates are just people, like anyone else. Some are good, some are bad.</p>
<p>I have a question about Frrph’s quote:</p>
<p>“But please understand that there really, really, REALLY is no major difference between UCLA and Yale, especially when you get to the international and graduate level.”</p>
<p>Isn’t the quality of education at Yale better than UCLA’s? I know UCLA is now considered as an ivy of the west, but unless I’m mistaken, isn’t it significantly more difficult to get good grades at Yale than it is at UCLA? I just always assumed the ivy leagues were so reputable because they offered a type of education no other universities could compete w/…</p>
<p>That’s probably the case historically, MrX… but given the insanely low acceptance rates of the Ivies (turning away clearly qualified students), the schools right below them in quality/prestige/whatever have been seeing a really nice boost in student quality. I’d say while that may be the case (as a transfer student originally from UC Berkeley, I can tell you that Yale is harder than Berkeley in my experience), the gap is quickly closing.</p>
<p>“That’s probably the case historically, MrX… but given the insanely low acceptance rates of the Ivies (turning away clearly qualified students), the schools right below them in quality/prestige/whatever have been seeing a really nice boost in student quality. I’d say while that may be the case (as a transfer student originally from UC Berkeley, I can tell you that Yale is harder than Berkeley in my experience), the gap is quickly closing.”</p>
<p>Well I know there are many kids who probably would’ve done well in the ivies if they’d gotten in, but what I meant was, aren’t the professors significantly better teachers at Yale? Don’t students have a more intense educational experience in the ivy league schools?</p>
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<p>How do you quantify better? Two people each go get their PhD. One goes on to teach at Yale, the other at UCLA. What makes you think the one who goes to Yale would be a better classroom teacher?</p>
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<p>Seriously, are you Asian? Because there continues to be this assumption among the Asian population that the Ivies are the be-all-and-end-all and everything else is just second-class. And that’s just not true. And it is annoying when the world-as-it-works-in-Asia is projected to America. </p>
<p>Me, personally, I would choose Yale over UCLA if I had the choice, but both can provide excellent educations.</p>
<p>“I just always assumed the ivy leagues were so reputable because they offered a type of education no other universities could compete w/…”</p>
<p>MrX, why would you assume that? Especially given that the Ivy League is merely an athletic conference founded in the last 50 years or so?</p>
<p>Yeah. I’d actually suggest going to a small liberal arts school if you want the best educational experience in terms of professor interaction. Honestly the quality of professors at a school like UCLA or Berkeley is very similar to Yale or Harvard. Both sets of universities attract top-notch professors from all over the world (you have to remember that for most of these professors, their primary concern is their research, not teaching… and in terms of research Berkeley and UCLA are right up there with Harvard and are probably better than Yale). The main advantage you’d get is probably smaller class size at Yale and Harvard and more money floating around available for undergrads to do things.</p>
<p>Well, Mr. MagiTF, I am waiting for your answer. Since you seem to suggest that there is no major difference between UCLA/UCB and Yale, then why would you transfer to Yale in the first place and what made you leave UCB? I am very curious.</p>
<p>I never said there was no major difference between the schools at all. I said there was no major difference in terms of professor quality. There are plenty of other reasons to like Yale (or Berkeley for that matter).</p>
<p>As for your PM and the answer you’re waiting for, fanofnapoleon, I have other things to do then sit there and respond to messages asking about the details of why I wanted to transfer so you can try and mimic it in your application. I’m on these forums to try and help transfer students, but that doesn’t mean you should expect an answer within a few hours to your PM.</p>
<p>fanofnapoleon, you may find this hard to believe since you’re all caught up in the overall prestige of Yale relative to UCLA, but perhaps MagiTF has a specific <em>field</em> that he cares about that might be better at Yale vs UCLA. It’s not always all about prestige.</p>
<p>Since you took Chinese, I’m going to assume that you are Oriental Asian. Your statistics are great except for the 1,980 SAT, which is relatively bad. However, many top schools are racist towards Orientals, because, while they are a minority, they are by far the most dominant race in terms of applications. Only 15% of their school can be Asian, and far more than that apply. </p>
<p>You come off as a bit arrogant, many would kill to be going to UCLA like you are. Just succeed wherever you are.</p>
<p>Your ACT Composite score of 28, and your SAT CR scores of 550 & 580 are not sufficient to be competitive for admission to any Ivy League school; nor are these scores good enough for UCLA if you were an out-of-state applicant. Your posted profile does not show any demonstrated accomplishments in any area that overcome these test results. In my opinion, you would be wasting your time & money applying to any elite university as a transfer unless you earn a near perfect 4.0 GPA AND get original research published in a respected journal during your time at UCLA.</p>
<p>According to a previous poster here, a 3.4 GPA NYU student transferred to Yale; they talked about growing up in Russia. A 3.8 from Penn with ton of EC’s was rejected.</p>
<p>If Yale wants you, Yale will let you in regardless. Remember, Yale transfer program is designed for students who would not have a chance to enter as freshman, and also to increase diversity.</p>
<p>You may stand a good chance for transfer admission to MIT, as your SAT CR scores are not as important as your math, chemistry & physics abilities. But Yale is not likely based on your posted info.</p>
<p>Yes I know my statistics are not competitive to Yale. So I would listen to your advice and not waste my time applying to the honourable Yale University. I will think about other schools though.</p>
<p>Fanofnapoleon - just call it Yale. The “honourable Yale University” is obnoxious. That’s not how we talk here in America.</p>