What do you intend to do with a degree in biology? Biology is a field where some form of graduate degree is relatively likely.
If you intend to be premed and go on to medical school, Penn State is a great university to be premed. In terms of your chances to go to medical school, it is dubious that you would gain anything by transferring to NYU, BU, or Columbia.
If you intend to go on to get a master’s degree or a PhD, then a bachelor’s degree from Penn State can set you up to do very well in graduate school admissions.
A close family member got their bachelor’s degree from a school that is ranked lower than Penn State (but was close to home and gave good merit aid, implying it was affordable). Then they got two closely related master’s degrees from Columbia. All of this was in a biology / health care related field. They have done very well since in their career.
Another close family member got a bachelor’s degree in biology from a school that would probably be ranked about the same as Penn State, in the unlikely event that they ever showed up in the same ranking, and is currently getting a PhD in a biomedical field from a very good program (well ranked, and a very good fit for the particular research that they want to do).
Some things that will help you a lot in terms of getting accepted to a good graduate program (whether medical school or something else): Great grades in university. Getting to know your professors (and getting good letters of reference). Good experience (whether medical or research). You can get all of these at Penn State.
Some things that will not matter much or at all when applying to graduate programs: High school grades. Whether you get your bachelor’s degree at Penn State, BU, or NYU, or somewhere else.
As a biology major, you will have lots of classes that overlap with premed classes. Some of these are going to be tough. There will be lots of very strong students in these classes regardless of whether you are at Penn State or somewhere else. You are going to need to put in a huge effort to keep ahead in your class work. Attend every class. Pay attention. Keep way ahead in all of your class work. Expect to spend some Saturday afternoons and Sunday afternoons studying (hopefully you can mostly take Saturday evenings off, most of the time).
Have you even started yet at Penn State? You are going to find a lot of opportunities there.
Penn State is really a very good university. You can do really well starting with a bachelor’s degree from Penn State. This includes the opportunity to get accepted to graduate programs (whether medical or something else) pretty much anywhere. There will be lots of opportunities to participate in research and/or medical shadowing at Penn State.
Exactly.
Again exactly right.
I agree with others that if you wait to transfer after two years then your high school results will be way less important. I also agree that transferring to Columbia is a very high reach regardless of how you do at Penn State.
However, I think that your best plan by far is to work very hard at Penn State, stay way ahead in all of your course work, do very well there, and then look for other schools if and when you get around to thinking about graduate programs. Do not underestimate how academically demanding Penn State will be. Do not underestimate how strong the professors and the students there will be. This will be a challenge, but a challenge that the admissions staff at Penn State feel you can handle. It will not be easy.
Also, congratulations on your acceptance to Penn State! This really is an excellent opportunity. You should do your best to make the best of it. Congratulations, and best wishes.