<p>I have a question about transfers and it would be great if any of you could help. In high school, I had a non weighted GPA of about a 3.0. My ACT score is 27 and will be attending my freshmen year at UC Riverside. If I get a 3.8 GPA in my freshmen year is there any chance I can transfer to any of the below colleges? I know I have to wait 2 years to transfer to some of these colleges, but if I maintained a 3.8 GPA is there any chance I will be admitted into any of these college?</p>
<ol>
<li> University of Chicago</li>
<li> Dartmouth College</li>
<li> Northwestern University</li>
<li> Washington University in St. Louis</li>
<li> Cornell University</li>
<li> Johns Hopkins University</li>
<li> Brown University</li>
<li> Emory University</li>
<li> Carnegie Mellon University</li>
<li>University of Notre Dame</li>
<li>University of California–Los Angeles</li>
<li>University of Southern California</li>
<li>Georgia Institute of Technology</li>
<li>University of California–San Diego</li>
<li>University of Rochester</li>
<li>University of California–Irvine</li>
</ol>
<p>Sorry about the long list. I really want to know where I have a chance, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to stay at UCR. Thanks :)</p>
<p>For most of the private colleges you’ll also need to bring up the ACT or take the SAT. With that there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to transfer to a good school.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that UCLA accepts transfers after one year; dunno about UCI. WashU loves high test scores, so it’ll be a big reach. Like all top privates, Dartmouth depends a lot on Frosh attrition, which is usually very low, so the number of spots that open up for a Soph transfers are extremely low. But, OTOH, with it’s Soph summer, Dartmouth makes it easy for transfers to assimilate. Cornell-CAS will be a tough as D. Cornell-CALS is much more transfer-friendly, IFF you write an excellent 'Why Cornell this college" esssay.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if OP (original poster) is still around, but this is a good reference for others with the same state of mind to reflect on…
the op is just like many many many high school students who have similar mindset of: “oh, since i did good/ok/bad in high school, im going into ucr/ucm/etc for two years, do absolutely amazing there because its an ‘easy school,’ and then transfer out to a ‘bomb’ top university!” stop the train and snap out of it. Seriously, that list up there consists of top universities and privates that “everyone talks about and wants to go to.” Try UCR first, go in with a positive attitude and see what happens. If you attend college with a negative outlook on it, then OF COURSE your are going to have a hard time there… </p>
<p>Overall, saying you’re pretty sure you don’t want to stay at UCR without attending it is a pretty bold statement. I wanted to revive this thread because ive noticed a lot of incoming first-years are planing on piggybacking off excellent Universities with a bad rap… for them I highly recommend they read up on the following thread: </p>
<p>This is not the first post in which a incoming frosh already has plans to get a 3.8+ at a 4 year University, a UC at that. This is no cakewalk and there is a reason why most don’t succeed. </p>
<p>It also appears that your list is in order according to USNEWS ranking, though correct me if I am wrong. A good school is not about rankings. If you think USNEWS means much, there is a plethora of literature out there you should read that shows the rankings don’t mean much.</p>
<p>UCR is not a bad school. It only gets a bad reputation on this board because people look at it as the “admit everyone University.” </p>
<p>That said, if you can maintain a high GPA, most have been able to transfer with no problem to the various mid tiers and even UCB/UCLA.You could get into some of those privates too, but understand that just about every private on your short list is a reach.</p>
<p>Cali Trumpet is right on the money about the GPA, it certainly is no cakewalk! plus if you have plans of going into graduate programs, having a UC on your diploma is impressive as is, leave the rank business behind. </p>
<p>on a UCR note, check out over at the ucr cc page of all the people that were rejected and are “socked” because UCR is now a competitive university and not an “admit everyone”
sad yet slightly humorous…</p>
<p>Going into college with the attitude of transferring is going to absolutely ruin your first year experience. I’d know, I made the same mistake. I did my best to want to enjoy where I was, but I was so set on transferring that I probably made my first year experience worse than it would have been. It was filled with stress and anticipation over college applications. Granted, I’m still trying to transfer next year, but UCR is a fine school and I’ve had a lot of fun here. Many of my friends that go to UCR absolutely love it. The city sucks, but that doesn’t mean your life is going to suck. You don’t live in the city, you live in a dorm with other teenagers.</p>
<p>College is college, and living in dorms is almost always fun. Give it a chance, get good grades, and think about transferring later. Your first year of college is time for new experiences and maturing, don’t ruin it with anticipation of transferring. In all honesty, you’d probably have trouble transferring after your first year (I wasn’t accepted anywhere despite getting a 3.81 my first quarter), so you might as well get settled in and enjoy your experience.</p>
<p>With my fatherly advice now out of the way, you’ll probably have a good chance at transferring if you maintain a 3.8 after two years. However, you’ll need to distinguish yourself in other ways as well, assuming your high school stats were poor. I’m considering retaking the SAT (after actually studying this time), and you might want to do the same. </p>
<p>Getting a 3.8 isn’t easy. I’ve maintained a 3.94 for my first year, but did so by studying much, much more than I ever did in high school, never missing a lecture, and paying active attention and taking notes. You’re going to really have to change your habits and attitude towards learning and studying in order to maintain a 3.8 or higher. Believe me, just because it’s the lowest ranked UC (well not really anymore) does NOT mean it’s easy. Many of the classes are still very, very difficult (Chem 1A blew me out of the water). It’s a UC, and they assign work and write tests accordingly.</p>
<p>If you have any questions, feel free to send me a PM.</p>