Transfer into top 20 with change of major

Transfer Students
1

Hi everyone!
I just finished my first year in a top 30 university and look to transfer to some very top schools, especially Brown. My current school being too big and hard to make connections with people is one of the main reasons for me to transfer, but another important factor is that I newly made up my mind to study computer science(which I never considered before and after taking an intro course last term I get very interested in it) and Brown’s CS program is really attractive to me. Brown has always been my dream school(deferred for ED then rej). My dilemma is that I’m now a computational math major and I’m unable to switch to CS at my school before applying to transfer(it takes a very long process to switch into the engineering school). So I’m wondering how difficult is it to transfer with a change of major. Is it almost impossible? Should I apply for the applied math major and switch after getting in?

some of my stats:
SAT 2290(superscored)
HS GPA 3.88(UW)
College GPA 3.85 (trying to move up to 3.9 next term)

Any advice would be helpful!!

2

I may also look to Upenn, Duke, Uchicago and Cornell, but my first choice is definitely Brown

3

“My current school being too big and hard to make connections with people is one of the main reasons for me to transfer”

Cornell and Penn can be considered “big”.

On the other hand, it is generally hard to make connections as a transfer student, because people who were there from the outset already have their social network. Form that perspective, a school with a large cohort of transfer students may be advantageous.

4

@monydad Thanks, but my current school is even much bigger than Cornell or Penn…

5

The schools your talking about won’t require a declaration of major before sophomore year so it isn’t an issue.

6

You don’t need to formally change your major to start collecting the right classes for that major. Start with that, so if your transfer applications don’t work out, at least you will be ready to switch majors where you are.