<p>I am a senior male from VA waitlisted at UVA, and have narrowed down my college choices to a few schools. My ultimate goal is to transfer to UVA after my first year, and I was wondering what would be the best path I could take in order to reach this goal. My two paths can basically be summed up as follows:
-Go to William and Mary for my freshman year. There are pros and cons to this, the pros obviously being the name of the college and the cons coming along the lines of the fact that it does not fit my personality at all. I know that I will not work as hard as many of the kids there, so will I not even be able to maintain a GPA high enough for me to transfer to UVA? Any thoughts on the switch from WM to UVA would be greatly appreciated.
-Go to Tech or Madison. Again pros and cons with both of these, pros being I would have the time of my life and not be that stressed as far as schoolwork is concerned and cons being that neither is really even close to the level of UVA or WM. Any thoughts on how high a GPA one needs to transfer from Tech/Madison to UVA, and how hard it is to maintain that GPA?
Thanks for your thoughts, any opinions would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>id say go to w&m and get good grades ur 1st year
apply to uva and hope u get in
if not w&m is still a good school
so thats all i can say</p>
<p>actually, wisconsin-madison is a very respectable school. if you know you'll be happy there and you know you can do well, i'd say pick uw-madison. it has some pretty solid programs and is very well respected in the midwest (nationally, it's often overshadowed by the big 10/midwest powerhouse schools northwestern and michigan-ann arbor).
if you aren't going to be happy and w&m, you won't do well, and you most likely won't be able to transfer. then, you'll be stuck at a school that makes you miserable.</p>
<p>Sorry if i wasnt clear, everthing in my post refers to William and Mary, Tech, or James Madison. I didnt apply to Wisconson. I am from VA and need to stay in state.</p>
<p>OHHHHHHH my bad. well, i'd say tech.</p>
<p>I had to make the same choice this year, after a rejection from UVA (although WM was not included in my choices). I know tons of people who love JMU, and I believe it is a little bit more reputable school than tech (unless you do engineering). I picked JMU because I thought it might be easier to succeed there, may have some more fun, and would be a little closer to UVA (+ scholarship). I too plan on transferring to UVA after my first year, I just hope my grades would be up to par. Just my thoughts.</p>
<p>if you don't like W&M, I wouldn't come here. It's quite difficult to get good grades at W&M without hating the school. I suggest you choose JMU or Tech, which ever school you like better. It will be much easier to get the GPA that UVA wants at either of those schools, if you are UVA quality, which I would say you are, since you got into W&M. You will be able to do very well at Tech or JMU, while obtaining the average freshman GPA at W&M is not going to get you into UVA as a transfer.</p>
<p>GGGunit, </p>
<p>I was in a situation nearly identical to yours. I was waitlisted from UVA, had to choose between W&M, Michigan, and Tech and decided to go to W&M. The school wasn't a great 'fit' for me and I decided to transfer to UVA after my second semester. I did well with the schoolwork, but my time at UVA has made me realize just how important a school's fit is for the kind of time that you have there.</p>
<p>So my advice would be to go to whatever school you are most comfortable at, unless prestige is the overwhelmingly huge issue in which case of course go to W&M. I would further suggest not to go in with the attitude of "I'm going to transfer", since that will bias you against whatever school you attend and make your time there much less enjoyable than it can be. Go to whatever school you like the best, make the best of your time there, and if you still want to transfer come next year the opportunity will be there. I for one am much happier at UVA than I was at W&M, but I know people who were in a similar situation to me who fell in love with W&M and are just as happy there as I am here. I'm sure the same would go for any of the other schools on your list.</p>
<p>With the new rule, you could get a 3.4 at a CC and be guaranteed admission!</p>
<p>You should go to W&M. You also shouldn't go to college with the attitude that you're definitely going to transfer. W&M is an excellent school, and chances are you'll fully realize that when you get there. If you decide that you don't want to leave, or you don't have the grades to transfer, you'll still be going to W&M. That much cannot be said about VT and JMU.</p>
<p>Community College is another route. However, you're going to need that "I'm going to transfer" attitude since community college is a two-year college.</p>
<p>personally, I cannot imagine a student turning down the schools you got into for community college.</p>
<p>personally, I cannot imagine a student turning down W&M to go to VT or JMU.</p>
<p>I was recently rejected from UVa and plan on transfering in. Until today( when I heard about the UVA-Comun. College deal) i was planning to do it via Mary Washington University. But with the low cost of CC's and the auto-acceptence thing, i'm begining to reconsider. Are there any apparent downsides to the new deal? It seems almost too good to be true.</p>
<p>BTW: It seems like I would only need to spend 1 year at the CC. looking at what they accept and with my 8 Ap courses, i would be able to get all the classes done in 2 semesters</p>
<p>^I probably will do the same thing now with the new rule about CC's in VA. Although CC's have that stigma of being inadequate, they not always are and prove to be economical for your first two years. I first found out about the new change today with regards to easy transfer. PRAISE THE LORD!</p>
<p>I am in the same situation with you. I was accepted into W&M w/ full scholarship, Mary Washington w/ some scholarship, and JMU. But, I got waitlisted by UVa, my first choice. I have decided to go to W&M next year. It is a very good school; in fact, it is successful in placing students into top graduate programs. I plan to take an advantage of the opportunities it offers. However, the school does not fit my personality; I do not study for hours and hours and hours. If I do not like being at WM, then I will try to transfer to UVa or other schools.</p>
<p>You'll be fine at W&M, hairypotty. Stereotypes can sometimes be reflective of situations, but not always. While W&M's students as a whole might study a lot, I'm sure you'll find plenty of social people.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your replies and the varied viewpoints that they reflect. Honestly, I still have no idea what I am going to do. Any more opinions would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>One more thought, I guess the thing that I keep thinking of is how badly I want to go to UVA, and how much I know it fits my personality. At the very least, I want to have the option of transfering after my freshman year. I am worried that at WM where I am just average amongst the thousands of smart people, I will have trouble getting a standout GPA. At Tech or Madison, where my SAT scores are almost 150 points above the upper 75%, I feel that I would have no trouble compiling a standout GPA. Any thoughts on this logic?</p>
<p>I looked into it, and AP credits don't help you get the associates degree at a CC done quicker. 45 hours have to be at the cc, which means two years, which is amajor deterrant for me. Does anyone know how hard it is to transfer from say, Mary Washington with a 3.1-3.5 for your first semester so you start your sophmore year at UVA?</p>