Hi, I am a first year Natural Science Student (Phy, Chem, Maths, Comp) studying at University of Cambridge.
I am on track and hopefully will be getting a first or a high 2-1 in my tripos.
I am considering transferring to a US university probably Ivies, UChicago, MIT etc
Do you have any experience on what the process is like? Is it possible to do so?
(I am a US citizen)
Yes but transferring at what point? You would have to complete our application next winter as your only shot.
Ivies (and little ivies) have very few transfer spots since very few students leave.
Sorry for this question, but why do you want to transfer from such a great college? It is completely okay is you do not want to answer:)
If I get into a decent university in US with a good financial aid package, then I dont mind transferring!! Also I know this doesnt seem important but it is - the weather!! The weather at cambridge isnt ideal!!
How is the weather at any of the Ivies/MIT/UChicago better?
The w-weath…
…
O.K.
All of the Ivy Leagues are located in New England, a region known for its occasional brutal winters and somewhat gloomy days. Chicago gets some terrible winters too, on par with Cambridge, I’d reckon. You want good weather, try Stanford.
I’ll hand it to you, when admissions looks at your profile, your current university will probably rattle their offices and blow some socks off, but make no mistake- you will still need a very strong reason to transfer. That one aspect alone may prove to be your most difficult obstacle. As most people reading this thread are probably whispering to themselves, give Cambridge another shot. It may be hard to see it now, but that name will carry you so.damn.far. And you have the added bonus of already being a student there. So that’s cool.
I do wish you the best if you decide to go down the transfer route but my advice would be to seriously reconsider. If the red brick buildings of Harvard are truly that enticing, then I’d encourage you to do a semester exchange program!
@AGoodFloridian: I’m pretty certain that Cambridge doesn’t do exchanges (it’s a 3 year program, after all), but still, it’s a 3 year program.
So transferring doesn’t make a lot of sense. After 2 years, there’s only one year left to get the degree at Cambridge.
Edit: Oh wait: they may have one with MIT, but I don’t know if that is still running.
You hope to get good financial aid back in US top schools. Are you a full-pay international (USA) student at Cambridge? Is finance becoming an issue more than the weather?
@sk8rmom : yeah that is a problem too: I dont know why but sometimes I feel really awkward being at Cam when Im a US Citizen - but dont get me wrong, Cambridge Uni is an excellent academic environment and the course is both enriching and very academically intense!!
It is of course possible to do, and each school has a detailed section on the process on their websites. What you do not seem to have is a reason for transferring. While I am sympathetic to the downside of British weather, as other posters have pointed out, all of the schools that you name (except Stanford) have worse weather than Cambridge does. That suggests the possibility that you want to be in the US and/or have parents that want you to be at any ‘Ivy League’ school. Do you really want to transfer into Columbia or Chicago, with their strong core curriculums? Seems unlikely.
On another thread you say that you are from Bangalore, have joint citizenship but lived in the US for just 3 years. Nobody at Cam could possibly know that you have US citizenship unless you tell them, so why would you feel awkward about having it?
Between the fact that the schools you listed will consider how much financial aid you will need in deciding whether to accept you, and the fact that they have tiny numbers of places opening each year, you are very unlikely to be successful (as, I gather, you were not last year).
Moreover, making the case for ‘why’ will be very difficult: arguing that Cambridge can’t meet your academic needs will take some doing (several of these schools specifically say that they consider the academic reason for your application).
What about for just financial reasons?
I am sorry but what you are saying makes zero sense. If the issue is financial alone I don’t see how your remaining 2 years at Cambridge is going to be more expensive then the next 3-4 years in the US. I am not sure transfer students are eligible for any aid or scholarships at US schools especially the target schools you are looking at, but a native would have much more info on that than I.
@elguapo1: The richest American privates tend* to provide generous fin aid to all who manage to get in to their flagship undergraduate program, including transfers.
Still, considering that you would have 1 year left at Cam but 2 left at an American undergrad (and you obviously could afford Cam enough to accept there), I doubt the cost savings would be much if at all.
If you flat out cannot afford to stay at Cambridge you should talk with your adviser (or whatever is appropriate) there and discuss any ways there are available to help you.
So your previous posts indicate that you attempted to get into the ivies but were unsuccessful.
So you took the next best thing and accepted Cambridge.
Now you want to “back-door” an entry to the ivies, again, because of the “weather and money” AS a TRANSFER.
Sorry but this is not going to happen.
If you were open to any uni, then I would say you have a shot.
Your problem is that not only do you want to transfer, but you also need:
money to attend,
and want to transfer to the hardest universities that have limited spaces
and don’t have a legitimate reason for transferring.
Not going to happen. You can’t get in through the back door because they didn’t admit you the first time.
You can’t apply to universities you applied to already.
Do you have universities you didn’t apply to as a senior in high school that you’d rather attend than Cambridge AND that would be cheaper?
Because weather and academics are out in terms of legitimate reasons (pretexts) and Ivies don’t admit as transfers students they denied as freshmen.
Question: do you even have marks at this point?
Transferring in isn’t a backdoor to the unis the OP listed considering that it’s even harder to transfer in than to get in as a freshman at the places the OP listed.
If you REALLY REALLY want to go to those schools, do (very) well at Cam and get in to one of their PhD programs.