Transferring from UC Berkeley for Financial Reasons

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I’m currently a sophomore at UC Berkeley majoring in Applied Mathematics.</p>

<p>I absolutely love this place and would hate to be separated from all the friends I got to know here, but Berkeley’s financial aid is really too little to support my family’s needs (our EFC is 0, but I’m out-of-state, so Cal gives very little gift aid and practically asks us to pay ~33k/yr out-of-pocket+loans). My sibling is also starting med school this fall, which would further place a burden on my parents financially.</p>

<p>So, I was wondering if transferring to other schools would realistically be a good option, or should I just stay and try to graduate in ~3 years? I have just begun to enjoy the joys of berkeley’s amazing upper-division math classes and will certainly regret leaving at this point after I’ve endured the huge lectures of lower-divs…</p>

<p>If I were to transfer, I would probably be considering only schools like Stanford and Harvard, as their math departments are as strong as that of Berkeley. MIT and Caltech would be good too, except I’m not an engineer and would find their engineering requirements of little interest. Princeton, unfortunately, accepts no transfers.</p>

<p>Yet I also understand that transferring to these schools is extremely hard and improbable unless I’ve done something remarkable, which I don’t think I have except academics.</p>

<p>Just for reference, my stats are as follows:</p>

<p>4.0 GPA at Berkeley
High School GPA: 5.0 out of 5.0, valedictorian of class
SAT Superscore 2280 (710 CR, 780 Math, 790 Writing)
SAT II Math Level 2 800
SAT II Physics 780
IB Score (Certificate) 41/42, includes English A1 HL (7), Math HL (7), Chem HL (6), Physics HL (7), Bio HL (7), Econ HL (7)</p>

<p>High School ECs: Model UN (chaired a few times), Impromptu Speaking, Varsity Swim Team, Piano
Other factors: I finished HS in 3 years (graduated at 16), got waitlisted at Caltech</p>

<p>Any input would be helpful! Would you say transferring is a feasible option?</p>

<p>Also: If I were indeed to transfer, what would strengthen my application more: taking a lot of upper-div math classes, or doing some computer science (which I’m not as good at? I’m interested in it but am scared that it will hurt my GPA)</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Are you planning to take a gap year or are you going to attend Cal next fall? Some schools don’t accept transfers who have completed more than 2 yrs of post-HS college, eg. H:</p>

<p>[Harvard</a> College Admissions § Applying: Transfer Program](<a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/transfer/eligibility.html]Harvard”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/transfer/eligibility.html)</p>

<p>You need to check the college websites because they vary.</p>

3

<p>Thanks! I’m planning to attend Cal in the fall. Sorry, I realized I actually meant I just finished freshman year and will be a sophomore this fall :p</p>

4

<p>Check out the University of Minnesota. UMN has an outstanding math department and houses the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), an internationally-renowned center for research in applied mathematics funded by the NSF. Out-of-state tuition is fairly reasonable. Here is some good reading material:
[Undergraduate</a> Mathematics - math.umn.edu](<a href=“School of Mathematics | College of Science and Engineering”>School of Mathematics | College of Science and Engineering)
[University</a> of Minnesota mathematics ranks fourth in the world : College of Science & Engineering : University of Minnesota, Twin Cities](<a href=“http://cse.umn.edu/admin/comm/newsreleases/2011_6_2_mathematic-top-rank.php]University”>http://cse.umn.edu/admin/comm/newsreleases/2011_6_2_mathematic-top-rank.php)
[Institute</a> for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) - About the IMA](<a href=“http://www.ima.umn.edu/about/]Institute”>About the IMA | Institute for Mathematics and its Applications | College of Science and Engineering)</p>

<p>You might also consider SUNY Stony Brook, which has a very well-known applied mathematics program and one of the largest concentrations of math majors of any public university. OOS tuition is, again, much cheaper than Berkeley.
[Stony</a> Brook University - Department of Applied Mathematics & Statistics](<a href=“http://www.ams.sunysb.edu/]Stony”>http://www.ams.sunysb.edu/)</p>

5

<p>^OP only wants to transfer to Stanford/Harvard-type schools.</p>

<p>In my opinion, taking more of any type of classes (you mention CS) is not going to help you, especially when you yourself admitted that whether you get admitted or not is going to depend on doing something special.
Taking upper-div math classes will be useful if they are small in size and you can really get to interact with professors that can write amazing recs for you. (If you are already on good terms with 2 professors from your freshman year, then it’s unnecessary).</p>

<p>What would strengthen your application more? Something outside of class: research (getting some sort of recognition/publishing would be nice), leadership, ECs, etc…</p>

<p>You could also consider other top math programs / top universities: UChicago, Cornell, Colombia, Dartmouth, Brown, Yale.</p>

6

<p>That’s true about the classes…thank you for the tips!
Yeah, I expect my upper-division classes to be much smaller, around ~20-30 people instead of a large lecture hall. I still need to get to know profs more personally for recommendations, so your advice was really helpful!</p>

<p>I’ll try looking into research opportunities; those other top programs are also something I’ll look into (especially Columbia)…</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for the replies!
Any other input would still be very helpful :)</p>

7

<p>Also, I realized you’re an applied math major. Brown has a highly ranked applied math department (and indeed, it is a separate department), and I also know from talking to friends there that it’s one of Brown’s strengths.</p>

<p>Also, what do you want to do in the future? PhD and academia? Finance? Engineering? Consulting?
That would affect your choice of colleges.</p>

<p>Also, if the transfer doesn’t work out, I heard it is pretty easy to graduate from Berkeley in 3 years, as long as you plan a bit ahead, so that should be a doable option.</p>

8

<p>Oh, that sounds really nice! A separate department for Applied Math is something few schools offer…</p>

<p>I’m interested in getting a PhD but could eventually gravitate toward finance. I’m not entirely sure yet, but I think I will prepare myself to enter a PhD program regardless, simply because I enjoy math :)</p>

<p>Yeah, graduating early would be my back-up plan if transferring doesn’t turn out well!</p>

<p>Thanks :)</p>

9

<p>

The relevant quote is:

Minnesota’s math department is at a similar level to Berkeley. Stony Brook is a little bit lower.</p>

<p>I think you would benefit from an additional year of advanced math coursework, research, and networking when applying to grad school. If graduating early is essential, make sure you get to know professors and try to get involved in research ASAP.</p>

10

<p>^Hmm… I did some research and indeed the University of Minnesota is indeed well-regarded in math, and cheaper (base price). However, it is doubtful whether it can offer the same financial aid as other schools.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, if the OP is considering a career in finance as an Applied Math major, the University of Minnesota is not going to help his chances there.
For a career in finance, more prestige = higher chances (even though we know that prestige does not reflect educational quality)
For a PhD, education/opportunities/professor attention > prestige.</p>

<p>IMO unless you want to go into academia or do highly specialized research, I don’t think a PhD is necessary - unless you absolutely love theory and research.</p>