<p>I want to attempt to transfer from community college to an Ivy League as a junior. My goal is just to get into at least one school. I plan to apply to Duke,Harvard, and Yale. Besides taking AP classes and playing sports what else would look good on my resume? My major is Computer Science. I go to the robotics club in my school. What competitions should I compete in with my friends or what kind of clubs should I start besides just playing sports and getting good grades?</p>
<p>Well, first of all, Duke isn’t an Ivy League school. Do you just mean a top university? You should know that transferring is much harder than getting in as a freshman; if you are a high school student, you should probably attempt to get in as a freshman. Your financial aid will also be best if you are admitted as a freshman.</p>
<p>Your activities in HS and community college should be guided by your interests. If you are interested in computer science, you might want to compete in Math or Science Olympiad. You might also want to compete in the Intel Science Talent Search. Community service is something that always looks nice - you might teach computer skills to older people or low-income people at your local library, for example. There might be other things not related to computer science that you really like - so start an anime club or a culture club or a language club. Basically, don’t just start a club to start one because you think it will look good; start one because you see a need at your high school and you feel that you have the time and passion to actually run one.</p>
<p>Also, Ivy League transfers need to show evidence of involvement and leadership in their college, too. You need to keep the sustained achievement and involvement that you had in high school - getting involved on campus, perhaps continuing your sport - basically showing that you will continue to be a leader on your new campus. Most of the top school transfers I met when I was at Columbia (I supervised a residence hall full of them) had transferred from similar institutions, and they did VERY well at their previous schools; they were primarily transferring for fit reasons, not to try to “trade up” so to speak.</p>
<p>Are you still in HS? Why must you go to comm college first? It’s MUCH more difficult getting into Harvard and Yale as a transfer (~1%) statistically. Generally, these were kids who were admitted to similar (i.e. the most selective colleges) coming out of HS but did not attend. Does this describe you? If not, then you should craft a realistic set of target schools. </p>
<p>I am attending community college because my grades were average when I graduated.</p>
<p>And I didn’t really even know what school I wanted to go to </p>
<p>Can you define average, please?</p>
<p>If your final high school transcript wasn’t average by Ivy League standards, then you will likely have a very tough time at actually managing to get into one of the schools which you listed.</p>
<p>As mentioned before, the statistical change of being accepted as a transfer is quite low, and if you’re attempting to transfer into an Ivy League school because your high school grades were poor, it would probably suit you to draft a different plan.</p>
<p>If you meant that your grades were average compared to Ivy League standards, then I suppose you could try; but, why didn’t you apply to those schools to begin with? And why did you end up at a community college?</p>
<p>Let’s just say they weren’t all As and I didn’t have any honors or AP classes or valid victorian because I never realized how important that stuff would be until I actually started college.</p>
<p>Anyone who claimed to be a “valid victorian” when applying to a prestigious university would probably be turned down by that alone. On a serious note, you have to be realistic. Unless you do something extraordinary, average grades and a few sports won’t cut it. I would love for you to prove wrong though.</p>
<p>Joining extracurricular just to beef up your college apps doesn’t reflect well. Do what you enjoy, what helps others, and do it as best as you can. Broaden your perspectives.</p>
<p>Don’t start a club to bolster your chances at impressing admissions. First of all, the people in the club will me miserable if the founder is not completely dedicated. That’s just a disservice to those actually excited for the club. Colleges might be able to tell if you’re not 100% committed the things on your resume.</p>