Some random college stuff, help please?

Question

I'm a high school junior now, I've probably asked a 1000 questions about colleges. I'm kind of concerned. So if any of you could help, please that would be great. Okay well, I've jumped from three different high schools and it has really affected my learning environment. I have troubles with getting the classes I want, keeping up with things, etc. I am hoping that I can get into an Ivy League, but my dad has been concerned with my worries and told me that to start, I can go to an easier college and jump to an Ivy League if I feel comfortable instead of springing from the bottom of my pool of worries to the top of a sky scraper. I've thought about it a little. My non-Ivy League choices for colleges were MIT and NYU or BU, but I was mostly inclined to NYU out of the three. Seeing my situation, is it better to go a college like NYU, Rutgers, or BU and then jump into what I think is appropriate (like Brown, Columbia, or something?) Also, what's the early decision rate for NYU?

And should I apply early?
It's almost halfway between the quarter now and I have an 85 and an 87 in my AP classes, so wish me luck! I hope I can pull both of them to A's.

what I mean is, I can get into NYU for undergrad maybe and then a higher level college for grad and all that stuff. I know switching colleges is hard, my mom has been there done that and she's told me a lot about it...and no doubt, if high schools are hard to switch, wonder what colleges will be like!

I know getting into an ivy league sounds like I'm going for "hte name" but I'm not big onto harvard, princeton or yale. I don't want to get into an overly competitive school and see myself collapse. Columbia, Brown and Upenn have been my choices...I've researched them A LOT....but yea

NYU, I know is a good school and people I know have been happy to go there because of the location and diversity. I just need some more insight. Thanks!

I know MIT is excellent...but maybe I'm not ready for it yet...that's all I'm saying.

I don't want to transfer exactly. I know transferring is hard and I don't think it's Ivy Now or Ivy Never. My dad went to University of Texas for undergrad/grad and then to Brown for his masters. Similarly, he told me about one guy who went from Rutgers, to Upenn, Columbia, etc.

I want to become a doctor (hopefully) and that means going to med school and all that. So it's not a talk of four years of college. Clearly I have to do more. I plan to study a lot more for a long time, and college will step up again and again in my lifetime...

Thanks, though

Answer 1

it is EXTREMELY difficult to transfer to ivy-league schools.

Columbia says:
"Admission is highly competitive; we generally admit fewer than 10 percent of the applicants for transfer admission each year. "

Brown says they admit "approximately 200 transfer students each year" out of about 2,500 total admits!

it is also a strong possibility that most (if not all) of the credits you acquire in your previous school will not be transferred so you might as well save your time and money and just stick with a good school even if its non-ivy. so when you graduate from high school its either ivy now or ivy never. good luck with whatever you choose!

Answer 2

If you do really well in your junior year, and have great SATs, SAT Subject Tests, extracurriculars, then you can apply early to the school of your choise, whether it's an Ivy or the others. Early decision should give you a leg up, but you need to be qualified in the first place. And obviously you have to be willing to commit to that school if they accept you.

MIT is a very difficult school to get into and keep up with so I don't know why you're thinking of it as a "second level" school at all.

Sure, if you think you need to start out somewhere a bit less rigorous to get grounded, etc., then go ahead and apply to NYU or BU. I don't know much about Rutgers. Suggest you read up on all of these schools in the Fiske Guide to Colleges, a VERY helpful book that you can buy or find at the library.

Sounds like you're working hard and thinking things through.

Good luck!

Answer 3

It is hard to transfer between schools like that and not all of your classes will necessarily transfer over. Also, consider WHY you want to go to the "ivy league" schools...sometimes they aren't that much better, just have a higher reputation for the name's sake. Someplace like NYU or MIT is considered a great school without being "ivy league". Also keep in mind that places like that look for a GPA of around 3.8 as a MINIMUM so consider your grades before you worry about switching.
That being said, you should probably apply to 5-8 schools for undergrad anyway so if you wanted to apply to say Brown as one of them, go for it. The usual way is 1 or 2 "high reach" schools, 2-3 "I'd be really happy here" places and 1-2 "safety" schools. An example would be Brown, NYU, BU, Carnegie Mellon, and University of Pittsburgh.
Hope that helps, you have plenty of time to figure this all out, make sure to visit places and ask questions when you are there. good luck.