Anyone ever gone from a jc to a place like yale?

Question

Has anyone ever gone to a jc and transferred to a place like Yale?? does that happen? or only to amazing people with amazing connections? Do ppl that go to yale only get in with amazing efforts like saving the world and creating world peace?? What do I gotta do, single-handedly save the human race from terrorists?

Answer 1

I have to say that I think Woolcat's answer is about as far offbase as any answer I have seen on this topic ever.

Admission to the Ivies and other very elite schools such as Duke, UChicago, Stanford, etc is not "falling off." (and since when have Duke and Stanford been "second tier?" - not in your lifetime! They are routinely ranked among the best in the world.) On the contrary, recent articles in the NY Times and elsewhere have confirmed that these schools are receiving the highest number of apps they have ever had, and competition to get in is the fiercest it has ever been.

The misperception that the elite schools are failing may come from a side effect of this competition - the number of high school students applying to college is greater than ever but the elite schools have not increased their class sizes. If you take the 20 most prestigious schools in the USA and add up the size of their Freshman classes for next fall, it would hardly add up to 30,000 kids, while there are more than 2 million kids entering college. So, there just is not room enough for all the wonderful kids who want to get into to these fabulous schools. That means that second level schools which have always been respectable, are getting the spillover of talent that doesnt fit in the elite schools, and their students are getting to be almost as elite as the top 20. That would mean schools like BC, Fordham, Univ of Richmond, George Washington, Syracuse, Tufts... these excellent schools are now at the same level that elite schools were at 10- 20 years ago, as far as the SAT and GPA scores of their students -- of course, they still dont have the financial power, faculty and reputations of the most elite schools.

Woolcat is definitely way, way off base in suggesting that Columbia, Penn or Brown are anything less than highest level world class schools - that is just plain ignorant!!! Columbia is probably the hardest to get into of any elite school - they accepted about 9% of its applicants this year from an applicant pool that had SAT average of well over 1400. This is not the stats of a "falling off" school.

The problem for a CC student who wants to transfer/enter one of these schools is really a problem of space. If you check the US News data you'll see that for these elite schools, the % of freshmen who return for sophomore year in these schools is very high - usually around 97 -98%. -- incidentally, that pretty much explains why you shouldn't pay any attention to someone who drops out of one of these schools and then disses it. The way high % of kids who stay and graduate tells how satisfied they are. Also you will note that for these elite schools a very high % of the alumni give to the alumni fund - that is one of the most direct measures of whether people were satisfied with their education. -- so, if they have 1000 kids in the Freshman class and only 2% don't return, that means there are only 20 seats available for all the kids who want to transfer in. One Ivy admissions officer told me they had 400 transfer apps and accepted 25 last year. If the college has an app from a kid from some other high powered school and they know that kid can handle tough courses, then that kid will have an admission advantage over CC kids who may have a high GPA but no one is sure how tough the courses were.

Also, many of the most elite schools have extensive core curricula, especially Columbia and UChicago are famous for it. As a transfer student, you would have to play catch up with these course requirements.... many of your CC courses would just not fit the bill.

You should definitely go on from CC, but it is probably a lot more realistic to pick a high quality state university or one of the top 100 US News schools which is not at the very tiptop of the ladder. Those slightly less than top schools are still terrific, and they have a little more room for incoming kids who are bright and ambitious.

Answer 2

About 20 years ago, Yale had a program whereby extremely high IQ high school students were chosen to attend. I have heard recently that they now have a similar program for needs-based urban high school students. I have been told that most (but not all) of the Ivy League schools select from a small pool of applicants that include the children of large donors, applicants from specific private (prep) schools, etc. There has been much discussion about private elementary, grade and high schools in large cities (especially New York) that prepare their students for Ivy League admission from the very first day of First Grade. So the "quick and dirty" answer to your question is: No.
But don't despair. I have heard from several sources that the Ivy League "glamor" has dulled considerably. Ask yourself the three things you most desperately want form college. Be brutally honest. Is it the "campus life?" Is it because your IQ is so high you need the intellectual stimulation and competition? Is it because an Ivy League degree means you will achieve your "dream occupation?" Think again. In these areas, and many others, many of the Ivy League schools are falling behind. Which ones? I don't know - but I personally would not apply to Columbia or Brown or Penn. Based purely on unsubstantiated hearsay.
You joke about "super achievements" - but you are entirely correct (assuming you have a good high school record). If you have done ANYTHING requiring a special skill or saved someone's life - make sure the Admissions Office knows about it. For starters, brush up on your written English ("gotta" is a no-no). If you feel you are good enough for the Ivy League, why not try some "second tier" colleges which are as good (usually better) than the Ivys - such as Duke, William and Mary, Stanford, etc. Or smaller schools with fantastic reputations, such as Washington and Lee, Hamilton and others?

Answer 3

Not Yale exactly, but after I dropped out of Cornell, I spent some time at a local community college, and heard of 1 student being admitted to Cornell from the CC. I think it helped that the school was a 30 minute drive (and probably had a better record of sending 1-2 students/year to the school, because more of them tended to apply).

As I mentioned though, I dropped out of Cornell. Ivy league professors tend to treat undergraduate students like $h!t. I ended up transferring to RIT which was not as famous, but required more classes in my field, had better professors (ones who were there to teach), learned a lot more than I would have at Cornell, and most importantly was far more happier.

You might have a long shot at getting in to an Ivy through a community college, but in my experience it is not worth the effort. Whatever your field is, there are going to be schools that are easier to get into where you will have a better experience.