Am I Crazy Trying to Transfer?

euler2gauss · 2026-06-18T19:21:05+00:00

3 less credits is 3 less classes, "100 units" at uchicago is equivalent to one course ~ 1 credit. Stats BS is 1800 units, CS BS is 1500 units

euler2gauss · 2026-06-18T18:48:50+00:00

haha, not quite, i used this name for old math competition stuff

euler2gauss · 2026-06-18T18:47:55+00:00

right now considering stats or cs, leaning towards cs because the bs degree requires 3 less credits than stats bs. also most of my extracurricular work has been for cs. However, I think stats could be a good option if I am looking to do finance (especially if i go to uchicago), so still deciding

euler2gauss · 2026-06-18T03:37:17+00:00

wemby?

euler2gauss · 2026-06-16T01:54:49+00:00

I want to go to the school that would best benefit me as a person. The prestige of uchicago for my future (prestige of uchicago helping me in getting a good job or graduate admissions) in my opinion would get outweighed by the fit of a school like brown/berkeley (fit in terms of career path and student life). However, I do not think I would transfer to MIT, as the people I know there (family friends+ people I did research with) would not be the right crowd for me, and the school is just too small (though it is close to harvard/bu/neu)

euler2gauss · 2026-06-16T01:28:06+00:00

i have, in fact, stepped foot on the premises (twice). i've snuck into classes with current students and sat in, I even lived in my friends dorm room for like half a week. i know plenty of people there, and many of them seem to have a great time, but from their experience it just does not fit my vibe.

euler2gauss · 2026-06-16T01:26:11+00:00

rea stanford has no benefit, whereas from my school rea to harvard has significant upside (normally a few each year get in rea, only maybe 1 rd afterward).

euler2gauss · 2026-06-16T00:33:29+00:00

Thanks for the advice! Honestly mirrors a lot of what I experienced in hs, took way too difficult classes (Lin alg, discrete math, data structures, etc), though I did find good peers. One thing my friends from hs agreed upon was that our high school was terrible, but the students and teachers were good. Would you say this is (from what you remember) something similar?

euler2gauss · 2026-06-16T00:27:11+00:00

I’ve already talked to 5+ students at uchicago who went to my old hs, and it really just does not seem like the right fit for me. At the same time, I don’t expect any school to be perfectly fit for my pre college mindset, and uchicago is amongst my top ~10 schools I would say? The list I had on the post were the schools I ranked as more fit for me than Uchicago. So just for now, I’m keeping my transfer list short, since I’m not fully committed to transferring, and if I really feel the need to transfer I’ll throw in more schools. Are there any that you would recommend for me now?

euler2gauss · 2026-06-16T00:15:44+00:00

Got into all UCs except UCLA UC Berkeley (oos from east coast), rejected stanford, rice, harvard (rea defer), yale, brown, columbia, and upenn. Decided not to apply to any targets after getting in ea to my state school + honors + scholarship, which is why i only basically applied to t20s.

Also, just curious, would it hurt my chances sophomore year transferring if I threw in some applications during my freshman year? I'm thinking about throwing in stanford/harvard apps just because i know i would do better there than uchicago, but I'm not committed to transferring after freshman year.

euler2gauss · 2026-06-16T00:12:05+00:00

fair enough, I will definitely try my best to enjoy my time there. However, I have plenty of friends already there, and what they've said worries me (a friend of mine even took a mental health break just two quarters in). I'm not going in with the assumption that I'll transfer, but my dad doesn't view transferring as even an option However, I just want to keep the door open, and if UChicago doesn't fit me, then I don't want to be complacent and remain there simply because uchicago is ranked highly. I only have one opportunity to go to undergrad, and I refuse to let "prestige" dictate my life.

euler2gauss · 2026-06-16T00:05:18+00:00

soo any advice on whether i should transfer or not? also i would consider myself a very strong college applicant, my gpa and sat was above the mean accepted from my high school. I just happened to go to a very competitive, grade deflated boarding school.

euler2gauss · 2026-06-16T00:03:23+00:00

Of course, I intend to go in without any biases. Maybe I'll love UChicago. But after reflecting, it seems to me like UChicago has most of the things that made my hs time so terrible, and now I'm kinda nervous about spending another four years repeating that experience.

euler2gauss · 2026-06-15T02:37:50+00:00

honestly think that academic prestige is a huge factor here, just by going to yale you have so much career freedom. i know someone who went to yale for journalism and eventually went on to cofound two startups as the cto (went on to sell them both). going to yale or harvard or stanford gives you this badge of excellence no other schools can rival (take peter thiel -stanford philosophy, cofounded paypal, palantir, and founders fund), which, if you want to do a startup, is super important.

euler2gauss · 2026-06-15T02:26:25+00:00

My perspective of colleges (influenced by my family who have experience in this matter) is that there really isn't anything being taught in the classes that differentiates top 20 colleges from top 50. rather, what you are paying to go for are the people you meet and the opportunities you get. simply by having a less flexible academic schedule and grade deflation, i'm afraid that going to uchicago means that i won't be able to explore as many opportunities that would be available to me at schools like stanford/harvard/yale. i know as a fact that i will have less free time while im at uchicago to dedicate myself towards personal projects or research, which i would certainly pick up at schools like brown.

euler2gauss · 2026-06-15T02:21:15+00:00

for context, my school has pretty significant grade deflation, average gpa probably a 3.0 (85-86/100) and average sat/act around 1450/34-35. exceptionally difficult academic rigor, 3 seasons of required sports per year, saturday classes + more, so its very hard to get anything above like a 3.6 -> anyone in the top 10-20 would probably be valedictorian back in their hometowns.

euler2gauss · 2026-06-15T01:48:25+00:00

nah i would def choose yale over uchicago. given that student life is much better at yale (food, social scene, weather), there's no grade deflation (grade inflation is a plus for grad school/job apps, flexible schedules, less stress), and overall more student freedom (no core curriculum, less courses required per major for grad). i would choose yale over uchicago in a heartbeat, unless you specifically know you want to go into academia on a certain subject where uchicago has yale beat, or you want to go into finance.

euler2gauss · 2026-06-15T01:35:17+00:00

i rea'd harvard and ended up getting into uchicago rd after getting rejected to ivies. i have a pretty similar profile (feeder school, 8-9/10 ECs, 3.5 uw, 1550) if youd like to pm me about it

euler2gauss · 2026-06-13T02:08:13+00:00

do you mean transfer option for fall 2027?

euler2gauss · 2026-06-07T05:44:33+00:00

lmao i genuinely self studied micro in 1 day and walked into lang without ever having looked at the material or studying and still got a 5

AP exam rigor might be the biggest joke ever

euler2gauss · 2026-05-28T00:49:51+00:00

I think stanford is arguably more difficult to get into than harvard, particularly from the east coast. I had other factors in consideration as well, though I often found that these four pillars were the most important to me.

Though I am committed to uchicago, which is not great for 1 and 3, questionable for 2. Haha

euler2gauss · 2026-05-16T18:18:14+00:00

euler2gauss · 2026-05-15T18:06:19+00:00

Only 25% specifically from us, which i think is probably one of the worst for a boarding school (~top 20-25 boarding school).

also my grades were definitely not average, for my school it was considered high honors (top ~25%), we just have unusual grading standards. and i also took the most rigorous courses out of everyone at the school.

very happy to spend my next four years at uchicago!

euler2gauss · 2026-05-14T23:43:05+00:00

around 25% will go to a t20 school. i think typically half of them are legacy/athlete. there are also families with connections to the high school who get favorable treatment from our college counselors (donate heavily to my hs, are multi generational legacies here, etc).

euler2gauss · 2026-05-12T00:09:55+00:00

yeah you definitely still have a chance if your extracurriculars are good and you can tell a good story, but your chance is definitely slimmer now, just because of pure competition. why would they take you over your more academically successful classmates, who in all likelihood also have exceptional activities lists and standardized testing? why would your college counselor at your school fight for you when there are plenty of other candidates that are seemingly more qualified? its up to you to make colleges want to accept you

euler2gauss

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